"One of the people that beat me on the Freedom Ride in 1961 ... came to my office later with his son ... And he said, 'Mr. Lewis, I'm one of the people that beat you and left you bloody. Will you forgive me? I want to apologize.' His son started crying. He started crying. I started crying. He hugged me. I hugged him. He called me brother. I called him brother."
John Lewis is a better human being than many of us. But he and Dr. King lay out a road worth following, even for those of us who lag far behind.
Judgment Day
Note, however, that Dr. King and Rep. Lewis said "forgive." They didn't say "forget." They didn't ask us to accept the unacceptable, or to pretend that the behavior of their opponents was anything other than immoral.
We have the obligation to judge right from wrong, and to resist what is wrong.
Yes, we also have the moral duty to forgive. But forgiveness can only be granted when the wrongdoing has stopped. And forgiveness has to be sought. Right now the GOP's leaders aren't asking for forgiveness. They're demanding surrender.
Therein lies one of the White House's fundamental errors: We all know that negotiation is necessary. You can even, as in the DC legend of Republican Ronald Reagan and Democrat Tip O'Neill, "have a beer afterwards."
But it's wrong to pretend that an immoral set of actions is moral just to expedite those negotiations, or to heighten your own political profile. That kind of pretense has a corrosive effect -- on our political dialogue, our social values, and our national soul.
Breaking the Spell
Aside from the rare Hitler, we don't have the right to condemn other human beings in their totality. But we must be unhesitating and unsparing in our criticism of that which we believe to be wrong. That means speaking to the actions of our opponents, not their hearts.
It's a mistake to reflexively reject everything our opponents do, especially because we'll miss opportunities to work together. Personally, I think Sen. Rand Paul's positions on drone warfare and the NSA are motivated by idealism, and are far more ethical than that of many Democrats. That opens up the possibility of new alliances on certain issues.
It's true that, by and large, Republicans policies do terrible things to a lot of innocent people. We need leaders who'll fight those policies wholeheartedly, not ones who indulge in false equivalency or pretend to be "above left and right" out of self-interest.
The GOP's policies are horrifying. But the word "evil" is like a dangerous spell that can turn on the one who uses it. It can quickly turn righteous anger into inchoate rage, which makes a person less effective and occludes moral clarity.
In case you doubt that, just look at what it's done to the conservatives who use it so freely.
We'll need to find the strength to fight immoral behavior with all the strength at our command. But we'll need to do it without succumbing to hate. Because, in the end, the question isn't about who they are.
It's about who we are.
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