As a young teacher I was lost in the wilds of high school education. I had taken exactly one education class in college and I was more than a bit overwhelmed by the responsibility of sharing the Faith with my students. Frankly, I struggled with how to prepare and deliver lessons. My savior, in many ways in those trying days, was veteran teacher, Jim Hogan, who told me to go to the masters–teachers, speakers, preachers–lift what they did, and make their ideas my own. After all, he said, “good teaching means good stealing.”
In that spirit, as I draw my pre-election comments to a close with this “Thought from the Tower,” I hope to share some of what I learned from my former student and former congressman, Anthony Gonzalez ’03, who recently spoke to a group of Saint Ignatius parents as part of our Parent Formation Series here at 30th and Lorain.
In my Ecclesiology course, I show an episode from Father (now Bishop) Barron’s series Catholicism (2011). In it, he comments on the lack of civility in religious dialogue and how he wished for such discussions to mirror political dialogue—where people passionately debate and discuss issues in ways that are principled, but not personal.
It is a comment that, in recent years, never fails to raise a laugh—even among sophomores.
The tenor of political discourse has certainly changed since the series first aired. I don’t need to remind anyone of that. Under the title, "Staying Sane, Informed, and Civil in an Election Year,” Gonzalez, drawing from his experience as a representative in Washington, gave advice on how to navigate the often-toxic waters of modern American politics.
As we feel overwhelmed by the sense of division in our country, he noted that we should keep a sense of perspective. Drawing from a conversation he had amid the George Floyd protests with his former coach and mentor Tony Dungy, he reminded us that the claims that our country is “more divided than we’ve ever been,” simply isn’t true. We are divided, but we’ve always been divided politically…and we’ve always worked it out. Dungy’s advice—and Anthony’s by extension—is that we solve these divisions around our dinner tables and with our next-door neighbors, and from those pockets of understanding and respect can come change on a bigger scale. While he may not have unqualified faith in politicians, he does in the American people: “I’ll bet on our country [to ‘self-correct’] every day of the week. The antidote to the insanity of our political culture is, therefore, perspective.
To the problem of a lack of civility within our country, he proposed humility. No one political party has all the answers, especially to life’s most important questions. Our political parties are there to help candidates win elections, he said, and so we shouldn’t put our faith in them to solve all our problems or answer our deepest questions. That’s not their role. There is a place for parties, to be sure; but while one can—and should—assert that the party to which she or he belongs may be right on many, even most, issues concerning our lives together, one should be humble enough to admit it may be wrong on others.
This humility is fostered by reference to the Grad-at Grad philosophy which has been drummed into the heads of Jesuit-educated students for generations. In being “open to growth, committed to doing justice, loving, religious, and intellectually competent,” the 2003 Saint Ignatius graduate reminded us, that we open ourselves to other perspectives, remember the goal of our life together in common society, and see our connection with others.
Not a bad way to proceed.
Last—and perhaps most importantly—the OSU philosophy major challenged us to be critical thinkers. In an era of deep fakes, biased media outlets, and essentially unregulated social media, Anthony challenged us to take responsibility for informing ourselves on issues and the character and positions of candidates: to do our own research and go to the words of candidates themselves and not rely solely on what we see in commercials and in our feeds.
Anthony was my representative when he served the 16th Congressional District. I didn’t always agree with his positions, but I always knew that he voted his conscience and that he was motivated more by principle than party. At the beginning of his remarks last Wednesday, he set as one of his goals to be “completely non-partisan.” He succeeded.
I’m proud of Anthony—for the man he has become, for his willingness to brave the challenges of Capitol Hill, and for, as a Man for Others, taking literally the call to “public service.” Moreover, I’m proud that in a time of division and character-bashing he has risen above partisanship, offered his insight on how to navigate the times with grace and wisdom; and modeled it in his remarks. I’m proud of how he has renewed my hope in the people of our country. But most of all I’m proud that he gave me ideas that I will steal for my class, and in doing so enabled me to also see the dream every teacher has for her or his pupil:
To see the student—with sanity, sensibility, and civility—become the master.
A.M.D.G. / B.V.M.H.