Well, I did it again. I riled up some folks with last week’s post. I quoted Michelle Obama. “When they go low, we go high.” I should have paraphrased it to read, “When he goes low, we can go high.” “We” could mean a lot of things–some Republicans, Democrats, Independents. When I speak up on the dangers I see ahead, I get an earful every time. An assumption is made. I’m clearly a raging Progressive.

The problem with that theory, however, is that I’m not.

I might be progressive, but more like a progressive conservative. (Think Winston Churchill or Theodore Roosevelt.) In fact, as pushback is wont to do, this drove me to deeper thinking and research. So I studied up on concepts I align with. Radical Centrism. Compassionate Conservatism. Conservative Liberalism. Christian Democracy. (Now there’s a concept.)

As I read up on these views, I find myself saying yes, yes, yes!!! They aren’t watered down, milquetoast versions. They are more true to what I believe than what the fringes offer. They take the sensible best from each side and make it work. That used to be a thing…

One text defines Radical Centrism as “idealism without illusions,” a phrase coined by John F. Kennedy. Radical centrists support market economy-based solutions to social problems, with strong governmental oversight in the public interest. There is support for increased global engagement and the growth of an empowered middle class in developing countries.

That doesn’t sound so bad to me.

But I understand it might sound bad to others.

You might wonder why I’ve been so fixated on politics the last few years. Frankly, I’m not sure either, except that this is about WAY more than politics. When I look ahead (at politics), I see an iceberg. Others see the promised land. Two entirely different ways of seeing the world.

As a Christian, though, here’s my reminder from the first few verses of Hebrews 12. “Fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith…so that we will not grow weary and lose heart.”