A Call for Civic Peace
Peace is not the absence of political disagreements and unity of thought. Peace is not when a smaller power like Ukraine is forced to surrender to a large empire like Russia. (This is not peace and will result in genocide.) Peace is when humans from across the political spectrum exist together, learn from each other. Peace is when politicians are free to express their opinions without fear of being murdered for holding an unpopular opinion. Peace is when professionals from other religious are allowed to exist and enter public spaces without being killed. Peace is when Catholics and Protestants can go see a movie together and grab dinner afterwards. Achieving peace starts at the civic level with us, and when we work together for the greater good and work for positive change despite our differences, we can see a whole new America—one that I believe is possible.
Artist depiction of the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901, by Achille Beltrame. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
Across the nation, the ugly forces of political violence are endangering American lives and deterring people form civic and political involvement. Increasingly, politicians are putting their lives at risk by serving their nation. This strikes at the very core of our identity as a democracy and thrusts us into extremely dangerous territory of prolonged armed conflict. We need an urgent and immediate ceasefire to all culture wars and to start seeing each other as human beings, arguing through ideas and not the sword.
Within these past two months, we have been confronted by two horrific and senseless acts of political violence from both sides of the aisle. In both instances, people claimed violence only came from “the other side” or scapegoated entire religious or ethnic groups for causing the violence—claims that seek only to fracture and divide. We need to stop this culture of trolling and become a nation of peace builders seeking true peace and reconciliation. The path to armed conflict has been seen time and time again throughout the world, from Colombia to Ireland. In each case, many innocent lives have were lost or destroyed. This is no means a call for “bothsidesism” but for a serious moment of national reconciliation and introspection. If we are to end the violence, we must reject the scapegoating of any religious or ethnic group before it is too late.
“[Political violence] strikes at the very core of our identity as a democracy and thrusts us into extremely dangerous territory of prolonged armed conflict.”
Hyperpolarization is a distraction from the larger problems facing the world. Russia, China, Iran, and Venezuela work overtime in bot and disinformation labs, attempting to turn people in the United States, France, Poland, Germany, and other democracies against themselves instead of against their Alliance of Autocracy. Dissidents from such countries are bravely taking a stand and being crushed due to the collaborative nature of the network.
Those on the far-left and the far-right are engaged in rogue acts of violence that do not represent their entire political side—let alone entire communities. These are the choices of hateful individuals, and I firmly condemn them.
Today’s hyperpolarization stokes the flames of hatred and brainwashes people into committing atrocities. One need not dig too deep to find examples. There was an attempted arson and hate crime against the governor of Pennsylvania’s residence. This appalling act was due to one individual consuming violent and xenophobic rhetoric from the internet and groups. Two innocent Jewish young professionals were murdered due to their religion. This is not the fault of the entire Democratic Party (many Jewish people are Democrats) but of a specific set of violent and antisemitic subcultures that is springing up around America. Minnesota state politicians were murdered (along with one of their dogs) in a horrific act of targeted violence. I saw some people on Twitter attempt to blame “evangelicals,” but “evangelical” (not a centralized denomination) encompasses millions of people with different beliefs, who are generally peace-loving individuals who value life. This again, is representative only of one extreme man belonging to an extreme sect.
The search to blame entire ideological or political groups for acts of violence only results in the cycles of violence going unaddressed. People need to firmly condemn violence regardless of what side it is coming from. The vast majority of Americans, whether they are Jewish, Christian, Catholic, Muslim, Atheist, White, Latino, Black, Asian, liberal, or conservative, want to live in peace. These acts of political terror (as they should be called) are causing innocent lives to be lost or destroyed based on very fringe and fanatic elements. In cases like the Irish Troubles, both Protestant and Catholic “sides” committed violence, but the vast majority of both Catholics and Protestants simply wanted to live in peace. The same with Colombia during their years of civil wars.
In the United States, the culture wars have reached such ridiculous and absurd heights that we are becoming suspicious and paranoid of entire large segments of our population and seeing them so dehumanized that violence is being perpetrated against them. This is a dangerous trend for democracy and needs to end immediately. We need more conversations between people of different backgrounds, and more listening. We can still rebuild peace if we are willing to learn from countries that have had armed conflicts by examining what they have done to foster peace and create free and open societies.
All violence against innocent people must be condemned. The hyperpolarization is being stoked by foreign autocratic actors and a toxic culture of dehumanization. One of the most fundamental human rights is the right to life. This right should not only be protected when it is unborn, but also after birth and throughout life. The lives of men, women, children, and animals are all precious. We need an open political space where people are free to flourish and challenge ideas and a culture that embraces learning from those who are of different identity groups; instead of generalizing about a whole group, we must learn about people as individuals. Hyperpolarization is blinding us to the greater problems of the world, such as the alliance of autocracy. There are rogue and violent actors from every ideology and political viewpoint, and none of them are excusable. There are also large numbers of people working toward a path forward of true and enduring peace.
Peace is a concept that is often misunderstood. Peace is not the absence of political disagreements and unity of thought. Peace is not when a smaller power like Ukraine is forced to surrender to a large empire like Russia. (This is not peace and will result in genocide.) Peace is when humans from across the political spectrum exist together, learn from each other. Peace is when politicians are free to express their opinions without fear of being murdered for holding an unpopular opinion. Peace is when professionals from other religious are allowed to exist and enter public spaces without being killed. Peace is when Catholics and Protestants can go see a movie together and grab dinner afterwards. Achieving peace starts at the civic level with us, and when we work together for the greater good and work for positive change despite our differences, we can see a whole new America—one that I believe is possible.
