Dick Cheney thinks John McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate was “a mistake.” “I like Governor Palin,” he told ABC News Sunday. “I’ve met her. I know her.” However, he believes that “based on her background—she had only been governor for, what, two years—I don’t think she passed that test of being ready to take over. And I think that was a mistake.”
Palin was in the news over the weekend, posting a tweet and Facebook photo showing her support for Chick-fil-A, which she called “a great business.” She is the latest political figure to insert herself into the controversy, after the mayors of Boston, Chicago and San Francisco have said they will try to keep the restaurant out of their cities. New York City’s mayor, a supporter of same-sex marriage, nevertheless disagreed: “Trampling on the freedom to marry whoever you want is exactly the same as trampling on your freedom to open a store.”
Do you remember a time when politics were this divisive? We used to watch candidates from rival parties lambast each other; now politicians publicly attack members of their own camp if they disagree with them. Winston Churchill was never more right: “In war, you can only be killed once, but in politics, many times.”
Alexis de Tocqueville, in his masterful Democracy in America, concluded that since we elect our leaders, “we get the government we deserve.” The state of our politics is a reflection of the state of our culture. And we are a nation divided on nearly every significant issue, from abortion to gay marriage to health care to war.
Why is our culture so fragmented? Billy Graham recently released a personal letter that diagnoses our problem: “The farther we get from God, the more the world spirals out of control.” Without the unifying commitment to biblical morality that our nation was founded upon, personal opinion has become the basis for our ethics. Fragmentation and division are therefore inevitable. And as Jesus noted, “every city or household divided against itself will not stand” (Matthew 12:25).
Is there any hope for our divisive nation apart from a sweeping moral and spiritual awakening? Have you prayed for such renewal in your church and community yet today? How are you using your influence to help others make Christ their King and find unity in his Kingdom? Dr. Graham’s assertion is just as true for Americans as for America. Are you closer to God or farther from him than you were yesterday?
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