Humanity rebuilds what inhumanity has destroyed

Every year since 1973 Gallup has been polling American citizens about their confidence in institutions. It asks, “Please tell me how much confidence you, yourself, have in [blank].” This year’s results found that trust in all 16 institutions polled was down for the second year in a row. For 10, confidence is at its lowest point since the survey began. 

At the very bottom of the list, Congress has the trust of only one in 14 Americans. Instead of doing its job of building consensus and passing reasonable laws, congress is usurping judicial and executive powers by its illegal J-6 committee. This star chamber seems designed to quash any investigation into congressional wrongdoing while running roughshod over the constitutional rights of anybody it wants to bring down. Shamefully, Representative Cheney is its chief enabler. 

According to the survey, neither television news (11%), nor newspapers (16%) can convince even one in five Americans that they are doing the job of truth-telling. The criminal justice system is in the same boat. Its job is to prosecute criminals with stringently equal justice under law. But only one in seven trusts it to do so.

The presidency (23%) and the Supreme Court (25%) garner the trust of only one in four citizens. Thus, all three branches of the federal government—legislative, executive and judicial—have lost the confidence of more than three-quarters of American citizens.

In a constitutional republic, the cure should happen at the ballot box. But that is plagued by a similar lack of confidence. In January, an ABC/Ipsos poll found that only one in five Americans was “very confident” in the integrity of our election system. That, too, is down from the previous year. A whopping 59 percent of Republicans answered that they are “not so confident” or “not confident at all.” By extrapolation, fewer than 18% of Wyomingites are “very confident” in national elections. 

With confidence in government institutions at an all-time low, and confidence in our corrective mechanism equally low, there is wide-spread concern about the future of the republic. What are concerned citizens to do?

The first thing to be said is: Don’t panic. Panic never helps anything. Rather, it usually makes matters worse. Panic acts hastily without either a clear understanding of the problem or a realistic strategy to make headway. Lashing out in the fog of war too often leads to “friendly fire.” That damages good people and further diminishes our ability to address the real problem. 

Undeniably, it is emotionally satisfying to lash out at bogeymen. That’s why it is so tempting. The injustice of our justice system, the suppression of truth in media, the unconstitutional actions of Congress and the executive branch, are all the panicked reactions of people caught up in the moment. Our response must rise above that.

“If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you…” wrote Rudyard Kipling, “Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it.”

The second thing to say is: Don’t give up. Satan is the master of discouragement and deceit. The two are related. His power lies in lies. Even more formidable than his overwhelming power is his ability to convince you that you can never win—and so never to start the fight.

Always remember that the challenges we face have been faced down by countless thousands before our generation. Consider the dauntless hearts of America’s Founders who took up arms against the world's most powerful navy. Learn about the riots, lynchings, and societal convulsions leading up to the Civil War. And yet civilization prevailed. Consider the knife-edge uncertainty of American G.I.s who loaded onto landing craft in preparation for D-Day.

Each generation must face its own call to arms. God alone gives the victory. But those yet unborn will judge whether and how you answered the call. To channel saints Ignatius and Augustine, work like it all depends on you; but pray because it all depends on God.

Finally, be human. Recognize that the collapse of institutional confidence is not an inevitable result of their humanity, it is a result of their inhumanity. Inhumanity allows the ends to justify any means necessary. It dispenses with principles in a mad scramble to get its way. In the long run, this never works. Such short-sightedness trashes the institution in the near run and fails to achieve the ultimate goal.

Speak the truth even if it causes you to lose the argument. Insist on justice even when you are in the wrong. Remain respectful no matter how vehemently you disagree. Have the courage to speak up even when you know it will bring pain. 

These are the things that make us human. These are the things that will rebuild our world.