The Choice of Citizenship

Harry Scherer
Class of 2022

(10/2020) The attitudes of citizens in our country with regard to political concern are quite varied. Some live and breathe political news, others hear about it from their friends and still others could not care less. As our country anticipates the completion of yet another contentious president election, we are confronted with the perennial question: should we even care about politics?

To answer this question, it would be appropriate to consider what we mean when we say "politics." Do we find the meaning of politics on FOX News or MSNBC? Perhaps we should search for a balanced presentation of its nature on the front page of the New York Times or Washington Examiner? Surely, we can understand the essence of politics when we observe the ways in which our politicians engage with one another at our nation’s capital.

A response in the affirmative to any of these options would be, by today’s standards, laughable. Another far less divisive way to look at political life is that necessary participation in social life. Because our human nature demands that we live with and for one another, we are inclined to live in community. Aristotle and Aquinas both would acknowledge that we are social animals and that we find our fulfillment by means of the community. Aristotle would even go so far as to say that a person who is so separated from social life to be considered "a-political" is either a "beast or a god."

After we recognize that dignity elevates us from beast and humility dismisses a divine identity, we are necessarily political beings. I wonder how similar this conception of politics is to the conceptions of most of our politicians. Do the latter view this political participation as merely a game, a series of frequent races that sometimes lead to victory and frequently lead to defeat?

If our politicians really do not think in these ways or if they actively deny this conception of political life, the question about whether we should care about politics immediately becomes more legitimate as a concern upon which to dwell. At this point in the inquiry, I see little reason to concern my time or mental energy with a game that is being played. The only concern I have so far is whether or not I am one of the many pawns in this high-stakes game.

At this point, I think it would offer us all a little bit of comfort if we were to consider what St. Augustine would have to say about all this. Augustine mentally formulated a brilliant conception of these two cities: the city of man and the city of God. In the city of man, citizens are concerned with themselves and their progress, their appearance and their goods. No matter where their focus lies, it is rarely, if ever, directed toward God. Those in this city feel right at home in the earthly world and feel that they are fulfilling their purpose when engaging in earthly delights. In the city of God, citizens do not share this same comfort. Augustine pictures the persons in this city as mere travelers, pilgrims in a foreign land. Instead of fulfilling their desires in the pleasures of this life, their actions are informed by a hopeful expectation of beatitude in the next.

Augustine is clear that these two cities do not cooperate with one another for the common good. Instead, they are in clear opposition and the human person is forced to choose whether their citizenship lies in the domain of God or that of man. I hope that this sadly superficial exposition of Augustine’s political thought informs our current question of whether we should be concerned with modern political life. If one wishes, at least on a theoretical level, to claim citizenship in the city of God, it seems to me that the answer to this question should be motivated by a concern for whether or not this sort of political participation is apt for such a citizen.

What are the concerns of a citizen in the city of God? It seems that an enthusiastic reply to Christ’s endorsement of the invitation to "Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself" (Luke 10:27) should inform our political life. Does participation in modern political affairs fulfill this command? Is it fitting for a citizen of the city of God to concern himself with contemporary political matters?

In the first place, it seems that it is appropriate for such a citizen to concern himself with such matters, no matter how unpleasant he might consider the time spent in such a way to be. At the very least, it is important for a budding citizen of the city of God to concern himself with these affairs because many other persons in his community concern themselves with day-to-day politics. An evangelical heart, one that desires to share the joy of the Gospel with all mankind, should be driven by a concern for the concerns of his fellow men and women. To be clear, this is not an intrusive and overbearing desire to involve ourselves in the intimate details of our neighbor. On the contrary, this concern comes from the ideal of meeting our neighbor where they are at every moment; in other words, this is love.

The sorry state in which our culture finds itself is certainly not by accident. Spirits of corruption and evil have invaded our systems because of the participation of human agents who were and are willing to participate. This corruption demands a healthy response from those who are wishing to claim citizenship in the city of God. As St. Paul says in his epistle to the Church in Rome, "where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more" (Rom 5:20). Therefore, our responsibility for ourselves and for our neighbors, even those with whom we disagree, makes it clear that an attention to politics is not only an outlet for personal interest but an opportunity to love.

Read other articles by Harry Scherer