Polarized is how America loses

Even within parties, America is so polarized that together, we see nothing at all

Do you have a friend who is politically polarized, but opposite to you? I do. More than one. When we talk, I’m constantly battered on politics, as if I have a neon sign on my roof blaring “MAGA.” Explaining that I’ve penned at least 100,000 words on the dangers of the caudillo-demagogue-chaos engine whose idea of fun is a gold-framed hall of presidential portraits except for his predecessor, whose face is replaced by an autopen, does no good. Politically, my friends are polarized opposite me, and can see nothing if it’s Christian, or conservative, because the two are conflated in their lens.

Image: POTUS, Instagram

I recently went back to some of my old pieces, back in the day when I could find my pieces quoted in the New York Times. There was the story of the scorpion and the frog, where I noted, “Trump is not a Christian. In fact, nothing in Trump’s nature even hints at Christlikeness.” This is not a new revelation, though many Christians have been taken in by the scorpion, claiming that his winning must mean God has something in this: some task or anointed purpose that this man who is grabbing the world like he boasted about grabbing females in the entertainment business, has in building the Kingdom of God.

Thomas Edsall quoted me saying, “If America is not on God’s side, then God will not bless America.” Sadly, those pieces are no longer online, having been consumed by the media churn in the wake of Trump’s ascension.

But none of that is visible through the polarized lenses.

Did you know that if you take two polarized lenses, which are both polarized the same, like from a pair of sunglasses, and take one lens out and turn it 90 degrees, then place that lens over the other, you see nothing at all looking through both? This is high school physics, so you might have done it. The owner’s manual of the last car I owned warned that the heads-up-display image may disappear if the driver wears polarized lenses. I lost my old sunglasses, and thoughtlessly bought a cheap pair from Walmart, and it took me a few hours to find that warning in the manual after I thought the system was broken.

We all wear some kind of polarized political or religious glasses, based on our worldview, what we believe. I was shocked to see some people online, and some readers here, fail to understand the weight of the message of the Gospel spoken at Charlie Kirk’s memorial. They didn’t see Brandon Lake lead worship, or Chris Tomlin worshipping. They didn’t hear Dr. Frank Turek’s simple exposition of the Gospel. They didn’t feel Erika Kirk’s forgiveness. The spirit of the Christian savior was present, but not seen, because there was also another polarized lens, which was turned 90 degrees and placed on top of the lens through which Christ could be observed.

Those whose lenses matched the polarization of the second lens saw Stephen Miller, J.D. Vance, and President Donald Trump. They heard those speeches. Trump said, explicitly, what I’ve been writing for over a decade. Trump is not a Christian. He does not understand the concept of loving your enemies, or forgiving those who do you wrong. He does not believe it is useful to do so. He considers it weakness.

Christians who believe Trump is here with some mission from God, because he dodged an assassin’s bullet, while Charlie Kirk did not, are wearing polarized lenses too. They do not see Trump’s speech, or the bullying effect his brand of politics has on others, like Marco Rubio, who do understand the concepts of Christianity, but have put on the lenses that block Christ from shining through. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15:33: “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’”

The longer someone wears the lenses Trump wears, and spends time in his company, the more that person is corrupted by those lenses, and the harder it is to take them off. When you only see things the way others who wear the same lenses see things, it’s guaranteed you’re seeing things wrong.

This concept extends to people who wear the political lenses that see Trump as evil, and only the political, because those lenses are worn in service to progressive, or politically liberal causes. They don’t see others who have not been fully corrupted, or even people who might be somewhat deceived but aren’t wearing their lenses all the time.

So I was shocked when I was told that “they all sound like Hitler,” even Erika Kirk, whose husband was murdered in cold blood and whose children are fatherless. My response was “that’s awful.” I have found that the antidote for corruption due to excessive polarization is to take off the lenses.

As for my friends, I know them. I don’t know Erika Kirk. I don’t know any of the Christian artists who were on that stage. I didn’t know Charlie Kirk. But I do know my friends and family. I can take off the lenses and see them, because I love them. I don’t care what polarized lenses they wear. I don’t care if they see everything through MAGA, or if they get their kicks listening to Antifa. I do care that they don’t get radicalized to the point where violence is acceptable.

