The father of Transcendentalism Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Within us is the soul of the whole, the wise silence, the universal beauty, the eternal One.” His words printed in the early 19th century should resonate within the political walls of discord, religious paradigms of doctrine, social structures of Democracy and halls of dysfunctional government. Unfortunately, his words are lost in political conflict between the extreme and sometimes radical thinking of both Democrats and Republicans. They fall on the deaf ears of religious leaders, attempting to build their theocracies in Israel, the Arab world and within our own Western culture.

His words seem to be the fabric of friction, igniting the spark of discord, rather than the flame of unity, in our attempt to build a solid foundation for universal health care, social services for children, programs to feed the elderly and provide benefits for those who are homeless and unemployed by

 circumstance, not by choice.

The seeds of Transcendentalism Philosophy were planted in the eastern United States in the 1830s. Primarily, it was a movement to protest against the “intellectualism” and doctrine of the Unitarian church taught at Harvard’s Divinity School. Later it became a protest against the culture and society of the time.

Basically, Transcendentalists believe their is inherent goodness in both nature and people. They believe society and its institutions—particularly organized religion and political parties—ultimately corrupt the purity of the individual. People are at their best when they are provided the tools of self-reliance and taught skills to be independent. It is only from such individualism that true communities are formed.

During this new year of 2013, we will need to listen to the wisdom of the past to protect our individuality in the future. We should make a better effort to balance the intelligence of extremist Republicans with the common understanding and feelings of liberals.

We should build our social strength on the mercy of words spoken in the sermon and not organized religion’s preachedwords of hypocrisy from their tabernacles of gold, wearing their robes of superstition and claiming they hold the only keys to their golden gate to eternity. Evangelicals and religious zealots should preach their gospel from their alters of faith, not in the halls of lobbyist and government.

We should be more tolerant of “good-ole-boy” NRA members who believe assault weapons in the hands of the criminally insane is a constitutional right. They claim guns are needed to defend themselves against the government in case of a civil war. WOW! I wonder if they are planning to start one.

Next year this time, everything will probably still be the same within the political walls of discord. Religious paradigms of doctrine and government will still be as dysfunctional as it was yesterday. There will always be issues that divide us.

The Republic of our Democracy is based on debate; head-on discussions of conflicting ideas, opinions and values is the foundation of our Democracy. The cornerstone of success in our Democratic Republic is our ability to compromise.

Emerson was right. Maybe nothing gets done in Washington because Government and religion have corrupted the purity of mans way of thinking.

David Farside is a Sparks resident and political activist.