Private Public Disconnect Verbiage

When I look around at the folk I know  for the most part they seem to me to be nice folk with good intentions, concern for each other…all-round good people. I’ve also been around people long enough to know that at our base level we are self serving, self-righteous folk who are more concerned with ourselves and ours than to those we don’t know or connect . We all live with this paradox of human nature.

Usually our conversations with each other a civil, respectful, and reflect genuine caring and concern for each other. We also can get mad at each other and yell and say things we later regret. A few will let their ideas interfere with their relationships but most seem to accept differences and then get on with it because we know our relationships are more important than our differences.

All of this makes me feel pretty good and happy.

Then there is public debate, such as political debate, where the civility we practice in private or small group conversation goes away and we find people speaking and saying vile uncaring statements about each other. I find myself embarrassed by our political rhetoric and false posturing and wonder what causes such change in human behavior.

One explanation may have to do with the ideas of righteousness and self-righteousness. We like to feel righteous, right about things. But often we are caught up in self-righteousness, meaning we want to justify our own behavior, ideas the lot as being best and superior to others behaviors, ideas and the like.

Public debate seems like the story Jesus told as recorded in Matthew’s gospel.

The Story of the Tax Man and the Pharisee [Matt 18, The Message]


⁹He told his next story to some who were complacently pleased with themselves over their moral performance and looked down their noses at the common people: ¹⁰“Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax man. ¹¹The Pharisee posed and prayed like this: ‘Oh, God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, crooks, adulterers, or, heaven forbid, like this tax man. ¹²I fast twice a week and tithe on all my income.’
¹³“Meanwhile the tax man, slumped in the shadows, his face in his hands, not daring to look up, said, ‘God, give mercy. Forgive me, a sinner.’”
¹⁴Jesus commented, “This tax man, not the other, went home made right with God. If you walk around with your nose in the air, you’re going to end up flat on your face, but if you’re content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself.”

I return to my biblical roots at this point where righteousness is seen as being right with God, being in accord with God’s wishes for us, following the teachings of Jesus. Self-righteous is that which accent self over anyone else.

Those running for public office are supposed to be those who want become public servants; those who serve the people as best they can. They all have certain beliefs, ideologies they believe we allow them to serve others well. But in the public arena all that seems to disappear. Incivility dominates over civility, hubris surpasses humility, self-righteousness hold sway over righteousness. And all this makes us feel bad, and I think is embarrassing.

What I find most embarrassing are those who hold certain religious beliefs acting in the most self-righteous ways, demeaning, degrading, and condemning those who do not agree with them. They discredit not only their party but the God they are supposed to follow. They do not appear to be the kinfolk of Jesus who taught the way of servant leadership. They reflect the legalistic viewpoint of the Pharisees rather than the love and inclusion of Jesus.

There are also those who have distorted and idolatrized the Horatio Alger story. In this country we believe our democracy allows folk who work are can and will attain their dreams. And those who are fortunate to achieved those dreams sometimes think they did it all by themselves. They claim to be the masters of their ships, the captains, of their souls. They think they are islands unto themselves dependent upon no one nor anything but themselves for their successes. The claim to do it “my way” powerful and independent unlike “those who knell.” The song lyrics and poetry referenced all reflect this type of thinking, this variety of hubris. And they are untrue and delusional. They are counter to my religious beliefs of righteousness. Others see more clearly that their success is built upon the achievements and gifts of others that enabled them to reach their goal. They also are apt to realize that in this land of opportunity some are dealt a raw deal and need our love and care; in other words, being the keepers of our brothers and sisters.

I hope you did not miss the irony of the use of the Tax Man in Jesus’ story. Tax men in Jesus’ day were held in even lower regard than they are today. And yet it is typical of Jesus to use those folk whom society tends to look down upon as symbols of the way of true righteousness, those who acknowledge their dependence upon others and especially upon God, and those who are truly humble.

While individualism and individual effort to better ourselves in our society are very important, it is together that we created a nation. It is in the sharing of our wealth in the form of taxes that enables us to succeed and to care for those who have had bad breaks. We want fairness in our taxes true, but again that fairness I hope is based upon the biblical idea of “to whom much is given much is required.”

Given the unequal distribution of wealth in this country it is easy to see that self-righteousness has dominated righteousness in our society in recent times. I would hope that the civility and care we show each other in private and small settings would spread to the public area and we unite to seek the public good of the nation.