A New Time for Choosing

America stands at a crossroads.

For the second time in this 2024 election cycle we have had an assassination attempt on Donald Trump. Thankfully, the Secret Service successfully foiled the plot before any shots were fired. This attempt follows right on the heels of violent threats made against Springfield, Ohio hospitals and migrants after rumors of unseemly eating habits by said migrants (the rumors are speculative at best, and appear to be false) were levied on social media and amplified by Donald Trump and J.D. Vance. We very clearly have a growing polarization and political violence problem in America. 

This problem is not new, but has been steadily escalating for years at this point. In the 2016 election cycle we saw the “alt-right” come out in force led by such “luminaries” as Richard Spencer, Nick Fuentes, Milo Yiannopoulos, and they were given defense and cover by then Breitbart News editor Steve Bannon. Prominent conservative commentator and writer Ben Shapiro was the number one target of antisemitic threats from the alt-right that year according tothe FBI. Shapiro cited Bannon’s cover of the alt-right as his reason for leaving Breitbart News. 

In 2014, after the justified police shooting of Michael Brown by Ferguson Missouri police officer Darren Wilson, Ferguson and cities across America erupted into violent and destructive riots–a premonition of what would be to come for the rest of the decade in regards to race relations. The culmination of this type of violence was the summer of 2020 and the George Floyd/BLM riots that ravaged America. Journalists, political leaders, and corporate leaders justified these riots and often provided bail for their perpetrators. 

In June of 2017 a deranged gunman opened fire at the Congressional Republicans baseball game, injuring several, including House majority whip Steve Scalise. In August of 2017 the “Unite the Right” rally took place in Charlottesville, North Carolina, and a deranged driver drove into a crowd killing one and injuring others. On January 6th, 2021, the U.S. Capitol was overrun by a mob of angry Trump supporters who believed the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. In June of 2022, federal law enforcement foiled an attempt on the life of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. In November of 2022 a man attempted to stab to death New York GOP gubernatorial candidate, Lee Zeldin. 

This is not sustainable. American democracy and constitutional government cannot withstand indefinitely the current levels of polarization and hatred that we are currently experiencing. To quote both the Bible and former President Abraham Lincoln, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Something has to give, or things will get much worse. There are practical political reforms that can and should be debated that can help, but that will not be my focus today. Because those reforms themselves will require some level of political unity, that doesn’t exist currently, to be implemented. I believe that we have a more fundamental issue. 

Americans are increasingly eschewing organized religion, spending more and more of their time online, and withdrawing from in-person communities. We have never had fewer Americans go to church, synagogue, or mosque and choose to identify as religious “nones.” I do firmly believe that this led to a loss of social cohesion and a maximizing of political identity-the spill over of this is the increased feelings of doom that people have at the prospect of their tribe not controlling the levers of political power. 

As Ronald Reagan charged Americans in his 1964 speech A Time for Choosing to pick a side between statism, government coercion, communism and decline AND freedom, Americanism, and democracy-I believe that we are once again at a time for choosing-and the stakes are potentially even higher than in Reagan’s day. We can choose to renew our commitments to faith, family, and country (even our political adversaries), or we can choose to continue down the path of hate, division, and polarization. 

Periods of religious revival have often preceded momentous chapters of American public life. Beginning in the 1730s, the First Great Awakening was a revival of personal Christian faith and devotion that swept through the American colonies. This revival focused strongly on personal salvation and commitment to Christ, and coming as it did on the heels of the Enlightenment, I think that it gave American liberalism a healthy balance of individuality and the faith necessary to sustain a free people-the American revolution could have looked a lot more French without this feature. 

The Second Great Awakening, beginning shortly after the Revolution and lasting through the 1840s, was another period of increased religious focus and devotion in the early history of our Republic. In a nation, rightly predicated on the disestablishment of religion and a belief in pluralism and democracy, America’s religious movements were, much more than Europe, focused on individual piety and social change advocacy and not religious political tyranny. Many social reform movements sprung out of the Second Great Awakening, most importantly the renewed and motivated Evangelical abolitionary impulse. 

In the 1940s, a young Southern Baptist preacher named Billy Graham had his first of many national preaching crusades in Los Angeles. This began what would spiral into a national and international pastoral ministry of over six decades. He was often referred to as “America’s pastor” and today a statue of Graham now sits in the Capitol rotunda, a gift of his native North Carolina. Presidents from Truman to Trump relied on Graham for personal guidance and advice. Some of the major issues in American political life that Graham played a hand in influencing leaders on were civil rights and desegregation, anti-communist resolve, pro-family policies, and stem cell research and embryonic treatment. Hundreds of thousands of Americans came to a saving relationship with Christ, and a recommitment to the Christian tradition, due to the ministry of Billy Graham. Throughout the 20th century there were other powerful examples of faith leaders who pushed for a stronger personal commitment to faith. So much so a key component of William F. Buckley and Frank Meyer’s Fusionism was social conservatism (In America, largely a Christian project, though not completely). 

But in 2024, religious revival feels a long way off. According to Gallup: 

1. By 3-1, Americans say that religion is losing its influence on American life.

2. The share of Americans who say they have a great deal or quite a lot of faith in the church or organized religion has fallen by 50%, it was 65% in the 1970s and was 32% last year. 

