One of the things I like best about the classic Italian Mafia (at least as we see it in the movies) is the sense of boundaries, of order, of distinct realms of life. If you betray them, they will break your legs and kill you, but they would never think of bothering your family, your wife and kids. That is a different, sacred area. They play hard in their arena, but they implicitly know that their business is not all that counts in life: there is time for family, faith, friendship...set apart from their work.
It is a characteristic of the masculine and the conservative mind to distinguish arenas of life: to keep certain things separate. This can go to an extreme with men (but never women) who live double or hidden lives. But in general it is a good thing. Magic Johnson and Isaiah Thomas would compete ferociously on the court, but then drink and laugh together later. Justices Scalia and Ginsburg were opponents in a different Court but cultivated a rich friendship outside of work. The epitome of this was Grant and Lee at Appomattox: after years of bloody conflict, the group of generals, old friends from West Point, greeted each other with dignity and calm. Grant graciously allowed the Confederate soldiers to keep their horses for the farming; Lee exhorted his men to return home to plant and renounce guerilla warfare. The war was over and there was an almost miraculous return to civility and respect.
Unfortunately the liberal/progressive mind, has no such sense. Theirs is an emotionalism that knows no boundaries or structure. Their feelings, often of compassion and kindness, are unrestrained by paternal intuitions of order, authority, tradition or law. When Alito was being vetted for the Supreme Court in 2003, Senator Ted Kennedy indignantly pressured him about what he would do for the poor, the neglected, the problem of racial inequality. Alito calmly responded that that would not be his job as justice: that he would apply the Constitution and legal legacy to specific laws. Kennedy almost exploded with righteous rage. It was the paradigmatic contrast between the sober, conservative, judicial, masculine mind and the raging, unhinged emotive, activist liberal mind.
The progressive mind knows no boundaries: we are forced to listen to their politics at football games, at the academy awards, at Thanksgiving dinner, and even sometimes at Church. At its worst, as with the Trump Derangement Syndrome, there is an incapacity for maintaining friendship or family bonds with those who vote for Trump
This depravity has reached a new intensity with the pro-abortion protests at the homes of the conservative Supreme Court justices. Here we see a shameless demonstration of self-righteous contempt for foundational structures of our society: the legal system and the family.
There is a law against pressuring and protesting justices to effect their decision. The judiciary has a sacred status as an impartial, non-partisan protector of the rule of law. It is a human institution and far from infallible. But we surround it with a certain reverence and trust its capacity to interpret the law with some degree of freedom from personal and political bias. Protesting at their homes is a flagrant, criminal violation of a precious boundary. The failure of the Biden/Garland DOJ to protect these families and uphold the law is nauseatingly vile.
Additionally, it disrespects the family, something no self-respecting made-man or mafia-don would consider. The well-being of humanity rests upon the family: the fidelity of spouses, paternal/maternal care and protection, filial trust and obedience. The conservative mind respects this. The progressive or liberal mind disparages the family and elevates the autonomous Self to a position of eminence. The rights and privileges of the Self trump everything else. So it is fitting that abortion crusaders would target...families. Not enough to pressure the judges. They are uninhibited in punishing spouses, children and in violating the sacred peace and privacy of the home.
How are we to respond to this sacrilege? First of all, aware of the mimetic attraction of violence, we must be vigilant not to emulate this unbounded emotivism. Even if we despise the Biden administration as much as progressives hate Trump, we cannot let this toxin spill over into other arenas of life. For the conservative, politics is important; it is not everything.
So I am motivated to strengthen my own sense of boundaries. To protect my family life, friendships, Church life, and a host of engagements from being poisoned by partisan resentment. Living in a blue area (Jersey City) of a blue state and a mostly-blue family, I find myself with a dual challenge. On the one hand I passionately hold to my moral/political convictions. On the other hand I need to keep them within some control to nourish treasured relationships with family and friends. This is not an easy task.
My Catholic faith is a huge help here. What matters most to me? Not my politics! Not even my family. What matters most is my relationship with Jesus 'Christ. That is everything! And that in turn infuses everything else with a lightness, a loveliness, a strength. With that I am immunized against resentment and indignation. With that I can treasure all that is Good-True-Beautiful in all the different arenas of life, even with my political opponents.
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