The political ideology in the U.S. was established through the Constitution, unlike many other national ideologies which are far less solid and can be altered depending on which political regime or ruling cadre is in power. Nevertheless, if one concentrates merely on the evaluation of a steadfastness of basic principles, that basic American bedrock ideology- the U.S. Constitution- can be amended and even decried depending on the times in which leading political voices are heard and believed.
Nowhere is political ideology more pervasive than in the 2012 elections, where one party is so determined to oust the sitting President by even going so far as to challenge his birthplace and his religion. Freedom of Speech, an ideology guaranteed by the First Amendment and thus the foundation on which the Bill of Rights is based, permits the public discourse which, in recent months, has included outcries against abortion, birth control, freedom of religion, health care mandates, attacks against Muslims and Hispanic immigrants, against the definition of “marriage” and attacks against potential foreign threats in Iran and Afghanistan. One Republican candidate, Rick Santorum, has gone so far as to announce that he does not fully recognize the ideology of a separation of Church and State.
The real problem with American political ideology is that few people- perhaps few outside the Justice system- understand the fundamental rights and threats to abuses that American ideology airs. For example, just what does the theory of the Tea Party mean when its supporters rant that “we want our country back.” The only thing that these ultra-conservatives really want is to oust a President who is essentially half African-American and, in the views of this Tea Party, does not truly represent America to the world. The rightists see America as a “Christian nation”, something no Founding Father (although each one was Christian) deemed appropriate for the U.S. Constitution. Even though various Christian faiths, from Catholicism to Tennessee snake handlers, from Christian Science to the Mormons, are in the majority, this still does not make America a Christian nation. Religion, by Constitutional law, cannot dictate to the State and vice versa. The current argument that government is intruding comes in the outcry about employers having to offer contraceptive devices to their employees as part of their health insurance plans. The argument is that employers who see contraception as something against their religious beliefs would be forced by the government to provide insurance coverage even though most employees’ religious beliefs permit such devices.
Political ideology is split: the Right demanding smaller government and no intrusion, the Left arguing that it should be a priority for any government to provide whatever is needed to assure wellness and prevent disease.
What the Right- mainly the Republicans, are ill informed about is that America is no longer isolated. We are no longer that ambitious shining city on the hill, nor do we encourage the tired and poor to flock to our shores. We live in a global economy. A geopolitical economy. And those who continue to shout “We want to take our country back” forget that we are part of a Western civilization stack of dominoes, teetering on the encroachment of Islam, for one. America’s political ideology is no longer sufficient to totally separate us from the rest of the world.
Political ideology, as strong as it has been based on our Constitution, is now linked to the rest of the world. Isolationism is passé and dangerous. Bombing Iran or continuing to fight in desolate landscapes with and against people who dislike our intrusion or cannot cope with our assistance, puts our ideology to a test: should we enforce it on people not accustomed to it, or should we retreat and focus on our domestic economy an d well-being.
Unlike our Founding Fathers, we no longer have an ocean to separate us from the problems of the rest of the world. Instead of concentrating on a separation of Church and State, somehow the next generation needs to repair the current chasm of Right versus Left.
