I’m sure you were as appalled as I by the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.
These things are not meant to happen in a civilised society.
They are not meant to happen in a representative democracy.
The whole idea of democracy is that we resolve our differences through words and peaceful processes rather than violence.
Instead, we have an injured former president and a murdered family man.
At this time, I’ll leave the speculation to others. There is limited information about the shooter and his motivations. There are questions as to how he managed to do what he did and the relevant rules of engagement for the US Secret Service. There is a big debate about how America ended up like this – with lots of blame going around.
But that’s not what I want to focus on. I want to look at the bigger questions.
Devolving Democracy
Historically, our democratic system comes out of the need to resolve differences of opinion without resorting to violence.
It takes the ever present conflict and disagreement that can come to physical blows and replaces it with rhetorical ones. The system is based on debate and discussion.
It is based on the use of processes and procedures to diffuse tension.
It takes place within formal institutions and throughout informal networks.
And it relies on people realising they can get what they want through the system itself rather than needing to go outside it or tear it down. They may need to compromise, but they can still get something of what they want.
Nowadays, it seems that belief is waning more and more.
It’s easy to see why. Entrenched interests seem to dominate politics.
By the time the public has heard of many decisions, it’s usually far too late.
They’re presented with a done deal with only limited opportunities for consultation, protest or adjustment.
Particularly for those of us who support life, marriage and family, this seems hard.
In such a situation, it is understandable that it might seem easier and better to tear the whole thing down.
Burn It All Down?
I’m sure I’m not alone in hearing other people of faith talk about the need to bring down the system and replace it with a better one.
However, this perspective is misguided.
In the first place, pulling off a successful reordering of any society by force is nigh impossible.
The French Revolution burned itself out. Soviet communism collapsed under its contradictions.
The main reason Chinese communism is still around is the amount of elements it co-opted from traditional Chinese culture – and the access it has to the global economy allowing enough people to get richer than they were.
More importantly though, the reason the revolutionary drive is misguided is because our system remains open to influence from anyone who takes the time and effort to learn how it works.
There are many ways to influence the system and many ways to join the process.
Indeed, Australia boasts one of the best democratic systems. For example, we have the best voting system, full preferential voting, which empowers the voter and has a civilising effect on major pirates, compared with first-past-the-post system of the UK and USA, which, among other problems, encourages aggressive polarisation of people and parties into two defined camps.
But nothing can be done to influence the system, if we do not actually join in.
Nor is it enough to be a number in someone else’s game. That’s just another way to become bitter about the system.
What we need to do is rebuild our confidence not only in democracy, but in our ability to play a meaningful part within it.
This has been central to The Movement’s mission since its inception.
This is why we run acclaimed programs like YPAT, why we support groups like the Democratic Clubs, publish News Weekly, and run regular events across the country.
We focus on the local community and smaller events because we want to empower individuals and communities to act.
We’re not about clicks or likes, but the slow steady development of meaningful change – the sort of change that first begins within the human heart from connection and relationship and trust.
We can only do this because you help us do this. Many of you do it yourselves.
Help us bring this message to more people so they, too, can make a difference for the common good.
