Presidential Election 2024

To family, friends and colleagues, thinking about our grandchildren in this election:

A Third and Fourth Time of Trial for Our Nation

On the eve of an election that will determine the future, not so much of my life at my age but, of generations to come, I feel I must not be silent. Sending money, writing postcards and canvasing is not enough. Whatever insights I have I must share, hoping to elicit responses from others so that we may collectively engage at a level as never before in my lifetime. We are in the third trial of our nation to decide if our experiment in the notion that all are created equal, sustained for over two centuries of democratic government for our young republic, will be sustained.

I write this letter fully realizing that this has not been a perfect Union. We have been built by oppressing groups as much as making progress toward living up to the noble words of our nation’s founding. We are not a perfect nation.

As one who has benefited from this nation, I must declare myself at this moment to stand on the side of a more inclusive nation for the sake of our grandchildren’s future. This election is not about individual well-being alone; it is about sustaining a national character and it’s still evolving inclusive institutions that are essential to individual well-being for all.

Our first trial was for independence, instituting a governing system that had a vision for a humane country, even though it was at the expense of native populations, slavery and the marginalization of women.

Our second trial was for the emancipation of slaves which still took over a century to insure their rights at least in key legislation, if not in practice. This fight continues as it is now joined by the need to see ourselves as a more pluralistic society to embrace the new demographics and identities of our neighbors.

This is our third trial as a nation, to live our commitment that all people deserve dignity, safety and a home, as our parents and grandparents were able to find in our country. This trial expanded to embrace the equality of women, gender identity, sexual orientation and differently abled individuals.

In the spirit of acknowledging our gains for a more inclusive Union, we also have to acknowledge that the difficulty of inclusion is not new, it was very much present at our origin as a nation. For example, notably the otherwise admirable Ben Franklin objected to the influx of foreign speaking Germans who lived in separate communities fearing that they might eventually replace his brand of white people. We have to understand that this impulse to exclude has always been there. But we have also found ways to be a more inclusive and diverse polity and culture that we believe is our strength.

Today we are challenged once again to open ourselves to diversity. It is of course different and more challenging. Today we are not just hoping to integrate the new neighbor, “we the people” are now being asked to embrace a future where we will be a country of minorities and new awarenesses about sexual and gender identity. To increase our challenges, new religious groups and those choosing no religion are part of our diverse landscape.

Acceptance of these new realities may be difficult, but it is not impossible. In fact, it is our responsibility to future generations to make this work. A vibrant pluralism with mutual respect is our only option. Each community must be able to live out its own sense of wholeness while at the same time being part of a larger solidarity with our neighbor who is different than us.

In reality we also live as a nation in the midst of a fourth trial, a global trial, whether we will even survive as a planet, due to climate change or technological Armageddon. Again, these various trials must inform our choices we make in this election, for the sake of our grandchildren and their children. Yes, these choices have personal consequences, yet these personal concerns cannot be met without a healthy nation that seeks to live up to its values that transcend personal interests.

The Choice is Clear to Me

As I track the media and read as much as I can about this moment in our history, I have observed two vastly different motivations for voting. The first is very much focused on what I as an individual will benefit from my vote. I hear people say: “My taxes will go down; my food bill will be reduced and my job or my right to arm myself will not be taken from me.” On the surface this is a reasonable self-interested motivation. When people say their top concerns are “economic” or “immigration,” this is what I hear. They are being personally harmed.

To be explicit, this is what the slogan “Make America Great Again” means: “Make me great again.” Or if this motivation adds a larger collective element, it is to “Make my specific religious or ethnic group great again.” This is not enough. It will be self-defeating and will destroy our nation, leading to more divisions and violence. A nation built on private interests, personal desires or one tribe, will not survive.

The second motivation is concerned less about personal loss or gain but the loss of the character of the nation. I hear people say: “I desire less division. I want stronger institutions that serve all. I want us to live our constitutional ideals. I want there to be a larger sense of community that works toward more inclusivity, whether religious, racial, ethnic or gender.” I want to save our democracy and protect human rights.”

When the Harris campaigns speak of a “caring economy” they mean it is an economy that serves all. They remind us that “reproductive health care for women” is not just for women, it impacts the whole character of the nation and not just women. Though I realize it is not

enough to espouse these commitments. They have to be implemented in a respectful and loving way, realizing that all may not agree.

Therefore, I stand firmly in the second motivation. I know almost all of you receiving this letter do as well. I think we need to make our commitments as public and forceful as possible. I am also aware that some of you receiving this letter may not fully agree. Let us begin a conversation. Tell me what you think and why.

I Have Great Sympathy for Tradition and I Also Have Concerns About Our Modern World

I believe we have much to learn from our traditions, especially cultural and religious. However, we cannot hide from our past injustices. Facing them squarely will help us to learn and to build a new future. Our traditions hold a deep well of resources from which we can learn, but only if we disentangle them from our misuse of them for private self-serving purposes and purely political agendas. These traditions at their best call us to acknowledge our shortcomings with humility and help amplify our positive and cooperative instincts rather them amplify our imperfections.

