Understanding America 
Book of the Year

The United States is more polarized than at any time since the Civil War. The highly discussed book that best recognizes that—and proposes what to do—is David French’s Divided We Fall: America’s Secession Threat and How To Restore Our Nation. If Christian conservatives no longer fall into Trump and anti-Trump camps in 2021, it’s time to think through ways to forestall dissolution. Here are some questions and French’s answers.

You think the United States could break up? As more Americans live around like-minded citizens, religious separation coincides with geographic separation, and our culture continues to fragment, the possibility of a breakup increases. We’re not immune from tidal forces of history that have separated other unions. We can’t take for granted a continent-sized multiethnic, multifaith, extraordinarily diverse democracy staying together.

Divided We Fall presents dissolution scenarios, one led by the left and one led by the right. Both depend on the elimination or eradication of long-standing democratic norms so as to ram through legislation and government measures. Notions like ending the filibuster and court-packing are more a part of the mainstream conversation than they’ve been for years. 

Do the “mystic chords of memory” that Abraham Lincoln cited still exist? The ties that bind are strong and deep, but the forces of negative polarization are growing stronger. There is so much disdain and disgust on the extreme edges of the political system: Nothing is pulling Americans together more than it’s pushing us apart. 

Who might push back against the divisive forces? The effective pushback against intolerance on the left has to come from the left, and effective pushback against intolerance on the right has to come from the right. We are seeing pushback against the extraordinarily intolerant “cancel culture” mindset that says you only have a place in this country if you agree with me. 

Christians know (or should know) that all of us are made in God’s image, but do you see any positive movement among secular liberals? Look at Jonathan Haidt’s Heterodox Academy, a coalition of hundreds of mainly center-left and left academics seeking to restore small “l” liberalism on college campuses. It’s a secular revolt against increasing illiberalism and increasing intolerance in American higher education. Look at the letter valuing free speech and signed by folks as diverse as J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame, Noam Chomsky, and Gloria Steinem. 

So we can find some allies (or co-belligerents) on the other side, and we should refrain from “nutpicking”? It doesn’t help if we take the worst voices on the other side of the spectrum, maybe unhinged or particularly angry, and elevate them as if they are typical of the other side. 

What role should evangelical churches play? We need to cultivate a political theology that is not completely dependent on issues. Lots of Christians go immediately to issues, but Christians should not be like the Shale Oil and Gas Association that says we’ll back you as long as you help us keep fracking: Your temperament, personality, character, etc., don’t matter so long as you support our checklist. 

What should we be teaching? What it means to be a Christian person within the body politic beyond a commitment to a certain set of issues. Our vote should not be so easily bought. If any community in the United States of America should hold politicians to a standard of character and decency, it should be the Christian community.