A new book, published October 3, tells how Abraham Lincoln related to his adversaries or those who took different positions on significant issues of the day. Differ We Must by NPR host Steven Innskeep tells how disagreement was the sixteenth President’s work with opponents to forge consensus or at least workable majorities, to gain important goals before, and during, the Civil War.
You can read all about his book in interviews with NPR [https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/new-book-differ-we-must-confronts-political-division-with-lessons-from-lincoln] and from Anand Giridharadas’ Substack newsletter (profiled in the New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/06/briefing/kevin-mccarthy.html), but the gist of it is this: you have to have dialogue with your adversaries to create understanding and develop coalitions of the willing.
The title Differ We Must: How Lincoln Succeeded in a Divided America, refers to a letter Lincoln wrote to a friend who refused to oppose slavery. Innskeep cites other instances, such as working with an extreme abolitionist and with an anti-immigration follower of the Know-Nothing Party, to illustrate how Lincoln worked with both political extremes to understand and build consensus.
The relevance to contemporary politics and even to our own families, is obvious. It has become increasingly hard to listen and respect people who appear to have their facts wrong, when, of course, they just have an alternative set of facts. The disparities in media coverage of the same stories has cemented us in contrary narratives. The discussion we need seems unreachable. And yet Giriharadas (The Persuaders ) and Innskeep argued that there is a way to consensus, if we have the patience.
Christians are as ruthless as anyone since they got into the business of politics. Many argue there is no escaping politics, and they may be right. As President Harry Truman said, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” How can we avoid the figurative “kitchen,”? Do we just find our escape and stay put?
If we are in “the kitchen” (after all, a location of nourishment) we just have to take the heat. Keep our mouths shut and listen with an open mind. As hard as that may be, it is a survival skill in this environment. It should be taught in schools, churches, and public forums. Remove foot from mouth and open ears.
As in many cases, Jesus anticipated this problem with the Sermon on the Mount.
46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:46-48)
How do political Christians, dodge this teaching? Does it not apply even if you are crusading for the Truth? Wasn’t Jesus also crusading for the Truth? He could get a little testy, but ultimately he addressed all the Pharisees’ questions. His most aggressive repartee was to ask counter questions of their questions. I can not find any case where Jesus came back with,”But you don’t get it,” after he had already responded once. He said his piece and then shut up. (Of course, his narrators could have left out the juicy dialogue).
We have plenty of successors to the Peacemakers of the Christian tradition in Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King and Harriet Tubman, as well from other traditions, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Malala Yousafzai. We do not lack for examples to follow. We just have to learn to follow.
“Differ We Must” should be our motto, along with “In God We Trust.” If we believe the latter, we should accept the former.