Take this job and Chevette!

The current political climate is what I would term antagonistic. It seems like every speech, every action by one side is meant to antagonize the other. And the people eat it up! Washington DC (and Montgomery for that matter) reminds me of the back seat of my mom’s 1980something Chevette.

I’m on one side. My brother on the other side. My poor sister stuck in the middle. We ride along a little then one of us boys pokes the stuck-in-the-middle baby sister (accompanied by a little mischievous giggle). If there’s no reaction, well, you poke a little harder. And again. And again. Until….

“Stop!”

“I didn’t poke you.”

(from the other side) *poke* *giggle*

“Stop poking me!!!”

*giggles*

Mom’s eyes very nearly burn a hole in the rearview.

The cycle repeats – poke, giggle, “stop”, daggers. Poke, giggle, stop, daggers.

After the third or fourth cycle comes the threat. “If you three don’t stop, I will pull this car over on the side of the road, pull you out of this car, and….”

Now there’s a mile or so of silence until… *poke*

“I SAID STOP!!!”

Now the coup de gras – a poke from both sides at once.

Then the crying, and the wailing. Then the threat.

“I will pull over and make you walk home!”

Some more giggles. Maybe a “I’m not touching you” finger hovering over my sister’s knee.

Sound familiar? One side gives a speech about immigration - *poke*

The other side spouts sound bites on the news about how evil the others are – “Stop!” Or maybe the sound bite is more like “They are out of touch” – *poke*

*poke* “STOP” *poke* “STOP” *poke*

The same cycle continues over and over and over. And nothing ever gets done. Because our goal is not to operate a government, but to denigrate the other side, energize our people, raise money, and get re-elected.

It seems like the same thing is taking place right now in the United Methodist Church. A poke here. A poke there. A poke from the left, a poke from the right. The key is to get the other side to react in such a way that you can make them look bad, thereby proving you are right and they are wrong. “They don’t believe in the Bible.” “They don’t love their neighbor.” “You’re not orthodox.” “You’re driven by hate.” Poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke…

You know why my brother and I poked my sister? Because we knew she was going to yell “STOP!” and eventually, she would cry. We knew that my mom would threaten to pull over. We knew that she would threaten to make us walk home. So we poked our sister. And laughed and laughed and laughed because she did it every time. She fell for it every time.

I’m tired of the poking. I’m tired of seeing the pokees fall for it.

Eventually, our little “poke, stop, threaten, poke again” game would lead to my mom’s arm reaching around from one side of the backseat to the other searching, searching, searching for a leg to pinch. She’d pinch us…we’d scream. Then we’d blame our sister….we’d stop for a while.

Then – *poke* – because we were children.

I’m ready to see our political leaders stop acting like children in the backseat of a 1980something Chevette and actually do something about some of the problems we face as a nation, as a state – for the UMC, as a denomination.

Antagonizing those who think differently will never lead to compromise. It will only ever lead to hurt feelings. It will only ever lead to stalemate.

Let’s be better. Let’s act like grown-ups.