God knows we have rarely been in such dire need of a president with some trace of a moral compass. (Not “moral” in the Christian right sense; it basically uses “morality” as a cudgel to promote its biases). So I was interested to hear John McCain’s answer at Rick Warren’s forum the other night when McCain was asked about his moral failings. “My greatest moral failing,” he responded, “is the failure of my first marriage.”
Wait a second. What was he saying? That he should have stayed in that marriage, or worked harder to make it work? Hell of a thing for Cindy to hear. That – pandering to the evangelical audience – divorce is a sin? A failed marriage is many things – sad, wrenching, frustrating, angry, bitter. It happens to many of us (me included). But while, say, cheating on your spouse or other cruel acts could be seen as moral failings (especially if, like some politicians I won’t name, your public persona centers on a deep, fulfilling union), the mere fact of a failed marriage is not. Far better to get out of a bad marriage than let it linger, poisonously. Remember: He did not say cheating on his first wife was a moral failing; he said the mere fact of the marriage’s failure was. McCain gets some credit, I suppose, for not trying to erase the sin of divorce with the deep, cruel dishonesty of an off-the-shelf annulment. But that doesn’t excuse the different kind of dishonesty in his remark. How moral can a person be if he doesn’t even understand what a moral failing is?
So what are moral failings? Many things come to mind in my sinful life. Here’s one: Years ago, a friend was at my apartment with a friend of his I’d never met. As we talked, this stranger made some blatantly racist remarks. Inwardly, I cringed, but outwardly, my reaction was – to my eternal shame – nothing. I did not order him out of my apartment (the reaction I’ve imagined in the many replays of that evening). I did not even tell him how offensive I found his remarks. I said nothing. Was I just too stunned, or wary of a confrontation? Not good enough. My silence – a tiny silence that, when multiplied many times, can become a disaster – was a moral failing.
McCain’s repeated dishonesties cannot be met with silence. Otherwise – I shudder at the thought – he might just win.