What We Learned About Ourselves from the Brett Kavanaugh Ordeal
Conflict is a funny thing. It's often not about the problem at hand, and more about the personal issues and cultural currents that lie beneath the surface. These unspoken tensions gravitate toward a concrete dilemma because of the human desire for resolution, which hopes that victory in the battle before us will bring peace to the war within us.
Enter the Brett Kavanaugh ordeal, arguably the ugliest and most pronounced political debates in recent memory. The conflict really wasn't about approving a Supreme Court nominee or evaluating allegations of sexual assault, but about tragic realities that we wish to deny about ourselves, such as:
1. We are increasingly divided.
Everyone knows that polarities are inherent in the American political system, but we underestimated how deep these divisions truly are. The Kavanaugh hearings and related conversation evoked a vivid snapshot of the ever-widening gap between left and right. We like to think of ourselves as Americans first, people who are willing to compromise for the common good while rising above partisanship. But few who watched this process unfold found any semblance of collaboration. This was war, and the enemies sat across the aisle.
2. We tend to see reality through ideology.
The left saw Kavanaugh as the offender who was guilty until proven innocent, the embodiment of white male privilege, and the personification of President Trump's worst qualities. The right (including Kavanaugh himself) saw Kavanaugh as the victim of a liberal conspiracy that had nothing to do with facts and everything to do with destroying a man's reputation for political gain.
It was amazing to watch how we tended to believe or disbelieve both Kavanaugh and Ford based upon our desire for a conservative (or liberal) justice on the Court. If we're honest, we could probably admit that if all roles were reversed, with similar charges made against a liberal nominee, we would likely have pled the opposing side's case.
This isn't new. The right complained when President Obama expressed openness to direct talks with terroristic states like Iran, but congratulated President Trump for doing so with North Korea. The left was largely silent when Presidents Clinton and Obama used military force throughout the globe, but was adamantly opposed to George W. Bush's military operations at every turn.
We like to think of ourselves as impartial and clear-thinking, but the reality is far from it. We see the world through a lens of experience and ideology, which filters our perceptions and assertions. This is no sin, but a natural part of human psychology. In fact, denying this reality is the greatest ill, giving way to a self-righteousness that sees others as irrational opponents to defeat rather than respectable citizens to debate.
Debate and voting in the Kavanaugh case was unsurprisingly aligned with party affiliation. Likewise, sympathy for Dr. Ford and suspicion toward Judge Kavanaugh lined up with the opposing views on sexism and white privilege. It's simply too bad that real people found themselves and their families in the middle of it all.
3. The judicial system is more important than ever.
Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh were treated unfairly throughout this process, playing the role of pawns in a larger political game that cares little about lives and reputations ruined. And this is precisely why our judicial system is so critical.
In court, both victims and alleged perpetrators have rights that are intended to protect them from mob rule and political gamesmanship. Evidence is deemed admissible by a trained judge; arguments are legally framed by attorneys who are accountable to that judge, and the accused is innocent until proven guilty.
Can you imagine if the recent soap opera in the Senate Judiciary Committee became the norm? Rather than even-handed justice, we get a bizarre mixture of tabloid journalism and a bar fight, leaving a wake of chaos, damaged reputations, and unresolved anger. No one would be safe from character-assassination, and the search for truth would give way to a deprivation of the rights that our Founding Fathers took great care to protect.
An uncorrupted judicial system is critical to a free society.
4. The Supreme Court will ironically be the locus of our ideological conflicts.
It just so happens that Brett Kavanaugh will now sit on the court that will grapple with our nation's ever-widening polarities. Many have argued that the dysfunction and gridlock within the legislative branch has rendered that body inept and incapable of governing, with the responsibility now falling by default upon an unelected group of nine justices who are appointed for life.
This is undoubtedly why the stakes were so high in the Kavanaugh hearings, as we recognize that the Court to which he aspires functions as the parent in a room full of sibling rivals. The Court will decide and resolve issues that arise from the expanding canyon between the feuding left and right wings, and so the seats on that Bench are valuable enough to be plated in gold.
5. The next generation is inheriting a basket of contradictions.
I shutter to see current events through the eyes of a teenager. She is told that recreational drugs should be legalized for her parents, while opioid abuse must be deterred. She is told that her sexual identity is fixed at birth but that her gender identity is somehow fluid. She is told that chemical use and sexual expression are healthy aspects of the human experience, but she sees countless people paying a terrible price for both. She is given a $500 phone to help express herself, but her posts and photos could prevent her from getting a job decades from now.
The mixed messages and confusing contradictions that must be navigated by our future leaders are more complex than any prior generation has grown up with, and if they can somehow make sense of it all, they will prove greater than we.
The Founding Fathers hoped that the United States Constitution would "create a more perfect union" nearly a century before 800,000 Americans died in the Civil War. Throughout our history, we have faced times in which we seem to be moving backwards or splintering apart. At such intervals, we do well to remember the that the "perfect union" to which the Founders aspired was never understood to be a guarantee, but rather an end to which we must strive despite human nature. As the aged Benjamin Franklin famously said in a 1789 letter to French scientist Jean-Baptiste Le Roy:
"Our new Constitution is now established, everything seems to promise it will be durable; but, in this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes."
Matthew M. Anderson is the author of "The Marriage Plan," along with political thriller, "Running Mate." A speaker and leadership coach, Matt is the pastor of Surprise Church in Bismarck, ND, where he lives with his wife and three children. Learn more at MatthewManderson.com.