In the panel discussion “Imperfect Union: Has America Lost its Moral Center?” organized by Fordham’s Center on Religion and Culture, participants discussed the degradation of foundational principles of equality, tolerance, and free speech, in the United States over the past year.

Moderator Don Wycliff, a columnist for Chicago Catholic and contributor to Commonweal magazine, noted that the evidence that the country has lost its moral center seems to be everywhere. In Alabama, he noted, U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore has the support of the Republican party, and is leading in many polls, despite multiple accusations of pedophilia against him.

“We elected a president who seems to respect none of the traditional norms. Maybe things need to be shaken up, but calling into question the respect for the rule of law and other such basic principles is very radical,” he said.

The Threat of Fake News

Suzanne Nossel, executive director of PEN America, mounted a spirited defense of the independent press. The truth is at the top of the list of things we’re at risk of losing, she said, citing the fact that that very morning, President Trump shared on Twitter misleading and false videos ostensibly showing Muslims attacking non-Muslims.

Fraudulent news is a serious threat to open, healthy and vibrant discourse, she said, and according to Gallup, only 32 percent of Americans said they have a fair amount of trust in the news media last year, down 8 percentage points from the year before, and more than 20 percentage points lower than 1997.

‘We see some boost in readership over the last year as we all rally around the Washington Post and the New York Times, but that comes the Eastern seaboard and from people around the world,” she said.

“It’s not coming from the heartland, where we see an erosion of trust and interest in the mainstream media.”

Peter Wehner, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and former deputy director of speechwriting for President George W. Bush, lamented the direction his party had taken and predicted that if it continued in its the current trajectory, he’d leave the party.

“Any nation that elects Donald Trump as president has a remarkably low view of politics. He ran for president with no experience and no obvious qualifications for the job, and it’s manifested itself every day since he took office,” he said.

Changing Expectations of Politics

Trump didn’t materialize from nowhere, however. Wehner noted that American politics has become an arena for conflict rather a place for problem solving. He advocated for inclusive prosperity, and for politicians to make the case for politics as a force for good.

“Politics has become a replacement for community and meaning, and a sense of belonging for a lot of people. I think that explains in large part some of the tribalism we’re seeing,” he said.

“We have to recover the deep purposes of dialogue and debate, which is not to win, but to get a little closer to the truth.”

Zephyr Teachout, professor at Fordham School of Law, likewise highlighted larger trends. During her recent campaign for New York’s 19th congressional district, she said she encountered an unbelievable amount of loneliness.

“I think loneliness is incredibly important part of understanding where we are in this particular moment,” she said, noting that the prevalence of hallowed out retail areas across the country.

“Loneliness has a lot of sources, but commercial life, like as civic life, has always been part of the way in which we come together.

We have forgotten the importance of anti-trust laws, not just to take on these big guys who are stealing our tax dollars, but also to support a thriving small business community. The other political story of 2016 is not Donald Trump; it’s the fact that we had more big mergers than we’ve ever had.”

There are also two different but complimentary kinds of excessive individualism at play in American politics, said John Carr, director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University.

On the right, economic individualism has been blended with nationalism and racial resentment. On the left, personal autonomy has been elevated above all else. Neither makes room for the common good, for care for the poor and the vulnerable, or for dealing with racism or economic and educational disparities.

“In one, we’re really on our own, in the other we’re a collection of interest groups. When you add in polarization and ideological isolation, it leads to a kind of tribalism that is based on resentments, feeds our anger and makes it very hard to pursue the common good,” he said.

That was the question posed by J. Patrick Hornbeck, chair of the Department of Theology, to kick off “Dear Mr. President: Catholic Social Teaching, Civil Discourse, and the Trump Presidency,” a discussion presented by Fordham University’s Department of Theology and Office of Alumni Relations, featuring a distinguished panel of theologians, scholars, and journalists.

The question did not elicit a simple answer.

The panelists, Christine Emba, a Washington Post columnist; David Gibson, a national reporter of Religion News Service; Natalia Imperatori-Lee, Ph.D., FCRH ’98, associate professor of religious studies at Manhattan College; and Bryan Massingale, S.T.D., professor of theology at Fordham, brought complexities to the discussion— which was held at Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus on Jan. 26.

Father Massingale said that truth is essential in discussing the incoming policies of President Trump, who won 52 percent of the Catholic vote, according to a Pew national exit poll. Whether Catholics identify as liberals, conservatives, Democrats, or Republicans, civil discourse cannot exist without “a respect for the truth,” he said.

Imperatori-Lee noted that Catholic social teaching also requires a place in our national discourse to speak the truth; she said this has been a challenge in recent days.

“The relationship between the way in which our nation is being governed right now and Catholic social teaching seem to be two realities that almost cannot come into dialogue at this point,” she said.

Part of seeking and finding truth is accepting the realities of the election, said Emba, who believes that one of the most important questions facing Catholics today is “what do we do next?”

“I think that the pursuit of the human good was set aside during the election in favor of partisan discussions and anger, and [pursuing]that will be the work of the administration both in the first six days and going forward,” she said.

Speaking “truth to power” 

Father Massingale highlighted the dichotomy between law and morality, and how that has contributed to polarization both within and outside of the Catholic community. But Catholics still have a moral obligation to stand up for the poor, what is sacred, and their convictions, he said.

“Trump may have won the presidency, but that election did not un-elect my conscience,” he said.

Imperatori-Lee said that in the weeks ahead, Catholics may find themselves on the “periphery” but must protect vulnerable populations. “This is our deepest Catholic calling,” she said.

Embracing Catholic social teaching in its totality

Some discussion focused on the visceral connection that many Catholics have to certain contentious issues. During the election, issues such as gay marriage and a woman’s right to choose took precedence over the totality of Catholic social teaching, which encompasses everything from the death penalty to economic and racial injustices, panelists said.

“I think that we as a church need to find a way to make all of those issues part of our identity, and also think about why we’re focusing on some and not particularly interested in talking about others,” said Emba.

Bringing all aspects of Catholic social teaching to the forefront requires a firm commitment to the Catholic tradition of civil disobedience, particularly against unjust laws, Father Massingale said.

“Civil disobedience is something that’s not only deeply American, it is also something that’s deeply Christian,” he said. “It’s founded on the basic conviction that human law is not absolute. Human law has legitimacy only when it is moral, and there’s a difference between legal legitimacy and moral legitimacy.”

As the discussion came to an end, the panelists were asked to share their vision for the future as the country prepares for the next four years under Trump’s administration.

“What I just keep saying to people is that the reason that Trump is president is because people voted for him,” said Gibson, who encouraged the audience to become proactive during a Trump presidency. He later continued, “Our problem is we’re partisan. We need to be political, and that means we work with people who disagree with us.”