The Jewish philosopher Martin Buber, 1878-1965, left Nazi Germany in 1938. Out of his experience, he came up with the word ‘eliminationism.’ At its heart eliminationism is the idea that by eliminating a person or group, those who are left can have a sane, secure and successful society. Eliminate the vile Jews and German society will be purified.
Unfortunately, a less violent form of eliminationism is now becoming mainstream in American life. Daniel Schultz, in an article “American Brokenness: A Lament,” writes:
Year upon year, starting with Rush Limbaugh and only accelerating with Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck and Michael Savage and Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin and many others, conservatives have been told by their thought leaders that the liberal perspective is illegitimate, that it is wrong and dangerous and un-American and evil.
More to the point, they have been told that liberals are not needed. They have been told that the nation would be better off without any to the left of Ronald Reagan, that an America with a particular construct of traditional social mores, an adventurous military, and an unfettered corporate capitalism could keep them safe and happy. Liberals, the story goes, only serve to disrupt the good life people could have with a free conservative hand.
As a liberal who does listen to Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly—to glean whatever truths they express and to understand their thinking—I have been increasingly bothered by the constantly repetitive and insistent virulent onslaught against their liberal fellow Americans (one of whom happens to be me). Liberal is their ‘four-letter’ word, and beneath that word is the idea that elimination of liberals from any positions of power in the body politic is absolutely essential for our nation’s current health and future. This suggests that this country’s de facto motto. E pluribus unum, officially replaced in 1956 with In God We Trust, is to be reduced even further to a solitary unum.
Eliminationism is not foreign to Christians (and to the followers of other religions as well). Although there is still evidence of eliminationism because of wrong belief, as evidenced in the Southern Baptist Convention over the past few decades, the strongest form of eliminationism is found in the areas of abortion, same-sex marriage and religion in the public square (especially the public schools).
To me, the best of unum, politically, and fellowship, in churches, is a recognition of the value of a healthy balance shifting among the contending understandings of what is a good society, a good church. In other words, E pluribus unum.
For more, read <http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/politics/1773/american_brokenness:_a_lament/?comments=view&cID=2578>.