The only way for my friends and family to see me is for me to take off my own lenses, and implore them, by saying “I see you” and “I love you” to take theirs off also. The biggest complaint I have heard from those of us who find ourselves in the middle, as Christ-followers who are not progressive or liberal, but conservative, yet not in the grip of MAGA, is that our lenses are polarized at 45 degrees. We can see through both the other lenses, which are 90 degrees polarized, but they can’t see through to us. We feel invisible. Our message is lost. Our voice is silent.

But it’s not because of power, it’s because of polarization. I don’t like using the “tipping point” language because it’s the language of crisis and emergencies and authoritarianism, or rebellion and violence. But I’m going to use it here. If we don’t learn to take off our lenses, America is at a tipping point. People from both poles of the political spectrum are losing their minds to violence. Now we have copycats engraving anti-ICE messages on bullet cartridges and shooting at ICE facilities. They didn’t kill ICE agents; they killed detainees.

We have political arguments over comedians on late-night shows, and why this person is cancelled, and why it might be proper to improperly use government power to either save or trash the First Amendment. (Hint: it’s being trashed by both sides.) We have an uptick in general violence, and the acceptability of using it. We have trust in institutions evaporating in the polarization, so police, doctors, teachers and professionals can’t do their jobs. We have poster-children for the left and the right’s fever dreams of how the “other side” is a coven of spittle-flecked madmen, or anti-human nihilists, and they are only multiplying.

The lenses and polarization only let us see one thing, and when combined together, we see nothing at all. As a society, we become blind.

My answer is to cultivate personal relationships and love. Find someone you know and tell them you don’t know much, but “I know you.” Tell them you love them and want the best for them. Visit people you know who don’t share your lenses. Tell them they have worth and listen to what they say, even if you don’t agree.

Indulge me on this one other thing, even if this is a bit of a rabbit trail. ICE. Is. People. Take the TSA, remove it from the airport, and give it the authority to round up illegal immigrants. Give it people and guns and badges and tell it to go out and find the illegals, like TSA is told to find contraband going through security on airplanes. Yeah, the same kind of competence at scale. You get people who raid a Kia/Hyundai plant in West Point, Georgia, and send the Koreans home. Hyundai is Korean. They make cars (among a bunch of other things), and the people who know how to build their plants and make those cars are, no surprise, Korean. It’s like the TSA agent who makes the metrologist turn in his precision micrometer because it looks like a weapon.

Back during COVID, our health professionals ended up like the TSA. Except for a very small group who were designing and readying for production the vaccines (Operation Warp Speed), everyone else was running around doing what they were told, but with very little information. The Chinese authorities were welding apartment doors closed. Teachers were scared to be in the classroom (for much, much longer than necessary). And others took measures far further than it turned out to be necessary, while some made rules for others that they did not keep themselves. Then there was President Trump, who turned the Rose Garden into a super-spreader event, having the virus himself.

President Joe Biden did have a problem with senescence. Biden’s administration did pressure Youtube, pre-Musk Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms to toe their line politically. President Barack Obama, as a candidate and in his re-election campaign, did pioneer the use of social media as a campaign lever, and his big data helped feed Hillary Clinton’s ultra-tech campaign. Except Clinton was a bad candidate and didn’t listen to people outside her bubble. What Obama and Clinton did led to Trump doing the same thing. But Biden doesn’t deserve to be mocked in the White House.

Charlie Kirk’s killer was not a groyper, or an ultra-MAGA. We don’t fully know what he is, but we will surely learn since he’s alive. Charlie Kirk was not a missionary, or a preacher. He was political and in his own way, wore polarized lenses and cultivated people to do the same. ICE facilities should not be attacked. People should not shout “Free Palestine!” to sow chaos before committing violence to satisfy some deep mental illness.

We are all people. I for one would rather take off the polarized lenses and see those with whom I disagree as people. If I know you, we may not agree, but know that you are valued. And if you know me, all I ask is that you see me, without the lenses.

Polarization is how America loses. A country blind to itself cannot continue. This will be worse than civil war. Believe me, there are things worse than civil war.

I am taking off my lenses, and invite you to unpolarize with me.

SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS: You can follow us on social media at several different locations. Official Racket News pages include:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NewsRacket
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/NewsRacket

Our personal accounts on the platform formerly known as Twitter:

David: https://x.com/captainkudzu
Steve: https://x.com/stevengberman
Jay: https://x.com/curmudgeon_NH

Tell your friends about us!