2020 US Presidential Election: A Metaphor for Competing Realities

As I have been pondering the responses to the 2020 US Presidential election and subsequent developments, I have wondered if that has become a metaphor for much larger competing perceptions of reality and even truth. Two mutually exclusive voices have rallied significant adherents who each think the other is deceived. As they angrily vilify each other, another significant contingent shrugs or worries, “I don’t know what to believe anymore.” My observation is that this has infected the Church in the US (seemingly of all ecclesiastical and theological traditions) so that those who are accustomed to forming their understanding of reality and truth through Scripture and faith are marshalling their religious arguments to support one or the other of the competing voices of reality and truth and disparaging those who don’t fall into line. So Scripture and faith have become subservient to the cultural clash of perceptions of reality and truth. I believe this metaphor is relevant to much more than the 2020 election. It is certainly at play in the Covid-19 pandemic, but I think a bit of consideration will bring to mind a host of other issues, well beyond the political realm. Rather than giving my list or proposing a solution, I hope to stimulate vigorous thinking and dialog.