A Spiral, Not a Pendulum: The Massachusetts Special Election
By Chad Crawford • Jan 19th, 2010 • Category: engaging
While I wouldn’t say I’m pleased with the result of today’s special election in Massachusetts, I choose to look optimistically toward the future. When I was in high school, I had an English lit teacher who taught that American politics is a pendulum that swings back and forth between conservative and liberal power. It certainly seems that way. Looking only at a recent narrow loss (or victory, depending on one’s affiliation), the country lately seems incredibly polarized. But through my study of American history, I’ve become aware that our society more closely resembles a spiral rather than a pendulum. The spiral, though it circles around from a more liberal power concentration to conservative and then back again, continues to move toward equality, justice, and a shared responsibility for the well-being of every citizen and the rest of the world.
That doesn’t mean I’m becoming complacent. I’m always going to continue to work hard for progress, and as a follower of Jesus, the salvation of every human being, and the flourishing of all creation. But the benefit of this realization means I no longer have to view the result of each election as the triumph of good over evil, or evil over good, but as a continuation of a process that has gone on since our government was created. The founders set the bar high, dreaming of unity, liberty, justice, and the welfare of all. Perhaps, of all of these, unity is the loftiest ideal. Here’s the crazy part: I’m thinking e pluribus unum isn’t just a dream. We’re spiraling toward that reality…in slow-mo.
In the immortal words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”
Chad Crawford is a graduate of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and Wake Forest University Divinity School. He is originally from Austin, Texas and now lives in San Francisco, where he is the online communications manager for Interfaith Power & Light, a nonprofit organization mobilizing a religious response to global warming. He's a former youth minister and long distance hiker sharing thoughts on ecology, politics, culture, and faith.
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Well said, Chad.
Chad, I am so glad that you wrote this. It brought things back into perspective for me. I was feeling a little disturbed over the situation. I was thinking of what it meant to now have to wait while the Republicans stall everything and also the changes that we wanted might be postponed. Thanks again for turning me around in my thinking to one that is more positive and hopeful.
Thanks Deacon Hall. Jo Ann I’m disappointed too maybe this is a little bit of therapy for myself and maybe someone else. Besides what it means for health care reform, I didn’t mention that the window is really closing fast for putting policy in place that addresses climate change. If the Senate energy bill dies, the EPA could still potentially establish its authority to regulate greenhouse gases.
Chad, I hope the energy bill does not die. Do not know as much about this one as the health care. Thanks !!!