I as a person who has a religious practice in my local church and who has helped to support other institutions that embrace inter-religious understanding as well as respecting self-defined “spiritual” or non-religious world views, I believe the current politicization of religion is not only anti-religious but anti-human. Let me explain.

A critique of the misuse of religion, regardless of the faith tradition, must come more forcefully from within the tradition. As a practicing Christian this is my responsibility. First, there is nothing Christian about “Christian Nationalism.” I take solace that even within the conservative/evangelical wing of Christianity there are very forceful criticisms of Trump and the extreme wing of the MAGA movement.

The writers for Christianity Today (CT), a magazine founded by evangelist Billy Graham, have broken with the MAGA movement. In a nutshell they see MAGA as loving a false god, not just Trump, but what they see as the “good life” represented by an artificial and fake image of a “successful businessman” who promises to give them what they feel they have been denied. The exact words from CT are worth quoting and are chilling:

The assassination attempt on Trump “…is not the first act of political violence since Trump descended the golden escalator in 2015—a period when violence has come to our nation’s capital, members of Congress and the Supreme Court. I fear it won’t be the last. I lament that rather than offering words of peace or patriotism, Trump expressed the most visceral sentiment of his movement: ‘Fight, fight, fight.’”

The author of these words, Mike Cosper, is the senior director of CT’s Media. He concludes with: “I pray for the day when Christian affections will see the picture [of Trump raising his

fist] as tragic rather than triumphant, a cause to weep rather than triumphant, a call to repentance rather than a vision of the good life.” (Christianity Today, September/October 2024, “The Soul of MAGA.”)

I would also add that what is needed is more direct engagement with the open and sensitive members of the MAGA movement to address a hijacked Christianity in the name of a political movement. It is now clear that many self-identified “evangelicals,” over 40%, do not attend church or contribute to their churches. It is really a political movement not a religious movement.

Yes, there have been many atrocities committed in the name of Christianity. This must be acknowledged. I maintain that a religious/spiritual sensibility has also contributed some of the greatest acts of caring, traditions that have also influenced the values and similar acts among our “secular” neighbors. These values, spiritual and of the heart, are part of our civic culture that need to be reinforced.

I can also sympathize with many in the conservative voting block who are worried about the individualism in modern society that seems to put ultimate authority solely in the individual conscience, which leads to a competition among all of us with hyper freedoms, meaning: “to do whatever works for just me or my interest group.” I too have nostalgia for the ideal of simpler days of small communities and rural life where neighborly solidarity was the norm.

The fact is that this reality never really existed or that it often carried with it even more repressions when our lives were dictated by narrow singular world views or entrenched power. It is true that the modern world has brought us a more complex world with greater freedom of choice. This is an advance in our cultural evolution. The MAGA movement is in fact a product of this modern world—they had to make a choice. The key for all of us is how to combine this greater freedom with greater solidarity in a fragmented world.

Again, to me the choice in this election is clear. Either more self-interested destructive radical individualistic freedom causing greater divisions OR a respectful, careful engagement across all lines of division to create greater solidarity. This is not to say that the Harris campaign has laid out an exact path forward, but the instincts are there. The history of greater inclusion is on their side. They need our help and criticisms to accentuate these instincts and build on our cultural practice and noble values.

There is Hope for a Cultural Consensus, But It Will Take Work

I believe we have the resources within our history as a nation working toward our hope for a more perfect Union. I also believe in my lifetime I have experienced a flowering of attempts to meet our third and fourth time of trial.

I have worked for a long time for a vision of a more pluralistic world in social justice organizations and in my teaching. I believe there is a growing majority that also embraces

this vision. We want a more humane and peaceful nation where we can all flourish, living a rewarding and meaningful life in viable caring communities.

Let us look at the issues on which most Americans agree:

Here are some examples:

Abortion: Sixty-one percent of Americans think abortion should be legal in all or most cases (Pew Research Center, June 13).

LGBTQ+: Gallup notes in a June 2022 report that 70% of Americans support marriage between people of the same sex.

Gun control: Background checks are approved by 89% of the public. Banning assault weapons has 63% support, 64% want to ban high-capacity magazines and 60% want to have a nationwide database to track gun sales (ABC News, May 27).

Voting: Data for Progress reveals 66% of voters want to prevent state lawmakers from overturning elections, 60% support universal vote-by-mail and a majority want to make it easier to vote (Sept. 24, 2021).

Health care: Providing Medicare for all Americans to ensure everyone has health care coverage garners 69% support (The Hill, April 24, 2020).

Cannabis: NORML reveals from its April 8 research that 68% of Americans support legalizing cannabis, plus 60% favor expunging cannabis-related convictions.

Racial justice: Eighty-six percent of citizens agree that racism is a problem, and 87% believe that books that discuss race or slavery should never be banned (CBS News, Feb. 22).

