Two Protests, One Procession, and Two Paths

This past weekend there were three events in one city that showed two paths forward for conservatives. 

Beginning at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, thousands of people walked through the streets of Northeast Washington, D.C., praying and singing. It was not a protest but a pilgrimage. As part of the larger pilgrimage to the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, this procession was intended to draw the hearts of the faithful toward greater love for Christ and His Church and to share that love with the broader city. Young and old, people of various ethnic origins gathered together in a manner uncommon these days: peacefully. 

A few miles away and an hour later, the White House was surrounded by a rowdy crowd of grieved citizens. The crowd, some of whom were self-proclaimed Communists, protested on behalf of Palestine and called for an end to the State of Israel. A Palestinian flag was brutishly forced into the hands of General Lafayette as chants of “Biden, Biden you can’t hide” echoed through the air. One can only imagine if Trump supporters engaged in the same behavior. Though the crowd was primarily made up of people of childbearing age, there was not a child in sight. The entire scene reeked of narcissistic ungratefulness and marijuana. 

Meanwhile, the police chief marched in the city’s annual pride parade. Characterized by grotesque sexual displays and general debauchery, pride parades seem to be an accepted aspect of American life when the sixth month of the year rolls around. They don’t shock us anymore. Yet, separated by only one city block, these two demonstrations serve as a poignant reminder to conservatives that our view of politics must be rooted in a love for normalcy. 

At the same time as these two demonstrations graced the streets of our nation’s capital, in the far-off land of ordinary America, there were millions of people doing ordinary things on an otherwise ordinary Saturday afternoon. Lunch was eaten, books were read, children played in the yard, gardens were tended, mothers put their infants down for an afternoon nap, and one can hope that some iced tea was brewed. 

This is not to say that the chaos in Washington is unimportant or has no effect on the ordinary people of the nation. Rather, it serves as a reminder to conservatives that we should strive for a normal political order; normal in the deepest sense of the word. 

Normal does not simply mean conformity. Normal also refers to that which is natural. The communists and pride marchers live extraordinary lives, in a very tragic sense. They are so disenchanted with the natural things of human life, such as children, marriage, and religion, that to fill the void in their souls they spend their Saturday afternoons desecrating statues and flaunting their deviant sexuality in front of children. 

Conservatives have two options of how to respond to this madness. The first is to go mad ourselves and fall victim to the chaos, allowing our lives to be consumed by wars and rumors of wars. Technology makes this path easy. Constant streams of information fill our social media feeds and sink into our souls. We can instantly know of any conflict anywhere on the globe at any moment. Perhaps the greatest tragedy of the two demonstrations this weekend is that some man was probably enjoying a good novel when he picked up his phone, saw a notification from X about the chaos in Washington, and thus spent the rest of his day consumed by the infuriating images.

The second option, in a nutshell, is that the same man finished his novel, enjoyed a good dinner with his family, said his prayers, and went to bed. Certainly, he should be informed about the happenings of the world, but there was nothing that happened this weekend in Washington that he actually needed to know about. By simply finishing his day peacefully, our fictional man would do far more good for the republic than he would by angrily scrolling twitter for the rest of the day. 

On the broader level, this second path is subsidiarity. As the USCCB reminds us, subsidiary is the idea that 

larger institutions in society (such as the state or federal government) should not overwhelm or interfere with smaller or local institutions (such as the family, local schools, or the Church community). Yet larger institutions have essential responsibilities when local institutions cannot adequately protect human dignity, meet human needs, or advance the common good.

It is safe to say that the local institution of a man enjoying his novel was interfered with by the riot in Lafayette Square.

If we wish to save our republic from the barbarians at the gates—or in this case climbing our statues—we have to be incredibly intentional about how we live our lives. Few of us will hold significant political power in Washington, but all of us will go on being human in spite of the latest protest or riot. If we wish to save our republic from the barbarians at the gates—or in this case climbing our statues—we have to be incredibly intentional about how we live our lives. Tweet This

This is not a call to abandon politics; rather, it is the opposite. This is a call to embrace our political nature in the truest sense. If we want to truly live a life of subsidiarity, we have to play our role and tend to the institutions closest to us. It may be our last option to restore our society.  Our greatest weapon against the chaos of the current regime is a life well lived and sharing that well-lived life with those in closest proximity to us. As G.K. Chesterton is often attributed with saying, “the most extraordinary thing in the world is an ordinary man and an ordinary woman and their ordinary children.”

The thousands of ordinary people who prayerfully walked through the streets with Our Lord on Saturday morning were indeed extraordinary in their ordinariness. They represent this second path that conservatives should take. It is a normal thing—a natural thing—for man to pray and give thanks to God. It is a normal thing for a society to be religious and to worship God. 

Celebrating pride in one’s sin and desecrating the statues of national heroes are not natural things to do.  

Which path will we take?

[Image Credit: Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images and Christine Rousselle/Fox News Digital]