Nothing less than a great daring in the face of overwhelming odds can achieve the inner security in which fear cannot possibly survive. – Howard Thurman
To begin, I want to share a few stories with a common thread.
* * 1 * *
“Listen, we are all good people here,” Jim said. It was the third time I had heard him refer to himself as good. Here was a 65ish year-old successful businessperson assuring me of his goodness. It softened me. In person conversations always do. It is hard not to see the humanity of someone up close.
He described why he was voting for Paxton and why his two friends were abstaining from voting. They all identified as conservative. We talked for over an hour, and had a thoughtful conversation about the economy, immigration, AI, religion, Nationalism, global unrest.
I was surprised by some of their answers, what they supported and what they didn’t. It reminded me that we once could disagree on policy issues and come away better for it. We leaned into disagreements and hard topics. My husband, Paul, mostly asked questions and showed up as a mirror to them — direct and challenging without raising the emotional temperature. It was one of the most enjoyable conversations we have had in a long time.
* * 2 * *
Two weeks ago, Paul received a text from a spiritual mentor, and now Texas Baptist minister. It was in response to Paul asking if he saw Paxton as good and Talarico as bad. He was being intentionally provocative.
His pastor’s response was unapologetic and revealing:
- I never said Paxton was good.
- If you think Talarico is good, it is obvious that I have not been your spiritual mentor.
Hmmm.
* * 3 * *
I am partway through Bonnie Kristian’s book, In Defense of Evangelicalism. As a former Evangelical, I was curious to understand her posture of defense — strong enough to write a book about it. She argues that everyday Evangelicals are not as bad as so many have made them out to be. She admits Evangelicals have rightly earned a reputation for having a persecution complex.
I appreciated her honesty as I grew up embattled and ready to defend. But, she argues, they have been unfairly targeted and blamed. She says most evangelicals are just everyday people, sincere people, acting in good faith, and often not political. The many are being judged by the extremes of the few. I hear her saying throughout, Evangelicals are just good ordinary people.
* * * * *
Nobody is a villain in their own story. We’re all the heroes of our own stories. – George R. R. Martin
All three stories touch on a core desire to be good and right. I will call it the “good person” defense. This defense creates a sort of bubble that can only be popped from the inside. Think Glinda the Good. I am making light of it intentionally as I think we need to hold it loosely, to play with it, to recognize it.
I am fifty-six and I still got irked last week when my mom pointed out that I don’t like to be wrong. I felt myself bracing, defensive, tripped over my words, caught myself, and burst out laughing. I am doing the very thing I am denying I do.
I used to describe the town where we lived as a bubble within the bubble. We belonged to an exclusive club, lived in a gated community where our kids attended a small IB charter school. It was utopic until it wasn’t. People are Peopley. Everywhere. Not good or bad, just human.
But insulated people have more to protect. Bubbles are a bit thicker, reinforced by a good Christian defense. I know these defenses well because at one point, I wore them as a badge of honor.
The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil. – Hannah Arendt
Arendt’s concept of the banality of evil challenges the notion of some great evil other. Instead it says everyday ordinary people are capable of committing unthinkable atrocities. Arendt realized you don’t need sadistic villains to commit monstrous acts; you just need ordinary people to stop questioning. She speaks directly to our friends at coffee, to the earnest Evangelicals, to the defensive Baptist minister, to you and to me.
“Good people” stay silent instead of speaking up. “Good people” look away when faced with someone’s suffering. “Good people” defend the powerful instead of the weak. “Good people” blame the defenseless. “Good people” hurt people. Our goodness is not a defense. It’s a prison.
Tomorrow, November 3, final votes will be cast for the U.S. midterm election. I feel a collective angst. Something is shifting. The world is watching. Yes, people are exhausted, scared, disheartened, and hungry for change. But people are also engaged, active, hopeful, and empowered. As votes are cast, I carry both hope and fear around every vote counting and about the completion of a free and fair election.
Today, I am reminding myself, I love America not for her goodness, but her honesty. Not for her defense, but her courage. Not for her perfection, but her integrity. Not for her resignation, but her determination. Not for her power but for her care for the powerless. That’s the America I have loved. America is the story of each of us and all of us, the good and the bad, at our best and at our worst.
