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It’s January 7, the morning after the latest installment of “I never thought this could happen here”.
Yesterday, January 6, 2021, gave us images of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., being invaded by violent persons who fought with law enforcement, damaged the parts of the building, and even found time to take selfies as they occupied various legislative parts of the facility.
This was all done while U.S. senators and representatives were doing their thing with the electoral votes from the 2020 Presidential Election and later had to be evacuated for their safety
Because of the conflicts, that work was paused until the late evening hours and into the early morning.
I had a hope that yesterday’s breaking point leading to those images and actions would create an immediacy for unity and calm.
I was wrong.
Division in the country
Based on the votes by lawmakers during the objections to the electoral votes in Arizona and Pennsylvania, it’s apparent we still can’t agree if the election was honest or not.
Looking at today’s reactions to what the outsiders did at the Capitol, we can’t even agree who was responsible for the damage.
Was it the work of over-zealous pro-Trump patriots or was it Antifa in disguise trying to cause a ruckus?
We can’t agree on what a protest is, “peaceful” or otherwise, and we can’t agree on when it is appropriate to protest and how the protestors should be treated by law enforcement.
Some people who were on opposite sides of this debate last year during protests concerning issues of race seemingly have different opinions regarding protests in relation to yesterday’s events. Some of them are even having their words and tweets used against them several months later to illustrate a double standard.
And before I get accused of not bringing it up — yes, abortion — we can’t agree on that either.
These disagreements are seeping into our faith lives as good Catholics are taking sides in these debates and arguing with their brothers and sisters in the Church.
What’s a good Catholic to do?
Division in the Church
Not only have we seen an increase of division in the country, but it’s in the Church too.
We can’t agree on forms of the Mass, music, role of the laity, or what issues priests should be exhausting their time and voices on.
Go back a few years and a study showed that we can’t even agree that Christ is present in the Eucharist.
This is no way to live, but it’s really nothing new.
This goes all the way back to Genesis.
We are Cain and Abel. Are we our brother’s keeper?
Dialogue and discourse have become almost impossible to do.
We’re “right”. They’re “wrong”.
The more we disagree and keep to ourselves about it, the less of a chance anyone has to resolve anything.
The only options in those instances are to either ignore the others or separate totally from them.
Would that make everything better? “You go on your side and I’ll go on mine?”
What happens when I only agree with nine out of 10 of your beliefs on life?
Do you banish me to the other side over that one disagreement? Will I dirty up your side that much?
I’ve written before about the need and hope for unity and that we could all break things down into common goals and go from there.
After yesterday, I think we need to step back even further and acknowledge our divisions. Let’s be honest and define where we all differ, both in our country and in the Church. At least maybe then we’ll know what we’re fighting about?
The look of unity
I have to wonder if unity has ever existed.
People my age (I’m 37 if you care or forgot) look toward the “Greatest Generation” times as the shining example of unity.
Was that true, or were those just the victorious images that survived over the last 70 to 80 years?
Decades before the Civil War, our country was already coming apart.
By 1791, there was already a split over the issue of a national bank, which led to the formal forming of political parties, which still bless us with their presence today.
Even in the early Church, the Jewish-people-turned-Christians were doing their thing and the Gentiles-turned-Christians were doing theirs.
Let’s go back slightly further. I’m sure the 12 Apostles weren’t even on the same page most of the time, yet somehow they made it work. Or maybe one of them had a piece of chalk and said “you stay on your side of the line”.
I’ll level with you, I’m too busy lamenting over our divisions to come up with any solutions for unity.
Maybe it can’t be done for a while. Maybe we need to step back and find out where we ourselves stand before we work things out.
How long can we survive though without getting in each other’s way?
I’m sure some will accuse me of calling for separatism, but that’s not it at all. I’m calling that we admit that we’re already there, and that is not the ideal we want for our future.