We are not a perfect nation. We are not a perfect people, we do not expect to have perfect leaders. The story of America is more about redemption than it is about perfection. We try our best, and we sometimes make mistakes… but when we do,we fix them. Freedom includes the freedom to fail, but then the freedom to try again. We are a nation that believes in second chances, forgiveness, and mercy. We eschew the holier than thou attitude, we strive to coexist, we reserve our harshest judgement for the judgmental. In our tolerance, however, we risk tolerating those who would poison us, infect us, destroy us.
Recent revelations about the IRS having conveniently lost the Lois Lerner e-mails that might have provided evidence of intention and connections in the targeting of conservative non-profit groups are exasperating. The “dog ate my homework” excuse is something you expect from a ten year old, but not from bureaucrats and politicians. It doesn’t fly for your ten year old, it should not be allowed to fly for our government. Despite the promises of transparency made by the President upon taking office, few but the most gullible seriously believed this would be an administration without secrets. They all have secrets, maybe they even need to have a few, but there comes a time when obfuscation is no longer a logical tactic, but simply a legal strategy. The secret is out, everyone knows the truth, but this administration destroys the evidence and then mimics Bart Simpson, “I didn’t do it, nobody saw me do it, there’s no way you can prove anything!” As a practical matter that might keep you out of jail, but it won’t endear you to the hearts of the American people. Like hiring the slimy lawyer that gets you out of a DWI, you might escape incarceration, but everyone knows you have a problem.
“Reprobate” is an interesting word. It refers to a person who is devoid of principles. The Calvinists define it as a person predestined to damnation. That goes against the grain of Americans who like to believe that there is some good in most people and hope for all. The dreamer within me wishes for this to be true, the skeptic doubts that it is. There are those we all know that seem to have already lost their souls. The sociopath, the child molester… the corrupt politician. There may yet be a light of hope on the far horizon for these dark spirits, but it is at best a dim one, and more likely an illusion. We tolerate them at our own peril; we show them mercy at our children’s peril; we excuse their arrogance at our nation’s peril.
I am not speaking of an unforgivable sin, but there are behaviors that are indicators of something very wrong, and in all likelihood irreparable. A human being who would abuse or molest a child has a darkness within them that would make them capable of almost any evil. A spouse that repeatedly commits adultery has committed more than a simple indiscretion; he has broken a trust that has little hope of ever being repaired; choosing sex before love, lust before honor, and weakness before righteousness. Forgiveness for even these is virtuous, but you don’t let them watch your children, you don’t send them on vacation with your wife, and you don’t let them run your country.
IMHO: It is a hard thing to lose all hope for another human being, but there are times when hope is a waste, and suspicion is the more productive response. When a person will not own their sin, there can be no redemption. When a government hides their mistakes, there is no returning from them. The coverup is always worse than the crime, because anyone can fall, anyone can make a mistake; but in covering it up you have chosen not to take responsibility, not to try to fix it. We try to find the good, to move people toward redemption, not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Sometimes though, that’s not a baby, it’s just a piece of dirt.
Kevin, this is brilliant!
@Gordon: Thanks for the encouragement!