Blinded by the Right
In the New Testament, Chapter 9 in John’s Gospel describes a man blind from his birth whom Jesus healed. When they heard of the man, the disciples, reflecting Jewish understanding that God punished sinners with these sorts of misfortunes, asked Jesus who sinned, the man or his parents? Jesus both rejected that idea and demonstrated that his message was about healing, not judgment. Then the story gets really interesting. Some Pharisees saw the whole thing. They were upset that Jesus questioned their view of reality AND had the audacity to heal on the Sabbath. So they went to talk to the previously blind man about his experience. They encouraged him to attribute his healing to God rather than Jesus, since Jesus was clearly a sinner (having healed on the Sabbath day), and (based on their understanding) a sinner can’t cure blindness. The newly seeing man held his ground. He understood what it felt like to be unjustly labeled a sinner. He said, “Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see” The Pharisees eventually grew frustrated and threw the man out of the temple. Jesus sought the man out and helped him better understand the new theology by which he was healed. Once he heard it, the man saw the world in a new light.
What this whole story reminded me of is the most recent “deal” in Michigan to balance the budget.
Stick with me for minute and you’ll see what I mean.
Both the Republicans and the Democrats were facing an intractable problem. State revenues were declining and a tax which represented a significant portion of those revenues was repealed by the Republicans with nothing to take its place. The Republicans claimed that the state should be able to make up the difference cutting government spending. The Democrats said that there had to be tax increases too.
The government shut down for a day or so and a patchwork solution was crafted, but the process was seriously flawed.
Both sides were so invested in their positions and the political advantage they might gain from the process that they lost sight of the whole reason they were elected – to govern responsibly. This was never for a moment about what was best for the people of Michigan. It was only about what was best for each political party.
The Republicans felt that they could sit on the sidelines, block any attempts at compromise, blame the Governor for the problem, and then savage the solution that inevitably was going to include a mix of cuts and taxes. The Republican never detailed the extent of the cuts they said needed to be made. Those who did attempt to analyze that claim found that among other things they included deep cuts to funding for higher education - this at a time when our state desperately needs more college graduates rather than fewer.
Though I doubt the Republicans were serious. If they did have their way, Michigan would have become a poor southern state – no industry, no tax base, no education, no future.
The Democrats were no better. State government has to get smaller, but the Democrats appeared more interested in protecting special interests and fixing the blame on the Republicans. Both parties left intact a life-time health care plan for current and past legislators that clearly is an expensive perk that the state can no longer afford.
To the Democrats credit though, they did at least get a deal done even though they knew they were going to take a beating for it from the Republicans.
Jack Lessenberry has written extensively on this matter if you’d like to learn more.
The problem is that there is no Jesus walking the halls of Lansing able to heal this problem - at least not physically. Instead the problem has to be healed by praying to know that the stubborn self-righteous behavior of both sides does not reflect God. Our God is Love and all His creation reflects that Love in truly seeking their own in another’s good. We also have to pray to free ourselves of the temptation to be caught up in all of the blaming and judging that both parties would like to see us engage in. Both parties have to be healed of their willful blindness and adopt a new politics of compromise or else we are going to have to throw them out.