Us Against Them

Wednesday I was talking with a fellow employee when another employee that is African-American sarcastically said to us, “Why are all the White guys so upset today?” I don’t know if he voted for Obama because of his policies or because of his skin color. Either way he insinuated that he had an us-against-them mentality.

America has denigrated into a structure where some type of warfare is warp and woof of who we are. Growing up we had debates about whether America was ‘melting pot’ (different elements melting together) or ‘salad bowl’ (cultures mixing but staying intact). Neither quite fits anymore. We look more like the dinner plate of my daughter where different foods can never touch.

The president continuously incites class warfare into his speeches and programs. We hear all about the rich republicans and their dislike for the normal folk. Latino rights are large in the southwest with radical agencies such as La Raza marching to a beat that incites the same us-against-them mentality. After Tuesdays’ election Romney supporters don’t understand the mentality of the Obama supporters and they say the same thing about those of us that support Romney. We are a divided America.

There is no easy solution. In the movies this problem is solved by the intrusion of a common enemy like a Hitler or an alien attack. We have gone so far astray of truth and Judeo-Christian ideals that compromise is impossible. The only route that I can see for repair is the Christian route. In Christ, Paul says,

Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.-Colossians 3:11

I see no other ideology or hope that can save us.