The interesting thing about remaining in your hometown is the difficulty in transcending your childhood reputation. When I was in Mr. Scudder’s ninth-grade government class, I mispronounced the word seniority, pronouncing it as two words senior and ority. That was fifty years ago, and there are people in my town who still call me Ority. It reminds that in addition to whatever success I’ve enjoyed in life, I’m still someone who didn’t know how to pronounce the word seniority. It has a humbling effect, which in turn keeps me wanting to learn and grow and better myself.
It’s helpful to know the full scope of one’s nature, though it can be painful. I called my friend Jim earlier in the week and said, “I need to talk.” I had worked myself into a tizzy. So Jim and I met for lunch, and I started in about Donald Trump kidnapping the president of Venezuela and Renee Good of Minneapolis being murdered by an ICE agent, and I said to my friend Jim, “This is not America.”
He looked at me, incredulous, and said, “Are you kidding? This is quintessentially America. It is quintessentially American to invade smaller countries for economic interests. It is quintessentially American for armed men to kill unarmed people. There is nothing more American.”
That didn’t help my mood, and I spent the rest of the lunch arguing with him.
But then I got home, and looked it up. The United States of America has been at war, both declared and undeclared, 93% of the time since our founding. Donald Trump kidnapping Nicolás Maduro is the most American thing Donald Trump has ever done. In 2024, the last year we have complete statistics, there were only 10 days when someone in the U.S. wasn’t killed by a police officer. Black citizens are three times more likely to be shot by a police officer than White citizens.
When I read this, I recoiled, because I was raised to believe in the moral superiority of America, that we were uniquely virtuous, the guardian of democracy, lovers, and defenders of peace. That’s what I was taught, and I bet you were taught that, too. Unfortunately, this has caused us to ignore or deny other aspects of the American character. The same America who fed and rebuilt Europe after WWII is the same America who still seems unwilling to feed children of color and rebuild their communities. The same America who welcomed people from around the world into its cities and universities, who erected a statue in New York Harbor welcoming our ancestors, is the same American who now charges people $100,000 for an H1B visa to come here. This is the full scope of America’s character. At times generous, virtuous, and brave, at other times stingy, cruel, and cowardly. What kind of nation are we? What kind of people are we?
Back in my evangelical days, the importance of unflinching self-examination was drummed into my head. I was urged to face the truth about myself, to not deceive myself about my character. While I have rejected many aspects of evangelicalism, I have maintained my appreciation for the importance of unflinching self-examination, of examining yourself honestly and often, in order to discern not just your virtues and be encouraged, but to also know your vices and be perfected.
For we Quakers, this led to the spiritual practice of the queries, those questions we could regularly ask ourselves in order to gain a keener understanding of our true character, one of which, on the importance of honest self-evaluation, asks, “What unpalatable truths might you be evading?”
Here is an unpalatable truth this nostalgic, patriotic son of the Midwest has been evading. What if Donald Trump and the MAGA movement is not, as I have said, an American aberration, but rather a revelation of our America’s collective character? What if its racism reflects my racism, its greed reflects my greed, its deceit a reflection of my deceit, its indifference to the suffering and poor a reflection of my indifference to the suffering and poor?
The Irish writer and bishop, Richard Whately, said, “To know your ruling passion, examine your castles in the air.” Examine your castles in the air. What is your castle in the air? What excites you?
Wealth? Then wealth will be your ruling passion.
Justice? Then justice will be your ruling passion.
Power? Then power will be your ruling passion.
Service. Then service will be your ruling passion.
Privilege. Then privilege will be your ruling passion.
What is your castle in the air? What excites you?