We long for a simpler time, but did that time ever really exist in American politics? We forget that in 1804 as the sitting vice president Aaron Burr took offense at the criticisms Alexander Hamilton made of him, challenged him to a duel and killed the man whose picture is on the $10 bill. And then there was the Civil War where 750,000 Americans died. In the 1930s, children of Republicans had their mouths washed out with soap for just uttering the name Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the president. In the 1950s, the junior senator from Minnesota, Joe McCarthy, began the Red Scare by naming 205 loyal employees of the State Department as communists. Still the founders of America believed in compromise and accommodation, and people like Tennessee Senator Howard Baker advocated civility in government and for that matter in life. I'm not sure how we bring about that in today's politics, but it can only happen if we start by treating each other with kindness. This is Dr. Scott Morris for Church Health.
