What Ever Happened to Middle Earth?

Warning: this is a political post--sort of. What I mean is that in it, I am hoping for, praying for, advocating for a type of sanity that has gone missing from the American political landscape. Here's what I mean...

If you read multiple newspapers, as I do, and try to read a balance of news across the spectrum from "liberal" to "conservative," a fearful thing emerges: the polarization of America into extremes has roots and wings--it is not just a myth of Facebook posts and bar conversations, apparently. Where did we lose "Middle Earth"?

In the political world, we have devolved into Bernie Sanders, Socialist Democrat, on one side, and "The Party of Trump" on the other. Responsible politicians falling anywhere away from these poles--even a really conservative guy like Jeff Flake--becomes persona non grata. Off with his head. Are we  even hearing from any Democrats several rungs down the fire escape toward reason from Senator Sanders? Chuck Schumer is a kind of Democratic Jeff Flake--a really liberal guy whose voice is lost as people seem bent on listening to the siren song of the far extremes. Where is Middle Earth where we all--common citizens and elected officials--used to meet to talk real solutions to the real problems facing us?

In a column in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (10/26/17), Ed Rogers, a conservative contributor to the Washington Post, makes this statement: "Let's remember, the mainstream media wants nothing less than to see the destruction of the Republican Party." This statement is wrong on so many levels. First of all, "mainstream media" is a pejorative term made up by people who don't like to read stories more than 140 characters in length. It can also be fired as a bullet from both "sides" of the debate, although I see the term being slung more from the conservative side. As one trained in journalism and communications, I can say that reporters are taught to "get the facts"--the "five Ws and the H"--Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How? Reporters take meticulous notes, and make sure quotes are accurate. And, they seek multiple, corroborating sources. Columnists, on the other hand, may give opinions. While these should also be backed up with facts, the Op Ed writer is not under the same constraint to maintain balanced sources. Have these lines become blurred, from time to time? Probably, as something called the "New Journalism" crept into prominence back in the 1970s, as I recall. However, in the field of reporting, news stories are on dangerous ground if they contain inaccurate information about people or companies, as litigation may ensue. Not so much with opinion pieces. Secondly, there is no media conspiracy for the "destruction of the Republican Party." That is a ludicrous assertion. As much of the media is owned by staunchly conservative syndicates and wealthy individuals today as by liberal ones. No one is out to get the Republican Party, but when it is fully "in power" as it is now, and doesn't seem to be accomplishing anything but killing its own wounded and wallowing in a mire of unfinished legislation, this is news, and any reporter worth her salt will write about it. To have one political party so much in charge and to see nothing coming of it for almost a year is a true "man bites dog" moment. If (and God, please don't let it be so!) the Republican Party is destroyed, it will be a case of self-cannibalism.

What about the treatment of the Democrats in the press? Frankly, we're not reading much. After Clinton's loss, that party hasn't really fielded a lineup of reasonable voices, that I can see. Schumer says something, Bernie pontificates, Adam Schiff barks about Devin Nunes' flawed definition of what "recuse" means--these are fodder for Op Ed, not much actual reporting. As a Democrat, I'm way beyond disappointed with the miasma emanating from this party right now, but I'm even more angry about the lip service they are paying to finding Middle Earth.

I have to confess that I have not been immune from being dragged into the polarized dog fight on social media. America has elected a highly polarizing "media star" as President, and this has greatly catalyzed our rapid run to the extreme poles. However, he is President, and nothing will get done in Washington without passing over the Resolute Desk, so it will have to be part of Middle Earth, if we are ever to find it again. I'll be honest: beyond praying for our government, including President Trump, I don't know what to do. My occasional opinions posted on Facebook or in this blog are mostly signs of my frustration over how Middle Earth has disappeared like Atlantis, and over people labeling things like "Mainstream Media."

As a United Methodist Pastor, I'm quite concerned for the cares and needs of people, and history tells us that Middle Earth is the only place their concerns will find the proverbial balm. The political extremes have never been kind to the middle class, who are the people filling our pews and living in the neighborhoods I have lived in. And what about the poor and the oppressed? They are either radically under-served by the extremes, or exploited by them. At a few points on the timeline of history, they have united and risen up in revolution, but usually wind up pretty much back where they were, and with some self-self-aggrandizing despot in power.

And then there's religion. Those labeled "Evangelicals" have stolen the news cycle because they seem to have moved into the Trump camp. Seeing the President as a sudden and surprising chance to realize their monotoned agenda--getting a conservative Supreme Court that will roll back Roe v. Wade and marriage equality--they have abandoned nine-tenths of the teachings of Jesus, in my view. But they are in the news, currently among the "man bites dog" stories. As they keep playing this one note on the piano of social issues, though, I suspect even the "Mainstream Media" will give them less column inches. Is there room for us liberal gospel preachers in this debate? As such, I am for connecting people to God, people to people, and helping people who need a hand-up. And in reality, we know that these pursuits will only find legitimate fruition in Middle Earth. Religious liberals want to play chords and songs on the proverbial keyboard of ideas, not one note, but in the current polarized climate, it's like the piano keys are disappearing, an octave at a time.

So, what do we do? How do we reset our socio-political GPS for Middle Earth? I think this begins by being informed. We should stop getting most of our news from Twitter or Facebook (the latter is OK if we use it to follow links to legitimate news sources, not Breitbart or BlueState). Read, people, read. Read a broad base of books--they are actually still publishing books, and serious authors from across the socio-political spectrum are writing them. Read newspapers. Responsible papers like the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal are available online, with a limited number of free stories. Better yet, subscribe. The First Amendment feeds on printed news. Printed information is absent the non-verbal component of communication, which allows the reader to form her or his own opinion about what they read. That's a problem with video and audio-based news--these non-verbal cues (facial expressions, eye contact, body posture, intonation) may speak a very different message from the words the speaker is actually saying, and this often obfuscates the intended message, or in the worst case, allows a hidden message to be presented, counter to the words spoken.

Let our own planet earth provide a parable: The poles are forbidding, cold, cold places where even compasses can no longer provide guidance for proper navigation. Middle Earth is a warm gathering place where trade winds blow and seasons change. More of us live in Middle Earth than in any other place on the planet. May we move our ideas there with us and begin to reason together to fix our common problems, care for those disenfranchised and hurting, and set a course for a hopeful future for us all. As Margaret Mead once said, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."