Faith and Doubt

in a Culture of Disbelief

  • Home
  • About
  • Milestones
  • Contact

Trump, Hillary, and the Common Good

September 29, 2016 4 Comments

Share this post:

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Email

hillary-trumpAs a pediatric nurse, my mom occasionally would restrain a child to help him endure an uncomfortable procedure. Once, after assisting a spinal tap, she received the following comment from the child’s mother: “I couldn’t do what you do. I just love children too much.”

Au contraire. When empathy becomes painful, what makes a person disengage is not love but rather, self-love.

In a recent article, Thomas Sowell shows how self-love can influence the way we respond to people in need. He describes the difference between what merely feels compassionate verses actual compassion. He proves what relief workers have been saying for years:  some forms of helping can harm.

Hurt vs. harm

When a dentist extracts a diseased tooth, it hurts; when it’s the wrong tooth, it harms. In 1994, congress hurt a lot of people by moving them out of welfare and back into the workforce. But they didn’t harm them. The dignity of meaningful work elevated families in chronic poverty.

Today the national dialogue about race and poverty centers upon police shootings. Media and political leaders seem anxious to offer a rhetorical quick fix:  the assignment of blame for complex problems. I certainly understand the outcry over shootings, especially among people who feel they have no voice. Even one unjust death is too many. But where is the concern for root causes, including government’s complicit role?

Codependency is a dysfunctional, helping relationship where one person supports or enables another person’s addiction, poor mental health, irresponsibility, or under-achievement.

Trump as push-back to co-dependent leadership

The Trump phenomenon is, in part, a reaction to institutionalized codependency. I wish this movement were centered upon someone more worthy of the office, but it’s rare to see big, federal “solutions” held accountable for their harmful help. Imagine a Trump with the character to steer clear of vindictive insults. His confrontations with codependency would still be found insulting because of such broad emotional investment in it.

Millenials are among the insulted, some of whom are eager to over-correct from their fundamentalist upbringings. Writers like Rachel Held Evans have lapsed into the same old feel-good reactions, including the blame game, aimed especially at evangelicals. Their narrative seems as self-righteousness as the backgrounds from which they have fled. They fail to examine how helping sometimes harms.

The lesser of two evils?

More moderately, a friend of mine describes this election as a choice between two smelly socks, saying we must opt for the one least offensive when held to the nose. Whether Trump or Hillary carries the day, we as a country need a sea change from the emotional “quick fixes” of harmful help. Looking to one person, even a president, is one of those quick fixes.

Dare I ask…any comments?

Related

Filed Under: News & Culture

Subscribe to Faith and Doubt

Subscribe to Faith and Doubt today and receive a free copy of Milestones.

Comments

  1. Mike McCleery says

    September 29, 2016 at 8:10 AM

    Amen my brother …. I know God is in control … he just wants me to do my part according to his WORD … which is perfect … AND he continues to remind me that He has and will use a LOT of “stinky socks” to accomplish his will. The sacrifice of His Son on the cross is the only why he could stand MY “stinky sock smell” …

    Love you … Mike

  2. Donna Morris says

    September 29, 2016 at 9:27 AM

    Tim, I know you are very well read. have you read the book, Toxic Charity? I think your comments are dead on.

  3. Tim Filston says

    September 29, 2016 at 10:06 AM

    Yes indeed, Donna. The author, Bob Lupton, is an old friend of mine. I spent a semester during seminary working with him. He’s been in the inner-city of Atlanta for nearly 40 years, living with his family alongside some of its poorest residents. Good one!

  4. Mike Bixler says

    September 29, 2016 at 10:27 AM

    Your post – especially the reference to “the lesser of two evils” – brings to mind a conundrum we frequently face in business: which is worse… a flawed strategy or poor execution? A flawed strategy that’s well executed cannot generate sea change. Sea change is strategy dependent… no matter how inept the execution.

    Michael Bixler
    Elder, First Presbyterian Church
    Thomasville, GA 31792

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Who is Behind Faith and Doubt?

Tim FilstonTriplets+1 Dad. Smokies trout stalker. Spandex warrior. Comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable.
More about Tim.

FacebookLinkedInTwitter

Get updates from Faith and Doubt by email!


Subscribe to Faith and Doubt today and receive a free copy of Milestones.

Main Topics

  • Personal Growth
  • Relationships
  • Leadership
  • News & Culture
  • Tough Questions
  • Great Reads

Latest Tweets

  • How to Die a Little to Live More www.faithanddoubt.com/personal…

    February 23, 2023 12:39 PM

  • Time doesn't automatically heal all wounds. It only dulls them until we start doing this.... www.faithanddoubt.com/personal…

    November 18, 2022 11:27 AM

  • Turning your past into compost www.faithanddoubt.com/personal…

    November 17, 2022 5:15 PM

Facebook

Facebook

RSS Featured Links

  • Why Church Leaders Need to Practice Theological Triage
  • Easter Music Resources and Holy Week Playlist
  • Black Christians, White Christians, and George Washington Carver
  • How to Test Ministry Ideas
  • Chinese Christians Adapt Under New Restrictions

Latest Tweets

  • How to Die a Little to Live More www.faithanddoubt.com/personal…

    February 23, 2023 12:39 PM

  • Time doesn't automatically heal all wounds. It only dulls them until we start doing this.... www.faithanddoubt.com/personal…

    November 18, 2022 11:27 AM

RSS Leadership tips from Tony Morgan

Recent Posts

  • How to Die a Little to Live More
  • Turning your past into compost
  • How to make peace, not just keep it

all content © 2023 by Tim Filston | Design by Robin Cornett