It is clear that among our many ills at the moment, one is our failure to know how to live with conviction in a plural society of competing convictions. This failure manifests itself in two forms: one is hyper-partisanship in which the other side is denied due dignity and respect and in which the struggle is a zero-sum game of winner-takes-all. The other is apathy and withdrawal from the civic sphere altogether, where distrust and disgust inform our views of politicians, institutions, and the media. Both make us especially vulnerable to the seductions of social media algorithms and the narrowing effects of tribalism. 

This is, of course, a uniquely tragic and uniquely American failure. This is because, as our Founding Fathers understood, a recognition of pluralism is foundational to any sustainable form of government in the modern world. Their formula, however, assumed a shared willingness to hold each other in sacred regard that would prevent us from descending into a culture of mere differences. We can no longer afford such an assumption. We must do the work of rebuilding a culture that transcends deep division, on the one hand, and mere tolerance for its own sake, on the other.

Religion in America today, particularly Christianity, too often drives rather than mitigates political division. For this reason, a theological model of pluralism is desperately needed. In Jonathan Rauch’s recent book, Cross Purpose: Christianity’s Broken Bargain with Democracy, he identifies the various problems with an unholy marriage between religion and party and sees something in Mormon experience that might help us find a way out. As a descendant of Mormon pioneers and a believer, I seek to build on Rauch’s argument and offer a model of civic engagement inspired by that legacy that can use but ultimately transcend party differences.

The Mormon legacy resonates with the principles of the Declaration of Independence. It begins with an acceptance of the inherent value of human life, human potential, and human differences. It then argues that democracy is uniquely suited to protect human dignity, facilitate the realization of human potential, and work productively with the inevitability of human differences. It then concludes that democracy only provides these vital services if we have citizens who accept accountability for their behavior in relationship to such a government. This requires commitment to broad, principled, informed, and civil engagement starting where we live. It requires consecrated citizenship, a giving of one’s whole self to God and to our fellow beings in society. Democracy, in other words, depends as much as ever on religious conviction but it must be a conviction guided by a determination, not to override or dominate or separate, but to give and lose oneself in the service of others. It requires a commitment to the civic sphere, to peacemaking, finding common ground, and unifying communities, especially in times of contention.