PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE:  This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon, as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite past-time – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

The National Prayer Breakfast, a tradition in Washington, D.C., used to be a time of conciliation and comity.

For some it still is.

But this time, a few days ago, President Donald Trump turned it into a political rally for himself as he went after those who disagreed with him, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Utah Senator Mitt Romney who, he said, were not really praying for him.

Here is a summary of the contrasts:

• On one hand, Trump avoided any indication – any indication – that he had learned anything from the recent impeachment process. Instead, he USED the forum – as he uses every forum – to tout himself and denigrate others.
• On the other hand, Arthur Brooks, a social scientist and a university professor, delivered a thought-provoking summary of what he called “America’s Crisis of Contempt,” calling on all those listening – yes, that included Trump – to a set of personal commitments to avoid contempt.

Trump’s purpose at the Prayer Breakfast was the exact opposite of conciliation and comity.  In fact, he put his enemies on notice.  Those who pursued impeachment, he said, were “very dishonest and corrupt people.”  “They know what they are doing is wrong,” he continued, “but they put themselves far ahead of our great country.” Congressional Republicans, in contrast, had the wisdom and strength “to do what everyone knows was right.”

Instead of railing against Trump, let me focus the rest of this blog on what Brooks said.

In summary, Brooks told the Prayer Breakfast audience that he was there “to talk about what I believe is the biggest crisis facing our nation — and many other nations — today.  This is the crisis of contempt — the polarization that is tearing our society apart.

“As leaders, you all know that, when there is an old problem, the solution never comes from thinking harder in the old ways; we have to think differently — we need an epiphany. This is true with societal problems and private problems.”

Here are bullet points to capture Brooks’ message:

• To start us on a path of new thinking to our cultural crisis, I want to turn to the words of the ultimate original thinker, history’s greatest social entrepreneur, and as a Catholic, my personal Lord and Savior, Jesus. Here’s what he said, as recorded in the Gospel of Saint Matthew, chapter 5, verse 43-45:  You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.  But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.”
• Love your enemies! Now that is thinking differently. It changed the world starting 2,000 years ago, and it is as subversive and counterintuitive today as it was then.  But the devil’s in the details.  How do we do it in a country and world roiled by political hatred and differences that we can’t seem to bridge?
• First, we need to make it personal. I remember when it became personal for me as I was giving a speech. “My friends, you’ve heard a lot today that you’ve agreed with — and well you should.  You’ve also heard a lot about the other side — political liberals — and how they are wrong.  But I want to ask you to remember something:  Political liberals are not stupid, and they’re not evil.  They are simply Americans who disagree with you about public policy.  And if you want to persuade them — which should be your goal — remember that no one has ever been insulted into agreement. You can only persuade with love.
• Political polarization was personal for me that day, and I want it to be personal to you, too. So let me ask you a question:  How many of you love someone with whom you disagree politically?  Are you comfortable hearing someone on your own side insult that person?
• This reminds me of a lesson my father taught me, about moral courage. In a free society where you don’t fear being locked up for our opinions, true moral courage isn’t standing up to the people with whom you disagree. It’s standing up to the people with whom you agree — on behalf of those with whom you disagree.  Are you strong enough to do that?  That, I believe, is one way we can live up to Jesus’ teaching to love our enemies.
• What is leading us to a dark place that we don’t like? The problem is what psychologists call contempt.  In the words of the 19th-century philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, contempt is “the unsullied conviction of the worthlessness of another.”  In politics today, we treat each other as worthless, which is why our fights are so bitter and cooperation feels nearly impossible.
• In politics today, we have a contempt habit. Don’t believe it?  Turn on prime-time cable TV and watch how they talk.  Look at Twitter — if you dare.  Listen to yourself talking about a politician you don’t like.  We are guilty of contempt.  It’s a habit, and it’s tearing our society apart.
• How do we break the habit of contempt? Even more, how do we turn the contempt people show us into an opportunity to follow the teachings of Jesus, to love our enemies? To achieve these things, I’m going to suggest three homework assignments.

First: Ask God to give you the strength to do this hard thing — to go against human nature, to follow Jesus’ teaching and love your enemies.  Ask God to remove political contempt from your heart.

Second: Make a commitment to another person to reject contempt.  Of course you will disagree with others — that’s part of democracy.  It is right and good, and part of the competition of ideas.  But commit to doing it without contempt and ask someone to hold you accountable to love your enemies.

Third: Go out looking for contempt, so you have the opportunity to answer it with love.  I know that sounds crazy, to go looking for something so bad.  But for leaders, contempt isn’t like the flu.  It’s an opportunity to share your values and change our world, which is what leadership is all about, isn’t it?

As a lobbyist in the past, what I called this was the “ability to disagree agreeably.”

It’s a lost art today – in politics and in life.

So, with Arthur Brooks, I call on all of us to make this personal.  Avoid contempt to today.  Practice conciliation and comity.