Finding Grace in Politics

Why we need a simple and timeless perspective

Humans are preoccupied with ownership and choice. In liberal societies, in particular, we relish and pursue the freedom to govern ourselves. We are engrossed with control, and with it, we chase intelligence, achievement, and success. We reject that we cannot determine reality and its fates. Nevertheless, human’s continue to make mistakes: perfection escapes us.

The conclusion of William Ernest Henley’s poem Invictus is a snapshot into this unending tension each of us holds.

I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

We may be captains of our own souls, but are we the masters of our fate? Humans do not solely determine our abilities and opportunities. We do not choose the life we live, where we are born, and how we grow up. Instead, we all shape our societies collectively, through a messy mix of choices and natural events we often fail to understand and predict. Individuals do have responsibility, but it is complex. Nevertheless, we treat others like they are in control, and we blame them for their mistakes. We need a new approach.

We have to choose grace.

Life Isn’t Fair

There is a common adage you have probably heard: “life isn’t fair.” Many of us have said it when things did not go our way. Unfortunately, even though we know that life — the system — is unfair, we blame others for life’s undue results. Social psychologists call this attribution bias. Instead of taking a step back to understand how unintentional circumstances— or even ourselves — may be responsible, we point our finger. We assign guilt.

Humanity has forever inhabited a social environment we alone do not govern. In search of control, humans organized in groups though what we call politics. With government, humans have endeavored to create economic prosperity, enhance individual rights, and educate people. Yet it has resorted to perilous actions, too: fanaticism, abuse of power, and conflict.

Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.

— Victor Frankl

Each individual does have some responsibility, and we should seek to understand the impact of individuals choices. But wherever you sit, the individuals around you are not wholly responsible for the history, science, norms, interests, and structures that inform our world.

While striving to build great societies, we have not accepted that our lives are determined in large part by factors we cannot control. We try to assign responsibility for various stimuli to people, rather than viewing them as a product of uncontrollable circumstances. We want to be safe and secure with people we trust, and push away those we do not. As a result, the doctrine of politics in most communities becomes blame and indecency.

Obsessing with Control

Democrats generally believe that government can change the scales of justice — if only we could intervene, they say. Republicans, on the other hand, put their faith in the free market and individual freedom. Look around: neither side has solved the world’s problems. Perhaps they will, and perhaps one is right, but the odds are not in their favor.

It is easy to be against something. In fact, the concept of “groupthink” says humans generally establish group norms against an out-group. Indeed, it is much harder to work with others to make something happen, together.

President George W. Bush recently said, “Power can be addictive…it can be corrosive.” Humans seek power because we think it will get us the control we desire and the ownership we feel can make everything okay. We detest childlike dependency and spend our whole lives trying to become independent. But is independence a holy grail? With it, we become prone to praising our own way of life and shirking others. We become out of touch with the interests and needs of our neighbors. We lose our humanity.

Instead, we should choose grace.

We can choose, to some extent, how we perceive the world we live in and the people we encounter. If we understand others and ourselves as products of interconnected systems and structures, we choose sympathy. We choose love. We choose friendship. We choose humility. We choose grace. For better or worse, we are who we are because of who others are. If we treat others without grace, we can only expect to be disgraced ourselves.

Is Compassion the Answer?

Our approach to politics would benefit from grace. Grace can be defined as a disposition to or an act or instance of kindness, courtesy, or clemency. Grace is practiced through compassion, and compassion is realized through interdependence. Interdependence — the experience of trying together — is what helps us learn, grow, and choose together.

In both the modern world and throughout history, politics has lacked compassion and resisted interdependence. We may be compassionate — with graceful understanding — for our constituents, allies, or affinity groups. But we fail to relate to those we disagree with because it is easy to blame them for our inability to control. We fail to trust, because others fail to trust us.

In the face of this conflict, we should try to choose compassion. Indeed, the capacity for every individual and group to try — to make an effort — is what makes the human race unique.

Sadly, we resort to labels. We judge. Where has that gotten us? We are not the judge and we are not in control. We must embrace the reality that we are profoundly imperfect and not in control. As we trust and put our hope in political solutions, we have to recognize that we all struggle. If we practice grace, we begin to struggle together, and carry one another through.

Resisting the Black and White

People live in a world of black and white — a world of contrast — because it makes us feel like we are in control. We want have something to fight for and fight against: good and evil, conservative or liberal, theist or atheist. The extreme is comfortable. It assures us to see the other side as the imperfection to our righteous way.

We have to find the grey. We have to recognize the importance of grace and humility. If we do not depend on others, we resort to our obsession with control and act selfishly, for better or worse. Instead, we should embrace a perspective of mutual interdependence in which our interests are shared and our understanding is common, even when we disagree — and we will.

The people in the the Heineken ad above did not have a chance to judge or blame their peers: instead, they found common ground. As they worked together, they found the value of depending on each other. In politics, we should embrace interdependence and personal responsibility to engage. With this perspective, we will begin to sacrifice for and rely on our fellow citizens. We will practice grace.

We can find freedom in knowing that our lives, and collective humanity, are built on a complex web of choices and reactions that we have some control over, but mostly, entirely none. In the face of modern politics, it would behoove us to realize that — and begin working with others to shape it together. Don’t get angry and walk out. Stay, listen, and try grace.