3. The share of Americans who say they belong to a church or synagogue has fallen below 50% for the first time; it was 70% in 1992. 

This is where the time for choosing comes in. The United States of America, as a Republic, was clearly founded on Enlightenment liberalism rooted in a Protestant Christian ethic. We have been conducting an experiment to see how long the former values can soldier on without the latter. It is not going well. Americans are ready to tear each other apart, political violence is becoming an uncomfortable norm, and trust and therefore devotion to our institutions is crumbling away as we speak. I would humbly suggest that we need some gas for our social car, and that gas is a commitment of faith to our Creator. What do you have to lose giving faith a chance? 

A Fig Leaf to Unbelieving Citizens

As a born again, religious Christian I will unashamedly say I believe with all my heart in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that the Son incarnated Himself as a Man in the person of Jesus Christ, was born of the virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, submitted Himself to be crucified, rose from the dead on the third day, and ascended into Heaven. I believe this and I believe that the only hope for eternal salvation is a trust and confidence in that truth. I believe that your life, reader, will be better if you put your faith in my Jesus. But I also acknowledge that not everyone can bring themselves to a life of faith, and the moral and just demand of religious freedom means that worship and devotion cannot be enforced by the sword of Caesar (government). 

I still believe that a revival of Christian ideas and ideals can make our shared political life, for believers and unbelievers alike, better. A movement has arisen of intellectuals who cannot bring themselves to believe in the supernatural claims of Christianity but want the good things Christian history has given our civilization. Men in this camp include famed evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, reporter and political thinker Douglas Murray, and Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson. If you can’t in your personal life water the tree of faith that undergirds biblical Christianity, at least agree not to contribute to the cutting down of the full grown tree of civilizational Christianity. And what is that tree? Well, historian Tom Holland, has detailed the fruits of that tree in his famous book Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World. 

Holland lists: (Among others) 

1. Human rights and Liberal Equality 

2. Compassion for the Weak

3. Universities and Education 

4. The Scientific Revolution 

5. Liberal Democracy/Political Institutions of the West 

If we can agree to a shared commitment to the highest ideals of the West, and at least a nod to Christianity and faith’s role in their original formation, I think we can have a public life together that is united in common purpose.

A Fig Leaf to Citizens of Other Faiths

Like a commitment to religious liberty demands the freedom to not believe or practice at all, it includes a respect for the freedom to practice other faiths. A mutual respect and toleration for various faith traditions and expressions in the public square is essential to 21st American political life. 

American Citizens of all of the Abrahamic faiths, the Eastern religions, all other expressions in existence in our great country, or none at all feeling safe and protected to bring their faith/values with them to work, school, and government will reduce polarization and the feeling that for one to gain power means the other will lose. Increased religious expression in the public square will also aid in our debates about human dignity, policy, and geopolitics. E Pluribus Unum (out of many, one) truly has made America one of the greatest nations in history, and will be the core of the path to continued greatness. 

A Potential Practical Path Forward

So in the aftermath of another attempt on the life of a former American President, and current leading candidate to retake the office, let’s consider choosing a new path forward based on our highest ideals. Something has to replace our national hatreds, because hate can only lead to ruin. I say we choose to be united by our loves: Love of Family, Love Country, Love of Community, and most importantly if you are able Love of God. Faith has not let us down in our past, and I do not believe for a second that it will let us down if we put our trust in it today. 

I believe there are practical things that believers especially but all citizens can do to help America regain her faith in the things our faith tradition has given us: 

1. Go to a small local church, synagogue, mosque, or other religious house. And go at least once a week-but go to midweek programs too if you can. But don’t just attend, involve yourself in the life and ministry of the body. Be an active participant, invested in the success of the institution. If you are not a believer and can’t bring yourself to go to a house of worship, at least find some local community institution and contribute to the social and spiritual (if not supernatural) life of your community. 

2. Read the Bible. Read the Torah/Tanakh/Talmud. Read the Koran. Understanding your own faith tradition, and that of your neighbors is essential to peaceful coexistence in a religiously plural constitutional democracy. This step should be undertaken by all who appreciate the fruits of Christian civilization even if you are not a believer. Knowing how Christianity and religious tradition shaped our western values, will give us keys to understanding how to keep our values intact.

3. Know the people on your street as intimately as possible. The advent and advancement of the internet age has seen the quality and quantity of in-person social relationships for most Americans go down. Bake some bread, make some soup, or invite them to a game night or dinner. Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Independent, or none of the above; Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Atheist, or Agnostic; Male or Female your neighbors ought not be your enemy but your fellow citizen. Love them and know them. 

We can, at this juncture, double down on our political hatreds, turn up the sound on our media echo chambers, and continue our technology imposed isolation, or we can heed Reagan’s Time for Choosing advice and chart a different course toward our loves, faith, patriotism and all other highest ideals. If America’s best days do indeed lay ahead of us, as I pray they do, then we must for our children and grandchildren’s sake choose the latter. I pray we have the courage. 

We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other. -John Adams

Joey Carrion is a political science student at Andrews University, studying pre-law as well as psychology. He co-hosts the Gio and Joey podcast. @adventistcowboy