Page 3 – The Waltonian

There have been many changes this semester for students on-campus during the Coronavirus pandemic, and the fitness center is not exempt. New policies and hours of operation have been implemented in order to curb the spread of COVID-19.

For this Fall semester, the fitness center will remain open with altered operating hours from 8:00 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and 12:00 p.m. to 4:00p.m. on weekends. Students may set aside a 50 minute period to work out in the fitness center via the Instagram account @ironeaglessc, where a link to a page for reservation slots can be found.

Prior to working out, students must take the following precautions:

•Temperature check upon entering the gym

•Masks must be worn at all times- including when using the fitness equipment

•Students must prove that they have been approved by the Campus Clear app

Upon entering the fitness center, students will notice taped sections to stay within during workouts in order to maintain social distancing in addition to the adoption of the mask policy. Cleaning products have also been provided, with the expectation that students clean equipment and machinery after each use. This policy is not new
to students familiar with using the fitness center, but is now mandatory upon use of equipment.

At the end of the 50 minute slot, students are asked to exit the facility so the gym staff can clean for the remaining 10 minutes before allowing the next group of students to enter the gym. Slots can be reserved back-to-back for students working out longer than 50 minutes, however they are still
required to exit the gym for routine sanitation.

Though these policies may be unfamiliar to students used to working out in the fitness center, they allow us to continue using the fitness center
in a safe and sanitized atmosphere. Making these practices a part of your fitness routine is a small price to pay for uninterrupted use of the fitness
center during the Coronavirus.

Source: Eastern University

In the age of the Coronavirus, wearing a face covering has become the social norm in an effort to prevent the spread of the virus in public settings. Following a study by Duke University published in early August, it has come to public attention, however, that not all masks are created equal.

The meta-analysis showed that fitted, non-valved N95 masks and disposable surgical masks were deemed most effective in curbing the spread of the virus, with cotton layered masks following close behind. Masks made of knitted fabric, bandanas, and “neck gaiters” or other polyester materials, however, were determined
to be as effective as wearing no mask at all.

These findings created a large amount of controversy as corporations, organizations, and institutions, Eastern University included, have been long distributing these ineffective face coverings as helpful alternatives in the fight against the Coronavirus.

Many organizations have begun a recall process, disallowing these face coverings as viable alternatives in public spaces. Our neighbor, Cabrini University, even went as far as to ban the use of “neck gaiters” as face coverings on campus.

Though such policies have not been put into effect on Eastern University’s campus, this controversy has created a campus-wide discussion of the safety of students sharing classrooms, housing, dining commons, and public spaces with students wearing Eastern-approved “neck gaiters”.

An easy way to determine if your mask protects yourself and others is the “candle test”, which involves attempting to blow out a flame while wearing a mask. If you are able to do so, your mask is probably not protecting you or the people around you.

For students living on campus, unable to light a candle according to dorm safety policies, ask a family member or friend with a comparable mask to run the “candle test” and report the effectiveness to you. Alternatively, avoid masks which do not fit your face, or are made of polyester or knit materials.

As we learn more about the virus, it is vital that we continually adjust to fresh findings with humility and willing flexibility, instead of continuing flawed practices to avoid embarrassment.

The impact of the international Coronavirus pandemic has been multi-faceted, and different for each person. Though our responses to the virus and personal experiences are varied, each of us is faced with an alteration of what it means to be in community. To many, community includes the circle of people they spend the majority of their time with. Now, physical and social distance has left many feeling isolated, lonely, and disconnected from the general population. This phenomenon comes with the paradox of experiencing this moment, to the international level, together.

As we navigate this changed world, each of us must come to terms with what ‘community’ means to us, individually and together. For some, this new community can be found in the virtual world. For others, this is simply not enough and masked, distanced, interactions can be helpful in developing this new form of communication. For many, a combination of the two allows us to manage the very human need for connection. However, these interactions may not leave us fulfilled and satisfied in our needs; craving more and yet still feeling the staggering emptiness of increased time alone in an increasingly interconnected world.

Looking for new and revisiting past ways to connect, many have turned to synchronized book clubs. Novels and poetry have long offered a way for people to distract and escape reality for a bit while allowing our lust for a somewhere, anywhere else to roam free. By reading together book clubs allow us to find the sense of community and fellowship we are craving, while offering a brief escape from the monotony and isolation of social distance.

