Op-ed by Rev. Napoleon Harris V
To decompress from the bizarre news cycle surrounding the former POTUS's brush with death, I turned to the American classic, Talladega Nights. This movie, starring Will Ferrell and Jon C. Reilly, is one of my favorites. As I watched my favorite scene — the family dinner — I laughed at the hysterical prayer to Baby Jesus and the barrage of insults hurled at Grandpa Chip. I’ve seen the movie so many times I can recite the scene word for word. This time, however, a line caught my attention: in the midst of Grandpa Chip’s verbal lashing, Will Ferrell’s character states, “Chip, you brought this on man.”
For the life of me, I don’t know how I missed that line all these years, but it profoundly resonated with me because it’s exactly how I feel about the ridiculousness and political theater playing out nationally. We brought this on!
Let me begin by saying I do not condone violence — period. However, our former POTUS does. We all saw him encourage violence at his rallies during his first presidential campaign. He has advocated, encouraged, and participated in violent, hostile engagement towards anyone who holds views different view from his at every turn of his national political life. Sadly, Will Ferrell’s words may be true for him — he may well have brought this on himself.
As President and now candidate again, he has modeled a narcissistic, combative, uncivil, and violent disposition far removed from the highest virtues of our nation. What he’s modeled since seizing the national political spotlight affects all of us, not just him.
Trump alone is not to blame; we are too. Those of us who’ve failed to demand more from our leadership have also brought this on.
President Biden is no saint or savior either. His continued support and participation in America’s sustained militarism abroad and his complicity in the violence of silencing college students’ protests send the same message: violence is the great eradicator. In reality, violence begets violence.
But Biden alone is not to blame: we who failed to hold him accountable have also brought this on ourselves.
We as a gun-loving nation must realize that our obsession with guns has sponsored this violence. In a disgusting irony, our lack of gun laws nearly un-alived the gun-rights icon and champion—that should give us pause. Perhaps now we can have a conversation about the proliferation of guns in this nation and the danger they pose?
There are many theories floating around concerning the attempt on Trump’s life. Some suggest the whole matter was staged; others think it was a Democratic party sabotage spoiled by divine intervention and quick action by the Secret Service. While these premises seem worlds apart, they actually spell out matching distrust for the political theater playing out before us. We are in the throes of a huge political divide in our nation, resulting in the loss of civility and democracy.
This divide can only be repaired by honest, open dialogue. This repair won’t happen by us remaining in our respective echo chambers and silos; we must get back to talking to each other — civilly and respectfully, especially when we see things differently. We must recognize that no candidate or party is a knight in shining armor, nor are they necessarily the face of evil. We must move past this Saturday morning wrestling cartoon way of seeing the world and, more importantly, each other. If we cannot — if we do not — we will see more violence. If we cannot find a common moral compass, I fear we will find ourselves collectively in the sights of a failed society.
Failed societies don’t grace anyone, they are fatal for all. Worst of all, if our society fails, we will have brought it on ourselves.
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Rev. Dr. Napoleon Harris V is senior pastor of Antioch Baptist Church in Cleveland and a movie-loving podcaster (Knights of the Roundtable).
