Looking for a better way

Human beings have a huge capacity for doing good. We all have our big heroes, who have left their mark on the world simply by doing good. We have a pantheon of lesser heroes who have made a difference by doing good for those around them. Doing good makes a difference. We know that goodness is the way to go.

I have a high opinion about the potential of human beings and try to see people for what they can be. This attitude flows out of my devotion to Jesus from Nazareth and the collection of writings we call the Bible. According to the repeated Bible message, God made us good. It is true that we have not lived up to our potential, but that stamp of goodness is still with us and is still waiting to be encouraged, developed, and lived.

The key ethical challenge found in the Old Testament is contained in the story of Cain and Abel. Cain killed his brother Abel. God called him to account. Cain responded with a rhetorical question. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” If people respond with a “yes” answer, they are on a right course toward goodness. Answer with a “no” and a person is on the wrong side of goodness.

That question is at the heart of the greatest commandment ever issued in the Moses/Jesus tradition. “You shall love your neighbor as you would a family member.” This command, first credited to Moses, became the centerpiece of the message of Jesus, the country teacher from Nazareth. Love your neighbor and you are on the track to goodness.

Ideally, every follower of Moses and of Jesus places goodness at the center of their ethical lives. Since Muslims acknowledge both Moses and Jesus, the same ideal is theirs as well.

The problem is that many who identify with these three great traditions conveniently exclude many fellow human beings from their definition of “brother” and “neighbor.” Over and over again we see Jews, Christians and Muslims do great acts of goodness; but they also have developed very short arms and exclude millions from their embrace of goodness.

I am a thankful American. I was an admirer of Dwight Eisenhower. I loved his most memorable quote. “America is great because America is good. If America ever ceases to be good, it will cease to be great.” I want my country to be a great country. I do not have pride in the U.S. because of military strength. I want the U.S. to be great because of the good that it does in the world.

How can we bring our nation to greatness through the doing of good?

I was a Republican most of my life. I always had disagreements with my political party. A few years ago, I became a Democrat. (I still am.) Now I have disagreements with my fellow Democrats. I do not like being called a liberal or a conservative. They have become words without a consensus meaning. I went to a few meetings with people who called themselves Progressives. After a few discussions, I decided that I did not fit and did not return to the vague discussions.

During the presidency of Bill Clinton, I stumbled on to a comment about our president. He was reading the writings of Amatai Etzioni. Etzioni is a sociologist who is associated with the movement called Communitarianism. Etzioni and other Communitarians have a significant following, but not enough to gain wide American attention. People have speculated about the failure of the movement to gain broad, popular support. I suspect the name sounds too much like Communist. The thinking of the Communitarians is nothing like Communism, but words do funny unintended things.

At the heart of Communitarianism is the embracing of shared values. It is at the heart of every discussion of Communitarianism. America does have shared values. They are embedded in our national documents. The Declaration of Independence. The U.S. Constitution. The Bill of Rights. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. We are a nation of high ideals and values. However, just as religious people forget about their responsibility to our brothers and sisters and our neighbors, Americans at times of stress forget about the high ideals of our nation.

Central to Communitarianism is a plea. Every discussion of the well-being of people begins from the perspective of community. While the good of the individual is never to be forgotten, the well-being of the whole community is uppermost.

While Harvard Professor Robert Putnam does not identify himself as a Communitarian, his classic book “Bowling Alone” is a powerful plea to return to the primacy of community. His more recent book “Our Kids” tells the story of what is happening to children in America. We will not figure out what to do with American kids until we make them OUR kids. The key is the development of a kid friendly American community.

Another recent book is Atul Gawande’s “Being Mortal.” The book presents the plight of older Americans as they retire and push toward death. The author argues that their greatest need is community.

From childhood to the deathbed, people must have community in order to find the good life for which we were created.

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.