There are many ways to accomplish this, and many communities adjusting to the new world we live in through book clubs. Spotify has begun offering synchronized listening sessions for people who prefer audiobooks and podcasts to the paper print version. These sessions can be accessed by clicking on the audio you would like to listen to, and finding the speaker icon at the bottom left of the screen. Here you can click “Start Session” to send an invite to others to listen together.

Those who prefer the feel of pages turning and smell of the glued and woven binding can join a group who reads apart, and discusses together, via Zoom. Groups such as Noname Book Club, created by the artist Noname, offers bi-monthly sessions to discuss the affectionately named “reading materials for the homies”, discussing post-colonial theory and novels/poetry, alike. This club reserves space for people of color interested in joining and can be found on Twitter, Instagram, or their website nonamebooks.com .

Emma Watson’s Our Shared Shelf offers books which discuss themes of race, gender, and justice, and holds discussion on the platform Goodreads.

The Deviant’s Book Club, organized by Dr. Eric Cervini, queer historian, offers a monthly read with associated discussions to break down the readings and discuss them publicly via Instagram.

Lehigh Valley Humanists offers a monthly book recommendation, Zoom discussion meetings, and guest speakers with the authors of books read. More information for this group can be found at meetup.com/Lehigh-Valley-Humanists/events/ and plans to be held in person once the threat of Coronavirus has waned.

All of these clubs can help us, Students, Faculty and Family of Eastern, to reconnect with this ancient and radically revisited way to commune with people geographically and physically distanced from us. This issue is not a new one, but rather an adjustment to this moment we live in, and a revisiting of the way we exist together. As we approach this new semester, and navigate finding ways to be alone, while together, and occupy ourselves apart from our studies, book clubs can make a world of difference in our ability to reconnect.

Recent release of the Department of Education’s regulations governing sex discrimination at federally funded institutions, Title IX, has sparked much controversy and conversation. The first federal alteration since1997, these changes have been received with mixed criticism and support. The bulk of the changes made to Title IX address issues of sexual assault at public institutions, initiating a net loss of protection
for students experiencing sexual harrassment and assault. According to Inside Higher Ed, the most significant of these alterations include:

1. “Colleges are not obligated to follow a specific time frame for responding to reports of sexual misconduct.”

2. The definition of sexual harassment has been changed to the following: “Any unwelcome
conduct that a reasonable person would find so severe, pervasive and objectively offensive that it
denies a person equal educational access.” This excludes reports of domestic violence, stalking,
and dating violence.
3. “Colleges are not obligated to handle complaints of sexual harassment that occur
outside the United States.” This specifically affects students who engage in semester abroad
and exchange programs.
4. Colleges are not required to respond to multiple informal harassment complaints against a single respondent.

5. The university’s response must include “due processing” and the burden of proof has been raised to “preponderance of the evidence” or “clear and convincing” evidence, despite sexual assault cases often resulting in little to no evidence due to the nature of the crime.

6. Colleges are not required to respond to sexual assault which has occurred off-campus,
including university acknowledged sororities, fraternities, and sport housing.

The regulatory changes to Title IX also include increased protections. Colleges will now be required to employ three separate trained officials to respond to Title IX accusations, instead of one Title IX coordinator. This change is particularly challenging for small colleges to uphold, as many do not have the administrative capacity to employ and train additional facilitators. In response, the Department of
Education has offered a grace period of several months for colleges to implement these changes
to their administration.

In response to this regulation, colleges in the Greater Philadelphia Area have collaborated to create a Title IX consortium to pool resources and knowledge with nearby institutions. This consortium includes Widener, Ursinus College, Bryn Mawr College, University of the Sciences, La Salle University, and others, as they collaborate to meet the new policy and procedural changes.

Eastern University is not included in such a consortium and has not put out any information
regarding regulatory changes on campus. According to the university webpage, “Eastern University complies with state and federal laws, as well as good practice as we care for our
community members. In this regard, review the information on the Title IX policies here.” When
the link is followed, it brings you to a 404 Error: Page Not Found. Across the nation students are pushing
back on these revised regulations, urging their universities to implement the Title IX regulations
alongside a university policy which offers protections beyond the Department of Education
minimums. Princeton University will implement both a “Title IX Sexual Harassment policy” and
“University Sexual Misconduct Policy”. Students for Survivors of the University of Cincinnati
are concerned the university will take these federal regulations “as an opportunity to limit
responsibility rather than uphold survivors’ rights”. Students at Stanford University have
rallied, urging the university to create a sexual misconduct policy alongside complying with the
federal regulations.

