Hope must be grounded in objective truth otherwise it quickly becomes wishful thinking. I might hope my team wins the championship, but if they lack the talent it isn?t going to happen. I might hope to win the lottery, but I don?t play and if I did, I?d have better odds of being struck by lightening than taking home the jackpot.
Placing hope in politicians absolves too many of us of our responsibilities. In 1994, when Republicans were on the verge of returning to power in the House for the first time in four decades, one of the books making the rounds was “The Tragedy of American Compassion” by Marvin Olasky. The book traced the history of compassionate behavior and found that most of it came from individuals and religious institutions. The religious institutions offered hope by dedicating themselves to changing the lives of people whose bad choices had put them in need of help. Changed lives produced changed behavior and, thus, changed circumstances, leading to a more hopeful future. Olasky wrote that tragedy occurred when government began to occupy the space once dominated by religious and personal charity, displacing hope and leading to despair. The “hope” being sold by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and his true believers is misplaced. Obama cannot deliver; he cannot save; he cannot improve individual circumstances by redistributing wealth and talking to America?s dictatorial enemies. He is selling snake oil.
Cal Thomas is America?s most widely syndicated op-ed columnist and an author of 11 books. His most recent book is “Common Ground: How to Stop the Partisan War That Is Destroying America,” co-authored by Bob Beckel.
