is the title of this thoughtful column by former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson in today's Washington Post. In reading through it, several passages grabbed my attention, for example, this:
This new circumstance does, however, require a dose of realism. While we do not assume that every religious conservative holds to the traditional view of marriage, most (by the polling) do. But reversing the Supreme Court decision on marriage — which is rooted in long-term cultural changes that emerged in the context of heterosexual relationships — is not a realistic political goal.
and this :
t a practical level, traditionally minded people will need to take up social projects alongside people who support gay marriage (a group, by the way, that includes more than 40 percent of white evangelical millennials).
Inthe paragraph from which I have just quoted, Gerson reminds us that working along side people with whom one disagrees on some issues
is not moral compromise; it is the normal practice of democracy
and lists the issues (HIV/AIDS, etc.) on which such common efforts are essential.
He had already reminded us that despite what may be alarming to social conservatives legal trends, overall there is no social apocalypse happening:
Divorce rates and abortion rates have declined in recent decades. Rates of violent crime and homicide are down dramatically from historical highs. Many religious conservatives mistake alarming legal trends for across-the-board cultural decay.
He properly reminds readers of history:
For most of the past 2,000 years, Christians have lived in societies that did not reflect their sexual ethics. And sexual ethics is not the sum total of Christian ethics, which, at its best, affirms the priority of the person and the defense of human rights, well-being and dignity.
In his penultimate paragraph, he further reminds people that in the early years of the Church, when it did not exercise power,
were also a period of explosive growth, due (in part) to the communal compassion that distinguished believers: their care for widows and orphans; their welcoming of strangers and concern for the outcast. This spirit was alive among Christians in Charleston, S.C., following a racist rampage — believers who modeled the offer of grace.
Some may not like his final brief paragraph, which I will leave for you to read if interested. Suffice it to say that there is a key part to what Gerson wants Conservative Christians to remember: real and lasting impact comes not from the imposition of law or by the words we speak, but rather for the examples we set by how we leave. That applies regardless of one's religious faith or lack thereof, something of which we perhaps all need reminding from time to time.
Peace.