These days, it seems like every election is the most consequential ever. That includes the midterms. Still, a majority of registered voters will likely opt out of exercising their Constitutional franchise on November 6 (even though a record turnout for mid-terms is anticipated).
YouGov recently conducted a poll of 8,000 Americans for the “Hidden Tribes of America” project. It reveals that only 14% of the public is “highly engaged” politically. This number includes people on the hard left and hard right who are fueled as much by hatred for each other as by their own values. Meanwhile, fully two-thirds of us are “politically exhausted,” and that includes 37% of us who are “politically disengaged” or “passive.”
These results do not bode well for our democracy, but I doubt they are surprising to anybody reading this. Most of the people I talk to – whether they lean left or right – are just tired of it all, if not outright disgusted at the gridlock, the partisanship, the tribalism, and loss of ideals that once defined us as a nation. Of course, if you’re part of that 14%, you are already shouting that those are all reasons to get involved! But we may not appreciate the extent to which our political peril, a downward spiral that is at least 25 years old, has psychologically pummeled otherwise responsible civic-minded people into a state of near hopelessness. (Let me just say that, even if you feel exhausted or disengaged, you can still vote, and I hope you do. Nobody but you and God need to know how you vote.)
But the YouGov poll isn’t all gloom and doom. In fact, one of its primary findings is that the 67% of voters who are “exhausted” are also flexible in their views and believe it is possible to find common ground. In addition, somewhat buried in the data is an indication that participation in faith communities contributes to a willingness to work across political divisions. While people who belong to religious congregations may be politically moderate, liberal, or conservative, they are far more likely than others to have compassion for those who disagree with them, and far less likely to contribute to the vitriol that comes from the most strident voices on the ends of the political spectrum. I have noted before that one factor contributing to the meanness of our public discourse is the decline in affiliation with religious communities. As people depend more and more on social media to meet their communal needs, they are exposed only to those who think just like them. In church congregations, we learn to be with people who have very different points of view, and affirm a spiritual kinship that runs deeper than political or cultural biases.
We are living in troubled times. But this poll is the latest evidence that our current political crisis is bringing greater clarity to who we are as followers of Christ, and what it means to bring salt and light to the world.
©2018 by J. Mark Lawson
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