Sources: Inside Higher Ed; Department of
Education; Eastern University

In a world where religion plays such an integral role in American politics, it is important to analyze our own political loyalties with the lens of the true teaching of the Bible. This is especially true when addressing such controversial issues as reparations, as it is easy to put our economic, political, and ideological concerns ahead of Christ’s intention for our life. Instead of falling into the trap of fitting spirituality into our politics, I urge each of us to step outside of our politics and see how it fits into our spirituality.

One of the most clear concepts the Bible teaches us is the pursuit of justice, peace and wholeness in the face of injustice, violence, and brokenness. No one is free from the burden of sin, which has weighed humanity down since the Beginning. We are told that the crucifixion story frees us from this burden, and forgives of the sins we are destined to commit. The act of saving all of humanity in one fell swoop suggests a greater theme of collective redemption. The divine did not pick and choose who should be made whole, but rather freely offered it to anyone open to receiving.

In our journey as Christians to be more Christ-like, we also strive to repair the brokenness of the world through Christ-like Love. Scripture makes it clear that Biblical morality is defined not only as individual actions, but collective morality (1 Corinthians 12). We cannot achieve the Justice, Truth, and Love of Christ without collective Justice. Collective Truth. Collective Love. This is an integral part of the morality we acknowledge when we proclaim the christian faith.

The hard part, however, is that these concepts do not exist in a vacuum. Instead we must wrestle with what this kind of collective action looks like in our lives, communities, and the broader structures we exist within.

It is questions like these which can be approached by looking specifically at Jesus’ life on Earth. Jesus’ is described to have been followed by the spiritually and physically hungry masses. He responds to this by first addressing their immediate physical needs with the miracle of loaves and fish. However, Jesus does not stop there. He continues to affect real systemic change in a very broken Jerusalem. He works to reform flawed religious, economic, and political systems through reorganizing temples (Matthew 21:12-17; Mark 11:15-19; Luke 19:45-48; John 2:13-16) , political regimes (Matthew 6:24; John 18:36), and social orders (Matthew 5:1-11; Mark 1:40-45).

But what does this look like in practice? I would like to indulge in a little bit of myth busting. As Christians, we can agree that Jesus’ teachings included that of justice, the Greater Good, radical love, and the concepts of shalom and restoration to wholeness through Christ. For many, this is easily applied to the societal and spiritual brokenness which results from racism. However, the conflict arises when it is suggested that we repair the brokenness in these communities through reparations.

And so, the myth I would like to address is that the damages done to people of color, specifically African Americans forced into chattel slavery, are issues which are very recent and painful to America as a whole. We tend to use the rare individual racist in middle America as a scapegoat for a greater systemic issue. However, as Christians I believe we are called to true justice, and this includes the reality of systemic racism which continues to have a strong hold in America today.

I am not going to try to convince you that racism still exists and is prevalent in America. It does. Instead, let me address that the damages done to African Americans forced into chattel slavery are issues recent and painful to our society and culture. While it is easy to use the rare, Southern racist as a scapegoat, the empirical reality is that racism is a systemic issue, not an individual one.

Author and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates describes this reality well.

“Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal. Thirty-five years of racist housing policy. Until we reckon with our compounding moral debts, America will never be whole.”

This history brings us to today. A generation of Americans convinced that racism is old and gone, while the systemic reality of racism is merely the air we breathe.

The wholeness which Coates describes is akin to the wholeness described in the Old and New Testament. A responsibility placed on us to work towards making whole what has been broken, beaten down, and burdened by sin and domination. It is a brokenness which burdens African Americans in America today, and will continue to have economic, physical, and psychological effects for years to come. It is also a brokenness which creates pain, dissonance, and isolation in whites, as we fight to uphold a system which cannot continue justly.

As so eloquently said in 1 Corinthians 12, “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it”. We will not be a true body, in unity as one, until we begin to repair the injustices and damage inflicted upon each other and ourself.

There is something about unity and togetherness which is sacred and vital to our religion, and indicative of the divine Creator. We cannot authentically pursue God without also authentically pursuing these things in our community.

