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Gallup said yesterday that our society reflects deep partisanship that is growing deeper, affecting most aspects of our society and defining our views on a wide range of aspects of our lives.
The polarization is spilling over into our daily lives.
Yesterday, Joe Biden swore at a citizen---a Democrat, attending his rally in Iowa.
And yesterday, a Republican representative in Arizona, weary of disrespect for our country and flag, introduced a bill that makes the pledge of Allegiance mandatory in public schools in the state.
Gallup's survey is titled, "The Impact of Increased Political Polarization," but perhaps it's more than mere political differences.
Be informed.
Frank Newport, Ph.D., is a Gallup senior scientist and the author of "Polling Matters: Why Leaders Must Listen to the Wisdom of the People" and "God Is Alive and Well."
Yesterday he published an article based on Gallup's polling titled, "The Impact of Increased Political Polarization."
Newport says this deep divide or polarization has become one of the defining aspects of our American society today. He notes that recent Gallup analysis show just how much our political identity today is a part of our views of a wide variety of other aspects of life which are often not directly related to politics.
The emotion of the polarization.
Newport says "hostility to the opposition party and its candidates has now reached a level where loathing motivates voters more than loyalty" and "anger has become the primary tool for motivating voters."
We're seeing this manifested every day.
Example: Biden's rage.
Watch Joe Biden’s tense exchange with a voter in Iowa who accuses him of selling access to the White House with his son in Ukraine and being too old for the presidency— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) December 5, 2019
pic.twitter.com/dn49FyVW0j
Yesterday, Joe Biden was triggered by a Democrat attending his small meeting in Iowa because the citizen asked the wrong question at the wrong time.
The citizen said,
"I'm a Democrat" and proceeded to ask Biden about his son Hunter, working for the Ukraine gas company, etc.and getting paid lots of money---you've heard it all before. I watched the video---the man didn't seem to be adversarial, but he did say, "So you are selling access to the president just like he [Trump] was."
This triggered Biden who said, "You're a d**m liar, man. That's not true. And no one ever said that."
The voter responded, "I see it on TV."
Biden responded with how fit he is to serve as president, etc., etc.
The voter said, "I didn't say you did anything wrong."
Biden said, "You said I set my son up to work at an oil company. Isn't that what you said? Get your words straight jack."
Actually, the voter did have his words straight.
The voter said, "That's what I hear on MSNBC."
Biden: "You don't hear that on MSNBC."
Voter: "The h**l I do." And on and on and on.
Example: Fillmore's frustration.
Yesterday, Arizona State Rep. John Fillmore introduced a bill that will require all students in Arizona to say the Pledge of Allegiance each day in all public classrooms. The bill allows parents to exempt their children if they choose to do so.
The bill also mandates that public schools acquire American-made flags to be displayed in every classroom and elsewhere on campus.
And the bill, should it become law, requires that a legible copy of the Constitution of the United States and Bill of Rights, manufactured in the US, be placed near the US Flag in each classroom.
Why is this public servant doing this? He is sick and tired of people trashing our flag, our Constitution and our country.
In 1943, the US Supreme Court ruled that "schools could not force students to salute the flag or say the Pledge," but in recent years courts have disagreed on whether requiring written exemptions from parents actually amounts to "forcing" students to participate.
We'll see what happens.
These are two examples from yesterday that reflect the deep polarization in our country.
This is about more than a donkey and an elephant trying to stare one another down.
It's about more than two competing political ideologies.
Our Founding Fathers made it abundantly clear that the nation they were founding was being founded on Judeo-Christian values and principles.
John Adams, our second president said, "Statesmen, my dear Sir, may plan and speculate for liberty,. but it is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles upon which freedom can securely stand."
He continued reminding his fellow Americans that they "may change their Rulers and the forms of government, but they will not obtain a lasting liberty "if they forsake the founding principles."
John Adams son, John Quincy Adams, our 5th president said: "The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity."
And he said, "From the day of the Declaration ...They (the American people) were bound by the laws of God, which they all, and by the laws of the Gospel, which they nearly all, acknowledge as the rules of their conduct."
James Madison said,
"We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God."
We are polarized because we have deeply held religious beliefs.
Frank Newport, in looking at the Gallup data, concludes that "At some point, our society must balance the internal conflict resulting from differences in partisans' views of the world with a broader agreement on how we as a society adapt..."
I've mentioned it before, but it bears repeating.
US Attorney General William Barr, speaking to the Notre Dame law school recently, said this:
"Secularism has become a religion based on freedom from personal responsibility, salvation attained by political activism and severe punishment of disobedience."
Rather than a donkey and an elephant staring at one another, two competing religious views are competing for the soul of this nation.
Secular, so-called progressives see an America where God is marginalized to church buildings scattered across the countryside. They call it "freedom of worship" as opposed to freedom of religion. They are hell-bent on "remaking America." The religious Left is standing by cheering them on in the name of "love".
Biblical Christians see an America that returns to its first love. Love of the Bible and what it stands for. An appreciation for the blessings of God on America. They see a nation that upholds the founding principles and values that gave all citizens the freedom to hold whatever beliefs they desire, including no religious beliefs, without punishment.
The religion of Secularism uses words like "tolerance" and "equity" and "love" and "compassion" to advance their godless agenda while bludgeoning those who do not conform as "bigots" and "supremacists."
That is the polarization we face in America today.
Be informed. Be Faithful. Be Vigilant. Be Discerning. Be Prayerful.