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Last Sunday in my sermon I tried to ‘do my bit’ for creating a peaceful environment in these murderously divided times. I preached about the need to pray for people in authority, even if we don’t like them or disagree with their policies. St. Paul tells us to in 1 Timothy.

When we pray for people we dislike and disagree with we open ourselves to God transforming us. The person we’re praying for might not change (bless their heart!), but we do. As we stand in the other’s shoes, God gives us a glimpse of their humanity. The can lead to empathy which, in turn, leads us to turn down of the angry voices in our heads.

But there’s more to say. At Sunday’s Rector’s Forum I mentioned a vitally helpful book by the New York University social scientist Jonathan Haidt. Actually, I wrote about this book in a newsletter article two years ago. (It’s OK, I don’t flatter myself with the thought that anyone remembers anything I said even last week, let alone 2 years ago.)

The book is entitled, The Righteous Mind – Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion. The anxiety of this political moment in our nation is serious. So, I think my space this week is well worth devoting to a piece from that article 2 years ago. Here goes...

“Jonathan Haidt has done some helpful thinking about why good, moral people with the best intentions, end up seeing issues so differently. So, a devout, godly, faithful Christian can, with the best of intentions, believe one thing about a moral topic, and another equally virtuous Christian can, with the best will in the world, reach the exact opposite conclusion.

“Haidt, who describes himself as a ‘political centrist’, thinks it is all about which moral foundations a person believes are most important. He claims there are six moral foundations. Everyone builds their morality using a combination of them. Objectively speaking, none are more virtuous than any other. They are equally valid and beautiful, and Christians must aspire to own all of them.

The six moral foundations are:

1. Care - Protecting others from harm.

2. Fairness - Upholding justice, while sanctioning those who cheat.

3. Loyalty - Being loyal to one's group, community, or nation.

4. Authority - Respecting tradition and legitimate authority figures.

5. Purity - Valuing purity and sacredness, and having disgust of degradation.

6. Liberty - Resisting oppression and the domination of others.

According to Haidt, people who are naturally conservative tend to base their moral decisions on foundations 3-6 – loyalty, authority, purity, and liberty. People who are liberal tend to base their moral views on the first two foundations - care and fairness, and the last - liberty.

Which is correct? All of them. That’s the point. They’re all Christian virtues and we are called to honor each. When we do, we will find ourselves understanding each other better across the political divide. More importantly, we will assume good motives in the other, rather than judging each other as evil. That is a marvelous starting point for the true empathy, love, and unity, which our country so badly needs.”

Most rational people have, in the last few weeks, reached a point of despair. “Things can’t continue like this”, we have said. “Something must change before we do irreparable harm to the nation and all its people." Yet, this starting point of unity quickly evaporates as we point the finger of blame for our violent disunity at ‘the other team’. Then, we demonize that team and assert that its motives are evil. ‘They want to destroy us ... they are intent on wickedness... etc’.

Haidt is correct. We can make positive assumptions about other people’s motives. We don’t have to assume evil intent. We can disagree about a policy, but do so believing that our opponents are good people who are motivated by virtue, even if it is a different virtue from the one that motivates us.

As long as we are calling each other evil and declaring that ‘they’ want to destroy good things and promote wickedness, we cannot overcome our deadly polarization. We must do better – and St John’s, the Beacon, can show the way.