The reality is that the damage done to blacks in America is more than what can be fixed on a personal, relational level. While education to fight ignorance and hatefulness is a vital step in repairing the harm done, we are called to address a greater issue of structural discrimination; a responsibility that the life of Jesus illuminated to us. No longer may we walk blindly, focused on our own life and relationship with God. We are a body, and our relationship with the Creator is dependent on its health and unity.

I can choose to address racism within my own life and relationships, but without genuine structural change, I am still part of a system which oppresses my brothers and sisters in Christ, and which I benefit from. In America, freeing ourselves from this bondage in order to become one in Christ, looks like repairing the damaged communities and structures which perpetuate this division.

If justice is what we seek, then reparations are what we need.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” Martin Luther King Jr.

The Rootin’ for Everybody Black event, held by the Eastern University Black Students’ League, had a great turn out and was a fun way to learn about, and celebrate, Black culture. The event, which took place on Feb. 15 in the McInnis Auditorium, featured local Black artists, singers, and creators from Eastern University, and the greater Philadelphia area. The event was attended not only by Eastern students, but outside visitors, Temple University Step Team, BSL of Ursinus, and our very own Blaze joined the celebration as well.

Eastern students Shavon Wilson and Maya Harris hosted the event and were tasked with engaging the crowd with some of the fun and uplifting activities they had planned. The night started with a singing of the Black National Anthem “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, sung by a student and well-known worship singer on campus, El-Fatih Chase. This was followed by a moment of silence for Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gigi, who were both recent victims of a tragic helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. This powerful start to the night left attendees feeling reverent and excited to celebrate Black joy.

The event showcased Black designers and models, offering a space for creators to come and be celebrated for their works and accomplishments. In between sets, the audience engaged in trivia about Black creators and filmmakers and were awarded with prizes. Students also danced in styles such as the jerk, and the soulja-boy crank that, as well as sang popular songs which were originally created by Black songwriters.

Harris described this event to be one of purposeful celebration, showcasing up-and-coming Black creators, as well as an educational event on Black history and Culture. The event welcomed people of all ethnicities interested in learning about Black culture and history, celebrating the triumphs of Black people in America, and lifting up Black voices. “We embraced the past,” Harris said, “whereas people just want to talk about the pain of the past. Instead of oppression, we focused on celebrating the victories [of Black people] and giving a pedestal for contributions which have been ignored.”

Eastern BSL’s Rootin’ for Everybody Black offered a space for the celebration of everything Black individuals have accomplished, as well as the many contributions to progress African Americans have made, despite marginalization and systemic silencing. Harris added that she would love to see more people come out to these events next year. She encourages all people to support Black joy events and engage in celebrating Black history on campus. The support of people of all ethnicities celebrating Black culture is an easy and important way to uplift Black voices and needs on campus.

All in all, the event was a huge success, offering space for black culture, history, voices, and celebration. For people interested in joining the Eastern University Black Student League, the club meets at 4pm on Thursdays in HHC 106. For more information, contact bsl@eastern.edu about how to get involved on campus for future events and support.

Real Madrid soccer fans around the world are celebrating the recent 3-1 victory over Valencia which marks Real Madrid’s entrance into the upcoming Spanish Super Cup. However, this exciting news looms over the increasingly darkening reality of sports used to cover up humanitarian crises in the Middle East and internationally.

As fans celebrated this win, many citizens of the world mourned the 600th day of confinement of Saudi women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul, this past Wednesday Jan. 8, 2020.

The activist was arrested for defying the ban on womens’ right to drive in May 2018. Al-Hathloul has remained a political prisoner in Saudi Arabia despite the driving ban having been reversed just weeks after al-Hathloul’s arrest. She has remained detained and is confirmed to have undergone vicious torture since her arrest.

In light of recent attention toward these Saudi human rights violations, there has been a conjoined effort to increase the amount of sports events hosted in Saudi Arabia and thus divert international attention from these important issues. This anniversary has been met with criticism as the national attempt to “sportswash” important social and political movements such as this continues.

The most recent move in the direction of “sportswashing” has come in the form of a contract between Saudi Arabia and the Royal Spanish Football Confederation (RFEF) ensuring tournaments for the next three years will be held on Saudi soil. This deal was met with international protests, as well as angry Real Madrid fans fuming about the inconvenient and unnecessary distance for fans to travel.

