People of Faith Can Be the Answer: "As our nation grows more polarized and people of faith fear the secularization of the country, this is the right time to consider what it looks like for Christians to be engaged in the public square.".

• Author: Haslam, Bill
• Position: POLITICAL LANDSCAPE

LIKE MOST Americans, I am deeply concerned about the direction of our country. It is no secret that we live in a divided nation.

The last nine presidential elections have been decided by single-digit margins--the longest streak in our country's history. No presidential winner has received more than 55% of the vote since 1984.1 do not see that changing.

We not only are divided--we are mad about it. We cannot understand how the other side can believe what they do. A January 2017 poll revealed that one in six Americans stopped talking to a family member or a close friend after the 2016 election.

Of course, political division is nothing new. When Andrew Jackson was on his deathbed, he was asked if he had any regrets. The Congressional Record relayed his answer: "Old Hickory said he regretted he hadn't shot Henry Clay [the Speaker of the House] and hung John C. Calhoun [his own vice president]."

For Alexander Hamilton, now best known for the musical about him, the politics of his day were so divisive that he was killed in a duel by Vice Pres. Aaron Burr.

Now, however, our divisions feel deeper. It used to take days for election results even to reach the candidates. Today, a "tweet" can reach 100,000,000 voters in an instant. Protests and counterprotests can be organized as fast as sending a text. A business or individual can be overwhelmed before there even is time to organize a response.

Every issue quickly takes on political overtones. At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, almost immediately, views on who was responsible for the outbreak took on strongly partisan tones.

Along with the growing concern about our country, is a growing decline in the quality of our discourse. It is easy to be mean when you can hide behind the anonymity and safety of the Internet.

With a decline of face-to-face "community" has come a growing sense of disconnection and lack of faith in the future. The current marriage rate of 6.5 unions for every 1,000 people is the lowest since the Civil War. Plus, the fertility rate of 1.7 is the lowest on record.

As the world changes rapidly, many Christians feel they are on the outside looking in. Politically, success at the ballot box has not translated into the changes they expect. Views on religion in a rapidly changing culture only increase the disagreement and, too often, the words of Christians inflict more wounds than they heal.

At the same time, confidence in the church has sunk to an all-time low. As the church...