Taxes: An Oct. 16, 2021, Vox article notes 71% of voters support raising taxes on the wealthiest 2% of Americans.

The Program for Public Consultation at the University of Maryland released an Aug. 7, 2020, report identifying nearly 150 issues on which the majority of Republicans and Democrats agree, including:

Social Security: Raising the cap on income subject to the payroll tax to $215,000 or more.

Poverty programs: Increasing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funding.

Energy and environment: Reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2% a year and providing tax incentives to promote clean energy.

Government reform: Overturn the Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court and regulate campaign financing.

International trade: The U.S. should continue participating in the World Trade Organization and rejoin the Trans-Pacific Partnership that former President Donald Trump abandoned in 2017.

Federal budget: Roll back the tax cuts from President Trump’s disastrous 2017 tax bill, impose a 4% surtax on income over $5 million and add a 1% surtax on corporate income over $100 million.

(Source:  Steve Corbin. Professor Emeritus of Marketing at University of Northern Iowa)

Are we a divided nation? At the level of important issues, we are not a 50/50 divided nation, as so much of the media rhetoric suggests. Even more important, these are issues if

enacted by our elected officials we would have a less toxic civic culture that does support diversity and inclusion. Even the issue of immigration has a majority approving the non-partisan bill that was ready for passage in Congress. I am aware that in various so-called “red states,” these percentages do not hold up.

The majority voices must be heard and amplified. If not, we will continue to be seduced into a false narrative about our nation. Of course, as we all recognize due to our outdated electoral college and a Senate that has been given too much weight to equal representation for each state, we are destined to be a nation ruled by a minority by virtue of the realities in these red states. This will have to change.

A solution: the majority needs to continue to gain a greater voice and boldness that its vision is the future of this country. Will this happen? Only with self-conscious effort and constant diligence for the sake of all, especially our grandchildren.

How did this majority vision arise? And where can we see it being institutionalized in our country? It can be seen in many voluntary organizations that represent these new views, for example, from environmental groups to spiritual gatherings that exist beyond organized religion. There has been a flourishing of affinity groups that are open to all identities for healthy lifestyles.

Cooperation and inclusiveness are championed in these new organizations. The visual arts, music, dance and even youth sports promote this new vision of wholeness for our society. Yes, not always perfect. All of these are emblematic of a new emerging American culture on a mass scale. They offer a daily ritualized practice to live this new reality.

The structures of our cultural messages also communicate this new inclusiveness. Even our media, and entertainment industry at their best, highlight the many faces, colors and shapes beyond just white male images and submissive women and people of color. It is in the air we now breathe. We need to recognize and affirm what we now know is true. In its ascendency since the cultural revolutions of the 1960s, at times we have taken our success to extremes with little regard for others not part of this new experience. We need to be more aware of our own shortcomings. I am heartened we have built in critics that can help keep our vision healthy and expanding.

Of course, there is a powerful voice and movement that has arisen in reaction to this inclusiveness and pluralistic future. It is organized. It is fearful. And it has been manipulated. Again, this movement can be understood as a response to the difficulty of living in a new complex world. We have individual freedoms in all levels of our lives. We have a chance to “decide” our religious affiliations, our political choices, our places to live, our gender identities, who we consider our life partner, etc. etc. etc. etc.

This is destabilizing for us all. It is clear that some in this movement have decided to “choose” organizations and worldviews that are totalizing so choice is minimized, and

certainty is a given. The irony is that this is still a choice. But it is not a future that will be healthy for all, especially when that vision is an exclusive one. “White nationalism” or nationalism or any color is not an option. It is a “reactionary” movement.

Unfortunately, this reactionary movement gets coverage in the press and in stories that make it appear larger than it is and also normalizes the worst elements in its movement. This has to be stopped, and the purveyors of this normalization have to be challenged. Selling newspapers or social media content for corporate gain is no justification for this behavior. It is unethical and counterproductive for the long run, even though it might have short-term self-interest for a few.

Only One Option in The Election

There is only one option for the future of a unified nation, living up to our motto “E Pluribus Unum,” Out of many one.

I go back to my original observations about motivations for voting. One is for a country going back to a vision of exclusiveness that never really existed. It may be comforting for some to hold on to this fiction or to now try to institute a nation only in their image. But the reality of this, if it even could occur, will be one from which someday they will rebel. If not them, their children.

I believe we need to choose the option of a Harris administration, not because it is perfect, but because it will help us struggle forth with our experiment of inclusiveness. Yes, this will be a future with more complex choices and some puzzling ambiguity. The good news is this is a future that gives us options for healthy personal choices and at the same time a humility and openness to others and their choices. It has to be a solidarity based on empathy, respect and grace. That is, “grace,” as in an “unmerited gift,” in spite of our best efforts. But we must make the effort, working to create what seems impossible in our country today. To make it possible is our hope and responsibility.

A start is to vote for a future which is slowly emerging in a new consensus, diverse and inclusive for all. I hope this is our legacy for future generations.

Harlan Stelmach

October 2024