It has been interesting watching and listening to Nikki Haley as she has hung in there in her attempt to be president. She is obviously very smart and eloquent and capable; there is a lot to like about her. She was raised in a family that fully embraced the American dream, and she has accomplished a tremendous amount in a very short time. Her problem is like so many people’s problems – she has a conscience that pushes her to change her mind. For example, she bravely took the Confederate Battle Flag off the S. Carolina state flag, recognizing it as a banner of racism and insurrection. She also wouldn’t admit that slavery was the reason for the Civil War until she was pushed into it. She even made a joke of it on Saturday Night Live, which must have infuriated people on all sides of the issue.
There are many in her party who would like to see the Civil War ramp up again; talk of secession continues to pop up in their conversations. She pointed out recently that the Supreme Court ruled on that issue in 1869; no state is legally allowed to leave the Union. Before that, however, she told CNN (concerning Texas) “If that whole state says, ‘We don’t want to be part of America anymore,’ I mean, that’s their decision to make.” Like so many people, she wants to keep her place in her friend group, but she also knows that some things those friends believe in and do are wrong. Like that good kid in middle school who wants to speak up when another kid is being bullied but doesn’t want to be kicked out of the cool kid’s group. Adults are just as vulnerable to that kind of pressure as children.
Those kinds of inward struggles never leave us; they happen in our families and at work and in social situations. I know a lot of clergy who bite their tongues when members say and do non-Jesusy kinds of things, and I know lots of church folks who do the same. The same dynamics exist in faith communities as in politics; people with money and/or authority often control the agenda, even if it is wrong. I had one family leave my congregation (they hadn’t attended in 30 years, but that’s another story) because I wouldn’t perform their daughter’s wedding. She refused to follow my expectations for preparation, so I suggested she find a judge to perform her wedding. In the eyes of God, it would still be real. We clergy live in fear of losing our jobs if we don’t go along with the bullies; Nikki Haley is in a similar situation.
I am not trying to say that this is an easy thing to deal with; in fact, if moral choices were easy, we wouldn’t need religious/spiritual/ethical guidance to help us make decisions. We all (mostly) have free will and free choice, and the struggle between what is right and what we want and what others want from us is never-ending. As it should be. After all, the root meaning of the word “decision” is “decaedere – to cut off.” Our choices aren’t always between good and bad or right and wrong; those kinds of decisions are usually fairly easy to make. Most of our decisions are between bad, worse, and terrible or good, better for me, or best for everyone. I applaud Nikki Haley and anyone else who struggles with conscience, and I hope for the best. Our decisions matter to more people than just ourselves. And they matter to God.
Prayer – Holy God, help us in our struggles to do what is right in Your eyes. Amen.
Today’s art an untitled print by Anne Moore.