Respecting the President
Right
now few things are a greater threat to our country than the venomous
anger we express toward other Americans with whom we disagree. Many
politicians and pundits write off such division saying that it's what's
great about America, but this kind of bitter division is not a positive
expression of our freedom.
For eight years many Christians and
conservatives, of which I am one, did everything in their power to
destroy Bill Clinton justifying it as righteous protesting. Over the
course of the following eight years many liberals did everything in
their power to discredit and undermine George W. Bush. Neither of these
two presidents were anywhere near perfect, but they were (are) the
president of our country. What this means is that for 16 years a
substantial minority within our country has had a vested interest in
seeing the president utterly fail and many have acted to ensure that he
would.
It's time to reverse the trend. This group is devoted
to the idea that the president is worthy of respect and that our
country is better off when people of all political persuasions support
him.
The president of the United States should be treated with respect for the following reasons:
- Whether we like him or not, he was selected by the majority of our
peers. Their opinions matter and should be regarded as important.
- Whether we like him or not, he is the most powerful person in the world. That power must be acknowledged.
- Whether we like him or not, he is uniquely positioned to do great good.
- Whether we like him or not, he is the caretaker of our country. It benefits us all if he is successful.
- Whether we like him or not, he is our ambassador to the world. It
speaks well of us to the rest of the world if we esteem the leader we
chose.
- Whether we like him or not, treating him with dignity and
honor nurtures a national environment of harmony and, when appropriate,
respectful disagreement. Conversely, despising and deriding the
president compromises our ability to engage in honest discussion for
the greater good and causes us to deteriorate into a nation that is
easily manipulated by the powerful. It may seem like a stretch, but I'm
convinced that respecting our president lessens the influence of the
often inflammatory and manipulative media.
- Whether we like him or not, respecting our president sets a precedent of respect between us all.
- Whether we like him or not, it is in our religious DNA to honor the
president. Christians especially engage in willful sin when the curse,
dishonor, and slander the president. For people of many religious
persuasions it is morally right and even a command of God to show right
respect to the president.
With
this in mind, I urge those whose candidate did not win to handle the
defeat with maturity and class. I also urge supporters of Obama to win
with dignity and graciousness.
Further, I urge those voters
whose candidate was defeated to support the winner. We should actively
root for his success and for the success of his policies. When he
succeeds, we succeed.
None of this is to say that we must
agree with the president. There are two categories of disagreement that
I think we should conceive of differently. The first is disagreement
regarding the means of achieving agreed upon goals. While I may be
convinced that one economic system is the way to economic success; I
should still support a president who advocates another system, but
still seeks economic success. The second type of disagreement is over
social and moral issues. Though I may never agree with a pro-choice
president on the issue of abortion, I can express that disagreement
lawfully and respectfully knowing that reasoned debate and honest
persuasion will accomplish much more than hateful words. Either way,
we're entitled to disagreement, but we should disagree constructively
and never seek to undermine our president with our words or actions.
It's
time for us to respect the president again; whether it be in agreement
or in disagreement. It's time for us to root for his policies and root
for America even if it makes our side look bad.
Join us in
restoring civility, brotherly and sisterly respect, patriotism, and
healthy discussion to American politics and culture.
Let's let November 4th be the beginning of a new way of speaking, acting, and thinking politically.
- Matt Whitman