These complaints criticized the RFEF’s motive for entering this contract as being complicit in the silencing of voices calling for social change in Saudi Arabia. Some have even gone as far as to claim that the RFEF had been offered a choice between humanitarianism and financial gain and ended up on the wrong side of history in their “unashamed” support of the Saudi regime (i News, 2020).

The Saudi kingdom has been known to actively enact laws which categorize feminism, homosexuality, and atheism as “extremist” views and thus vulnerable to governmental protective action and subjection to the death penalty. Despite Saudi’s treatment of prisoners and excessive use of capital punishment as generally discouraged, actions such as the RFEF’s bring into question just how strongly these actions are condemned.

Should the international community truly look upon these policies as human rights violations worthy of worldwide attention, corporations would be inclined to support the public discourse, as it would be worth more than the financial gain offered. Instead, we treat the issues and abuse surrounding the rights of non-Western women as of lesser importance, if not virtually invisible to the powerhouse which is sports-related economy.

On the other hand, perhaps the responsibility to afford or deny support to countries withholding basic rights lies not in the hands of corporations acting for financial benefit, but in the individual and international community. After all, businesses are designed to act in their own best interest which, in the RFEF’s case, is accepting an exponentially beneficial contract with Saudi Arabia, regardless of the intentions or ethics behind it.

The international community, however, claims to be vigilant in protecting human rights and stopping humanitarian crises from violating the sacred code of humanity we claim to defend. Perhaps instead of holding the RFEF responsible, we must look to the responsibility we and our elected leaders have in assuring these rights we boast to value across the globe.

Sources: CNN, inews.com

For the first time since the 2008 Financial Crisis, where women took a brief lead in the workforce, women have surpassed men in the percentage of people on the payroll according to the Labor Department.

In fact, of the just 145,000 jobs added to the workforce this past month, 95% of those jobs were awarded to women. And this milestone is expected to last. Betsy Stevenson, an economist at the University of Michigan who served during the Obama Administration says “I feel very strongly that a year from now, their share will continue to be over 50%,”.

As women creep past 50% of the national workforce, there is a lot to be addressed in how this milestone has come to be, what it means, and how it will manifest itself in our society. It is important to know that while this is a monumental break for women and female-identifying persons, it comes with its own set of challenges.

These statistics are influenced by the reality that while women may be entering the workforce en masse, they continue to be underpaid and in hospitality-related fields. In fact, of the jobs that were entered into the workforce this past month, most of them were low-paying.

Because of this, there is no pressure on high-paying jobs, which fails to address low wages or the staggering 50-year low we find unemployment rates at.

Additionally, the study excludes both self-employed persons and farm employees, categories which are largely male-dominated.

Other traditionally masculine workforce categories included in this study, such as mining, logging, and manufacturing, have been on a steady decline. Yet women hold 77% of the jobs in the health care and education category, both fast-growing female-dominated industries.

However, these statistics are balanced out by categories such as construction, a largely male-dominated field, which has been on a steady incline since the 2008 Housing Crisis. Industries which are typically female-dominated have also been on the rise for awhile, leading economists to believe that perhaps this milestone will be lasting.

The nuances in these studies are important to understand when analyzing what this statistic means for the workforce as it affects our society day to day.

Overall, the influx in jobs offers the potential to pave the way for future women and other marginalized groups, as well as real policy changes in the way of family and women’s rights. Having more women in the workforce benefits everyone.

Monuments such as these remind of us the strides women have made in the past and the places we hope to go in the future.

As the number of women admitted into the workforce increases, the ability for gender equality among different fields increases, as well as the importance of advocating for flexible hours and paid family leave.

It also encourages us to think of the people left out of this statistic. Because it analyzes men and women’s experiences in the job market, it falls woefully short in analyzing the full spectrum of gender identity and experiences.

The recent news of Australian wildfires has caught the attention of the international community as they have continued to surge across the continent, causing more and more damage along the way. Bushfires in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia have encompassed the most recent trajectory for damage as of Jan. 22, 2020. According to CNN Australia, the fires have shown no signs of stopping in the foreseeable future, despite the expansive damage which has already occurred.

Hourly updates show that there have been 30 recorded deaths as a result of the fires (four of which were firefighters) and 3,000 homes destroyed in New South Wales alone. Though fires have occurred in every state across the continent, New South Wales has been hit the hardest by this crisis.

