Soul of America

Jon Meachem has given us a worthy contemplation on the state of the nation. He calls it, The Soul of America – The Battle for our Better Angels.

Meachem is not the only author borrowing from Abraham Lincoln’s reference. Steven Pinker wrote extensively about the same quest – somehow to find, affirm and embrace our better angels (see footnote). Lincoln’s admonition appears eminently appropriate in this time of unfettered vitriol – the perpetual chorus of stinging insults, name-calling, sharp-tongued character assaults all modeled by the master-mind of Tweeted sarcsasm – the POTUS.

Meachem, first of all, suggests that America does indeed have a soul. This may not sit well with some of our more ardent atheists, but no matter, most of us will probably understand his point. Call it what you will, our nation is held together by some sort of ideal – a commonly shared vision, a collection of mutual values and joint commitments. He borrows a Jungian concept – the collective unconscious, a mysterious communal connection that combines our shared history, our expansive geography and our love of homeland.

In this partisan era, that soul will be defined differently by two extremes. On the one hand we have Americans who are intent upon preserving and protecting a position of privilege. On the other hand are Americans intent on universal equal opportunity and participation in the production of wealth for all. One is exclusive. The other inclusive.

What kind of soul is it that is obsessed with self-preservation, safety and security, building a wall and keeping “them” out?

Cold. Heartless. No soul at all, really.

Meachem would be positioned in the latter camp – the inclusive soul.

There’s another way to look at “soul.” If we say that music has soul, we mean that it transcends lyric and meter and rhyme, touching the heart. Without the need to explain or justify, we feel it. We move to the beat, emotion wells up – joy or heartbreak. The musician loses inhibition, the love gushes like an artesian well, anger too. Loss. Gain. Intimacy. Rejection. The music possesses the artist, and along with her, the one who tunes in. We call it soul. Passion. Compassion. Empathy. Caring. Beauty that spells truth.

Similarly, America has soul. For Meachem, America indeed possesses a Soul – The Soul of America. But what is it?

I was taught all about “soul” – or better, “the soul” – in church and then in Bible School. In my tribe’s version of Christianity, every person possesses a soul. But that soul is irretrievably lost because it was born in Sin, thanks to The Fall. Adam and Eve’s disobedience rendered us all unworthy of God’s love because He is Holy and wholly justified in his Wrath. The Soul needs Saving – and there’s only One Way to be Redeemed – and that’s through the shed blood of Jesus.

This is not the Soul of America – and not of interest to the author of our current book.

But I must get over that tribal version of Soul to get Meachem’s point.

If music has Soul, so does a nation. For Meachem, we’re not talking about the fireworks on the 4th of July or the Yankee Doodle Dandy patriotism. We’re not talking about the NFL raging against black players taking a knee or Sean Hannity addressing his fawning fans “Great Americans.” We’re talking about something else. We’re talking about opportunity. The reward of hard work. The freedom to define God for ourselves – and to worship as we choose; or not. It’s our choice – our conscience is respected. Our culture, too. My freedom to be me is dependent on your freedom to be you. I have rights – granted to me for no other reason than this: I am a human being. I am free to pursue happiness; as long as my pursuit does not derail yours. We are a land of laws, not subject to the whims of a monarch or demagogue or other tyrant; there is equal protection and due process. Discrimination on the basis of creed, gender, origins is prohibited; property rights are respected. Equal access to education and markets and health care are assumed; law enforcement serves and protects. These are some of the properties of American Soul. We have a voice. The press is free. The government is limited in its power. There is no divine right of Presidents or Judges or Representatives – there is no Monarchy. There are term limits. And the result of all these commitments is a free and prosperous society. The people are the beneficiaries; all of this the essence of Soul.

While Meachem’s purpose is indirect, he clearly addresses the crisis of our time. The White House is occupied by man unworthy of the post. Meachem only points to this reality indirectly – but read between the lines. The 45th President of the United States has no sense of history. He doesn’t read. He doesn’t care. He thinks of himself as a “stable genius” who relies on his superior “intuition.” He doesn’t need to prepare. He doesn’t need advisors. He is the great “fixer.” (George W. Bush took considerable heat for simply identifying himself as the “decider.”) The current POTUS believes that he controls the Supreme Court. It’s clear that as I write, he controls Congress. Balance of Power is an anomoly to this man; though he likely could not define the term. He warms up to despots and holds democratic allies in utter contempt. He is not only the living definition of narcissism, he embodies demagoguery.

Meachem walks us through American history in search of those leaders who, in contrast, gave chase to our “better angels.” He finds many examples.

He also identifies the demagogue wannabes in American history – Huey Long, Joseph McCarthy, Father Caughlin, Pollard’s Lost Cause, Andrew Johnson and the disaster of Reconstruction, Rutherford B. Hayes’ “Let Alone” policy, the KKK’s march on Washington, the overt racism in Charles Lindberg, Robert Welch’s John Birch Society and Roy Cohn (the New York Attorney who stood by McCarthy in the House UnAmerican Activities Committee hearings and later represented real estate mogul Donald Trump in his defense against a long running charge of naked racial discrimination in his housing development empire).

For Meachem, the Presidency is a sacred trust. It is the protector of the Soul of America. From Abraham Lincoln, to Teddy Roosevelt, to Woodrow Wilson, to FDR and Harry Truman, to Lyndon Johnson – each were flawed human beings. But each displayed a tenacious commitment to the soul of America – transcending partisanship to serve the well-being of the whole nation; to protect and advance an egalitarian view that crossed the boundaries of party, race, creed and color.

These are perilous times. But this is nothing new in America.

Meachem challenges us all to engage; to embrace Lincoln’s challenge to pursue the “better angels” of our nature.

The Soul of America will survive.