What's Tony Thinking

Politics as Our Replacement Religion

Many have remarked on, and bemoaned, the bitter polarization of our nation, and the vast and seemingly impassable chasm, between the two extent sides. Because I live in the deep blue-bubble of Seattle, I often hear people say — and I myself say — “Is there nothing that will make a dent (or occasion a doubt) with Trump supporters?”

I wonder if “they” say the same of “us”?

And as the election draws nearer, the divide only deepens, the communication or comprehension impasse greater. If you are a Harris supporter, have you had a genuine conversation with a Trump supporter? Or vice-verse. Hopefully, some of you have managed such a feat, but mostly we stew and fret in our own silos. We may not even actually know anyone in the other tribe!

For Team Blue, “Trump and his supporters are fascists who will end American democracy.” For Team Red, “Harris/ Walz are the Trojan Horse of a left-wing agenda that will re-make America, ending meaningful elections via their open border policy.”

In response to this I offer two thoughts/ suggestions. One is that you listen to the debate at The Free Press between Sam Harris and Ben Shapiro. Harris, a Stanford neuro-scientist, author and podcaster, is pro-Kamala (though actually way more anti-Trump than pro-Harris — as he freely acknowledges). Shapiro, Harvard educated lawyer, podcaster and author, is anti-Harris, but a bit more pro for his candidate, Trump, than Sam Harris (no relation to Kamala Harris) manages.

But both are smart guys who manage a civil discourse and engagement. The discussion one might wish to have. You might find it refreshing, as I did, amid all the hysteria. I did not agree with Shapiro, but was happy to give him a hearing.

Second thought, which returns to something I noted in another recent blog. As America has become much more secularized, we have not, paradoxically, become less religious. That is, if by “religion” one means a comprehensive system of meaning and belonging, that claims ultimate significance. We have become more religious, but with “replacement religions” taking the place of more orthodox and historic faiths.

There was a time when mainline Protestantism, more or less liberal or at least generous in spirit, was the default religious option in America. No more. Now, we are a thoroughly secularized society, receiving regular bulletins on the “decline of church and religion.”

But while “organized religion” has declined, alternative or replacement religions, have multiplied wildly. I do not mean things like Zen Buddhism or Mormonism. I mean things like career, technology, food, health and wellness. Today these fill the gap, badly I’d say, left by the decline of religion in a secularized society. Each make their bid as the answer, for the way that people will find “enough-ness” for themselves, and purpose and meaning in life.

But the greatest of the “replacement religions” of our secular age is surely politics. People now look to politics for meaning, belonging and salvation, not to mention a messiah. There was a time when people wouldn’t marry, or would hesitate to marry, “outside the faith,” be it Judaism, Catholicism or another. No more. Today the deal-breaker is political affiliation. “He voted for Trump!” “She’s a Democrat.” Impossible!

Politics qua religion claims to have all the answers, the comprehensive framework that explains everything. Moreover, the greater your zeal, the higher your status in a politicized faith (ergo the disproportionate influence of party activists and primary voters).

Color me a “doubter” as regards the religion of politics. While I believe politics to be an important part of life (emphasis on “part”), I am dubious about the frenzied claims of both sides that if the other side wins, life as we know it, America as we know it, is over. I may be wrong, but I have more faith in our institutions and my fellow citizens than the ” it’s over” scenario has it.

I, blue-leaning, am appalled by most everything about Donald Trump. But do I think that the world will end, or that America will end, should he be re-elected next week? I do not. Nor am I, sorry to say, wildly enthusiastic about Harris. My vote for her, already cast, is like Sam Harris’s, more a vote against Trump.

But what I most want to register is my belief that politics does not, and will not, fill the void as a religion, as comprehensive framework and way of life that orients us to the sacred and cultivates a generous and gracious spirit. Yes, I know, more traditional religion and Christianity, can and have, at times, become destructive and toxic too. But it’s when you merge religion and politics that you are really in dangerous territory.

Making politics our replacement religion turns us all into final and bitter, existential enemies without hope of comity, shared life or a future. One side must win.The other must be annihilated. Salvation depends on complete, unquestioning loyalty to the true faith, whether MAGA or Woke, Red or Blue.

I don’t buy it. The end is not at hand. When another “the most important election of our lifetime” is over, God will still be God.