Last week, President Barack Obama hit the ground running, alarming the Washington establishment by actually practicing what he preached during his campaign. Among the new president’s first executive orders was an order to close the now infamous detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba—a detainee center that exists specifically to dodge both U.S. and International law by enabling persons to be held indefinitely without charge and to be both tortured “tried” under a specious rule of law. This was the George W. Bush ends-justify-means morality set in place after the 9/11 attacks and after Bush’s completely wrongheaded and useless Iraq war. Guantanamo has, over the years, become a symbol of America’s two-facedness: our claims to be moral leaders of the free world who, in reality, practice a kind of selective morality as we trade in our values for some small sense of security. Choosing to uphold American values and American principles even in these perilous times earned Obama scoffs and derision from the political right last week as the president was both publically and privately called naïve and accused of putting America at risk by banning torture and insisting that America be America again.
For decades, it has been America’s consistent policy to claim one thing while, in practice, being something quite different. As for naïveté, I myself am not naïve enough to suggest the new administration will be a completely clean sweep of Washington back-room doubletalk, but I am encouraged that the man at the helm at least strives to be a moral leader in both word and practice, a decision that has cost previous leaders (JFK, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter) dearly. I imagine there are those both inside and outside the Beltway who won’t find comfort with Obama until they find some dirt on him: some scandal or sense of moral compromise. At the moment, many of the cigar crew are likely equating Obama’s stated principles with his obvious inexperience and, in their view, unreadiness to lead, as a seasoned leader would move more cautiously and would bow to the reality of the need for places like Gitmo and the practical uses of “strong interrogation techniques.”
And, for all we know, the old farts may well be right—I can’t rule out that possibility. What I can do, however, is be genuinely pleased that the struggle the new president has chosen to embrace goes well beyond al Qaida: it is a struggle to reclaim the soul of America through sacrifice of most every kind, as our core values and beliefs are inextricably linked to sacrifice. We simply cannot have one without the other, as the Bush doctrine has led us to believe. For eight years we’ve been sold this bill of goods that makes us believe American values are, at best, an intellectual exercise that cannot withstand the practical challenges of the new world. It may indeed be Pollyannaish for Obama to suggest America is better than that, that our values have both strength and substance. But, broad themes, the ability to inspire, are, in fact, the true quality of leadership. In perilous times, I’ll take actual leadership over a cynical façade any day. The new president seems to be asking us to do something the previous president never really did: asking us to sacrifice rather than compromise. A concept which is, in itself, awe inspiring.
In my experience, Church Folk seem to practice a kind of conditional morality, claiming to be Christians (though the term is not frequently used) while engaging in morally dodgy behavior as it suits them. Burning CD’s from friends or downloading music and movies illegally from places like LimeWire. No Christian should have LimeWire installed on their PC, but I have in fact found LimeWire installed on most every infected Church Folk PC I’ve turned wrenches on. One pastor was alarmed and incensed to find LimeWire installed on the PC in his sanctuary, indignant that the young people running his multimedia would so easily disgrace Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection just to save eighty-eight cents per music download. At the other extreme, I’ve been over pastors’ homes where they’ve boasted—boasted—about having the latest Hollywood release playing on their DVD a week or more before the film was even released.
As I’ve mentioned before, our sense of morality is a product of our decision to embrace or reject certain principles. Becoming born again does not immediately transform us into moral people, rather it gives us the opportunity, the possibility, to live morally consistent lives. In practice, Jesus was certainly a moral Person, but more important, His life was morally consistent, which, in practice, is much harder than it sounds. Being morally consistent means making tough choices and even suffering hardship or disadvantage in order to not violate principles we espouse.
Congratulations, Mr. President. All things considered, a great first week.