Despite international assistance (the United States included) working with national and local efforts, firefighters are struggling to contain these blazes. The persistence of the fires has been encouraged by excessive heat and drought across the nation. In fact, this increase in forest fire danger was predicted by The State of the Climate 2018 report.

This report noted that the ten warmest recorded sea surface temperatures have been recorded in the past decade surrounding Australia, which has contributed to weather changes on land, as well as coral bleaching and wildlife migration patterns. These changes, as well as many other phenomena attributed to climate change, have affected the local weather in Australia and added to the likelihood of the fires which rage across Australia presently.

These fires far from affect only the forest and bush regions of Australia. Early in December, Melbourne and Sydney suburbs were damaged by the fires, resulting in extremely dangerous smoke levels throughout the city. In Sydney, the air quality was so bad it measured 11 times the “hazardous” air quality level. As with most natural disasters, these damages affected disadvantaged and aboriginal groups first.

Fires have ranged from small blazes to infernos stretching across 10 million hectares of land which have been burning for months at a time. For reference, England occupies approximately 13 million hectares of land.

These fires have been attributed to several different factors ranging from natural causes, to climate change effects and deliberate arson. Each summer, Australia expects a fire season due to dry climate, making it easy for small fires to start and spread. The vast majority of fires are due to natural causes, such as dry lightning strikes and drought-affected climate. There have also been 24 people charged with deliberate fire-starting since Nov. 2019 and legal action taken against 183 people for “fire-related offenses”.

Bushfires in Australia have always been dangerous and a cause for local concern. However, conditions have been particularly severe this season as Australia is experiencing some of the worst droughts recorded in decades. An additional heatwave in December left citizens of Australia and the wildlife baking at 113-120 degrees Fahrenheit. Strong winds have caused the fire and smoke to travel more rapidly. In fact, the wind level has caused the death of a 28-year old volunteer firefighter when his truck was blown over by high winds.

Experts note that while these fires may be “normal” for Australian climate, the effects and impact of these disasters have significantly worsened due to climate change. Fires have begun earlier in the season, lasted longer, spread quicker and burned with more intensity than ever before.

Sources: BBC, CNN, SMH, theclassroom.com

In a world obsessed with differences and division, it is tempting to believe that the art of politics has been lost or perhaps never even existed at all. It’s hard to remember a time when two politicians sat down to have a genuine conversation about peace, unity and fellowship in the community they were elected to represent.

However, the disheartening reality of U.S. and international politics today does not take away from the true meaning and art behind politics. The purpose of politics is that of unity, fellowship, peace, protection, harmonious living and human flourishing.The challenge that faces us in the political sphere is an encompassing one. It revolves around the very identity we have endowed ourselves with and how we choose to live our lives in relation to the people around us. Politics attempts to find unity in the face of great division. We as Americans and humans are divided across cultural, educational, geographic, religious and ideological boundaries, which sometimes seem almost impossible to breach. The rift between identity has grown and swallowed our very understanding of human nature and innate rights.

While this challenge is one well worth pursuing, it is by no means a science. Throughout time, philosophers have argued and came to very different conclusions about what is the solution to division. The true art of politics is the skill, commitment and passion for pursuing unity, truth and human dignity. This kind of artistry comes from years of learning and experiencing the world. It cannot be found in textbooks, decades of education or persistent debate. Instead, this art can only be mastered over time and patience devoted to true human flourishing and peaceably living in community.

Mastering the art of politics does not come from a place of corruption, power or deceit. In fact, it cannot. There is no formula for resolving human conflict and no equation to determine the correct ratio needed for fellowship among people. No amount of convincing or conversing can establish the correct and moral way to govern a society. Instead, both the plight and salvation of the art of politics is its dependency on human connection. Politics does not, and cannot, be effective without looking past our own prerogatives in favor of pursuing harmony. It is an essential condition of human relation to approach people with empathy, grace and a recognition of undeniable humanity. In resolving conflict between people so vastly different, yet so fundamentally similar, there is no other way to approach a resolution than to recognize the uniquely complicated experiences and understanding of the world which informs each person’s politics.

In order to master the art of politics, one must first master the unity, respect and love for humanity which is necessary to being a public servant. Without a devotion to these things, the chasm of division which separates our country and world cannot be resolved. It is up to us, civilians and politicians alike, to pursue these skills and master the art of unity in politics.