Principles First Rollup
April 2021
In a month where we saw the Suez jammed, another CARES act passed, and more than 100 million vaccines distributed, we also saw threads of #PrinciplesFirst shining through. Here are some highlights!
1. The New York Times’ Neil Vigdor profiles Lee Wong, an elected official in West Chester, Ohio, who took bold steps to stand against Asian-American hate at a recent public meeting. Wong, a 20-year military veteran and Republican, removed his shirt in the middle of the meeting to reveal scars from his years of service. “Is this patriotic enough?”, he asked the attendees at the board meeting.
“In the last few years, things are just getting worse and worse,” he told CNN. “There are some ignorant people that will come up to me and say that I don’t look American or patriotic enough. Now, that really gets my goat.”
2. In The Atlantic, Arthur Brooks asks us to become better at admitting when we’re wrong. For the politically homeless, the foundation of identity is often constructed by reactions to what is known to be wrong about the parties and tribes we consider untenable. But this can form an unhealthy rigidness and even arrogance that also must be confronted if what is to be built anew is to be a healthier alternative to its available counterparts.
3. A great follow-up to the Atlantic piece is found at Christian Headlines, where Daniel Darling writes about the difference between prophetic rebuke and attention-seeking self flagellation. The piece is particularly helpful for readers of faith who are struggling with scandals and abuses of power within the Christian Church (like this haunting, spectacularly-reported piece by David French at The Dispatch), but can also provide helpful guiding principles for those whose politics have turned solely to deconstruction, anger, and self-loathing.
At times I think we mistake prophetic words — calling out sin and injustice in the church — with a kind of performative self-flagellation incentivized by a social media environment that rewards hot-takes, shaming, and appealing to tribes.
4. In the Los Angeles Times, Jonah Goldberg talks about the incentives behind bipartisanship, and the way that both parties’ unwillingness to embrace it more deeply has actually been a driving force behind the fact neither has been able to maintain power for very long in recent years.
5. Principles First recently hosted an roundtable with Michael Wood, who is vying for the open TX-6 congressional seat in a special election on May 1st. Michael is a Marine veteran, small business owner, and wants to break the Republican party free of former President Trump’s influence. He lays out his vision on his website and has gained the endorsement of the Dallas Morning News in a 23 candidate field.
If you have suggestions for next month’s Principles First rollup or questions for the editor, please reach out to pfrollupeditor@gmail.com.
This month’s editor: Michael Natelli
Michael Natelli is the Communications Coordinator for The Housing Fund, a Nashville-based CDFI serving the state of Tennessee. He also writes about faith and urban policy at cross-streets.com.