Manning Richard - Necessary noise: how Donald Trump inflames the culture war and why this is good for America

T WO QUESTIONS had been stirring within me prior to the election of Donald J. Trump about the state of our country. Ive been wrestling with these two questions since I entered the political and public discussion world some twenty-five years ago. Id been writing about and talking about issues surrounding these questions through more than a thousand nationally syndicated columns, four books, more than 250 college or university speeches, and countless television and radio appearances on shows from Oprah and The View to those featuring Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and James Dobson as well as C-SPAN. One deals with our culture, and one deals with our economy.

The first question was whether Americas culture war would turn into physical war. America had been at war with herself between the interests of the left and the interests of the right for the last fifty years. We had become a nation where politicians were passing laws to teach children and grandchildren values inconsistent with those of their parents. We had arrived at a place where judges were redefining truth and changing the culture by edict. This war was for the very heart and soul of our country and had been intensifying.

The second question was whether America would move away from its federal government intervening into every aspect of the economy so that innovation and individual initiative would be allowed to flourish. The great struggle weve been having between capitalism and socialism had been costly. We had reached a dangerous mass of special interests: they had too much stake in big government, whether they were employed by it, were collecting benefits from it, or were businesses getting favors from it. And the emotional and economic costs of government overreach were taking a toll on all of us as neighbors.

At the core of this were two questions: Would America be a society that is biblical and free? Or a society that is secular and statist?

Under normal circumstances, Americans would battle in the voting booth to elect our government bodies that determine our laws and set public policy regarding which direction our society would take. Once the voting was over, wed settle into the results and prepare for the next election.

But this time the circumstances were not normal.

The presidential election of 2016 left many in our country reeling and dumbfounded with the outcome, which would inaugurate Donald Trump as the forty-fifth President of the United States of America. I was one of those dealing with a mix of emotionsurprise, concern, uncertaintyabout what his presidency would mean for our nation both in the short term and in the decades to come. But now that Donald Trump is well into his first term, I am more convinced than ever that his devout and initial supporters had it right and that he was the very president America needed to get our country back on course toward its founding principles.

Yet concerns prior to his election were also legitimate. How would this business leader with no prior governmental experience lead our nation? Could such a divisive campaign bring a divided country together and help it? How would his unrepented and immoral sexual background affect U.S. culture and expectations for its leadership?

After these visceral reactions that immediately followed the election, a realization hit me as I listened to President Trumps first speech as the leader of our country: that there may have been a silver lining to his unexpected presidency. By the incredible increase of debate, confusion, and angst that occupied everything from TV news talk shows and radio airwaves to social media and private conversations, a door may have been opened wide for America to finally and meaningfully discuss her problems.

The noise of current debate can seem deafening and senseless, but just as a marriage counselor would advise that a healthy marriage demands open hearts and honest dialogue, so too our country needs the honest and candid dialogue of her people. Trumps election provides us with an opportunity like never before to engage with each other in this way.

Living and working in Washington, D.C., I am only a six-block stroll from my apartment to my office. This walk takes me down what is called the Lincoln Legacy, where I pass Fords Theatre where President Lincoln was shot and the Petersen House where he died.

Since Trumps election, every time I walk by these places, I think about the noise that led to the Civil War. There was a major question in the country at that time that needed to be addressed, and the nation could no longer continue to ignore it. I think about the intensity of the debate and the emotional investments on both sides of that culture war. The series of LincolnDouglas debates in 1858 clarified the sides and moved the nation to choose one. I marvel at how the Trump presidency has forced similar clarifications of the two sides and moved the needle for intense discussion to the front and center of our society. Yes, there is no need to deny that the election of President Donald Trump came with noise. America now had a president who understood that our nation was going in the wrong direction from her founding principles and that most Americans on the left scorn our founders. America now had a president who understood the dangers of multiculturalism, and his discussions about American exceptionalism were unnerving the diversity clan. America now had a president who understood the virtues of business and how excessive taxation and regulation stymied growth and stagnated the economy, which is antithetical to democratic socialists.

But I think the noise is necessary to make America wholesome and whole, and frankly I believe that the louder the noise gets, the better off we will be as Americans. As Lincoln pointed out in his famous House Divided Speech in 1858, our nation could no longer be half free and half slave; our nation would become all one thing, or all the other, but no longer could we be both.

Ive written Necessary Noise so that:

1. You will better understand the greatest threats to Americas foundational values and prosperity;