Two People On An Elephant

Two People On An Elephant

Whether you make your home on the left shore or the right, it is nigh impossible to find a safe place to cross the howling wild waters of American politics these days.  There was a time when intelligent discourse could form a bridge betwixt the two sides, but listen for that now and you might as well put your ear to a shell.   It has become commonplace to hear presidential candidates regularly, and at high volume, call each other the sort of hateful epithets formerly unwelcome in the schoolyard and, astonishingly, be applauded for it.   I feel nothing but embarrassment at the spectacle.    All of which makes the recent passing of US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia noteworthy, and not for the reasons you might think. 

There was a photograph that surfaced amid the predictable, petulant firestorm that immediately erupted concerning Judge Scalia’s replacement; a photograph that, for me, elicited the most interest.  A picture of two people on holiday in India, sitting atop an elephant and beaming with obvious pleasure.  Judge Scalia and Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  One a hero of the right, the other a champion of the left, rarely in agreement in the cases they judged, yet apparently, clearly, good friends.  

It is now known that these two polar opposites were indeed close friends, or “buddies”, as Judge Ginsburg recalls.  They attended the opera together.  They teased each other with the sort of good humour that is indicative of an easy friendship.  (For example, regarding that elephant photo, when Judge Scalia pointed out that she had to ride behind him, Judge Ginsburg countered that it was all due to a proper distribution of considerable weight and nothing more.)  They respected each other’s intelligence and humanity, though they frequently, vigorously, disagreed on the cases they judged. 

I’m not sure when we began to demonize those with whom we disagree. It takes a certain kind of hubris to think one is right all the time, to refuse to make room for other ways and other opinions, but that hubris becomes dangerous when we condemn those who hold different views than ours or when, God help us,  we use our religion as a scythe to cut another’s humanity and patriotism to shreds.  This past week I heard a wise man say that we no longer look for information, but for ammunition, and I fear this is all too true.  

Recently  I received a letter from a reader who told me, although they had always enjoyed my blog, they were now “never going to read it again” because of a comment I made concerning a certain presidential candidate.  I wished them well, but couldn’t help but wonder how difficult it must be for them to get along in such a wide, wide world.  If we only associate with those who applaud our views, if we only read affirmation of our beliefs, if we never consider other opinions….. well, I guess we’re now seeing what that brings.
How I hope that photograph of those two smiling people

 on that elephant gets the attention it so deserves.