IMPEACHMENT Same Sources, Conflicting Conclusions a Courageous Conversation Prep Guide by Allen Hilton

IMPEACHMENT Same Sources, Conflicting Conclusions A Courageous Conversation Prep Guide by Allen Hilton You may Be like many of the people I have interviewed or the public that opinion-gatherers are portraying: a bit tired of being inundated by 24-hour reporting on daylong sessions and testimony and now hearings on the constitutionality of this impeachment and court arguments about who will and won’t testify and… This saturation and the collective distaste of the American people began early – even, for some, after the first day of hearings – and has naturally increased. One columnist has ventured a guess as to the cause: The collective nausea was no mystery. Americans used to soothing (or stoking) their fears via curated news on their siloed outlet of choice were exposed to the opposition’s argument, unfiltered By Sean Hannity and Rachel Maddow. It was a shock to the system. (Lorraine Ali, “Already Sick of the Impeachment Hearings?” LA Times Nov 14, 2019) You may Be among the gun shy who hear “Conversation” and “Impeachment” in the same sentence and run the other way. On the other hand, through the Fran Park Center’s recent practice of Courageous Conversations, we at Pinnacle Church (and Christians in House United-ish churches across the country) have Become accustomed to speaking with and hearing “the other side.” We’ve ventured out of our silos monthly to speak and listen well with one another – to have a sort of neighborhood chat aBout important things. And impeachment is a very important thing. We hope you will join us this Sunday morning, Dec 8, at 11:30 in the Choir Rehearsal Hall (Sanctuary Building) to do what mayBe only a church can do these days: talk with one another respectfully and honestly about the highly-charged and very significant issue of impeachment. We also hope you will find this preparation guide helpful. We work very hard to make these materials fact-based, rather than partisan in either direction. That is a rare effort in our time. Please feel free to help us do it better by giving your feedback to Allen Hilton at [email protected] Fran Park Center 1 ©Allen Hilton Our Questions 1. What is at stake in the impeachment hearings? Why do or should we care aBout this? 2. Why are Americans experiencing more impeachment hearings in these latter days of our repuBlic? 1 out of our first 36 presidents faced hearings (2.7%), while 3 of our last 9 presidents have faced them (33%). what does it say aBout the state of our nation that our frequency is increasing? 86% of Democrats are FOR impeachment and 87% of RepuBlicans are AGAINST it. Does this mean that independent thought has Become a dinosaur among us? Or are these numbers a positive indicator that our people are more consistently principled? 3. Can history help us here? We’ll ask for recollection and reflections by those who remember the Nixon and Clinton impeachment hearings. 4. How shall we navigate the rest of what happens with our friends, family, neighBors, et al. during and after this impeachment process? SETTING THE TABLE Why We Talk 1. To Get Better at Disagreeing Lovingly In a time of incivility and disrespect Between people who disagree on important matters, Courageous Conversations are designed to help reBuild atrophied muscles for disagreeing civilly and respectfully. We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ… (Ephesians 4.15) 2. To Develop Our Convictions from Our Relationship with God In an age when American Christians often listen to their progressive or conservative political party line, Before the voice of God through Jesus and scripture, we commit ourselves to reversing that order. We will pray for God to move us from Christ to the world and its matters. Seek first the Kingdom of God and God’s righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (Matthew 6.33) 3. To Celebrate Our Differences as Assets, Rather Than Threats In an era of echo chambers, when Americans flock to Birds of their own theological and political feather, courageous Christians capitalize on the God-given value of our differences. (1 Corinthians 12.4-26) This also means listening for God’s voice in the things others say. Fran Park Center 2 ©Allen Hilton Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. (1 Corinthians 12.5-7) 4. To Normalize Conflict In the New Testament and church history, Christians address theological and political conflict aBout ideas directly in order to move forward. Contemporary Christians tend to avoid these direct conflicts, opting rather for “parking lot conversations” with people who agree with them (aka “echo chambers”). Courageous Conversations help us get over our fear of moving toward one another in our disagreements. Certain individuals came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and the elders. (Acts 15.1-2) 5. To Save Our World If churches can learn to disagree and solve our proBlems in constructive, collaBorative ways, we can Become a resource to our cities, states, regions, nations, and all nations. In other words, By learning talk well with one another, we’re ultimately saving the world. Jesus prayed, “Father…I in them, and you in me, that they become completely one, so that the world may know that you sent me, and that you love them as you love me. (17.23) How We Talk In order to Build new muscles for civility and mutual understanding, we Build some Basic practices into our Courageous Conversations. 1. We actively love one another. Jesus’ Golden Rule is the most direct guide to our conduct: “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (Matthew 7.12) which he repeats when he says, “You shall love your neighBor as yourself.” (Mark 12.31) In our Courageous Conversations, these commands usually show up as active, patient listening and constructive, respectful comments. (John 13.34-35) 2. We “Listen for what the Spirit is saying to the church.” Fran Park Center 3 ©Allen Hilton Christians Believe that we all have the Spirit of God. To remind ourselves of this, at least at first, after any person speaks, we’ll repeat this chorus: “Listen for what the Spirit is saying to the church.” (Revelation 3.22) 3. We take Community Responsibility If tensions rise and Begin to get out of hand, that is not just an issue for the two or three people in the fray. It is a community issue, and we are all called to help as we can to restore Christian love. (Philippians 4.2-3) PART ONE: WHAT IS AT STAkE? No American president has ever Been removed from office By the impeachment process. (President Nixon resigned after the House had voted on one of its Articles of Impeachment, so we’ll never know if Congress would ultimately have removed him from office. Given the current voting patterns and distriBution of RepuBlicans and Democrats in the Senate, that record is not likely to Be Broken this time. In addition to this, the leaders of the House of Representatives, who called these proceedings into existence, have known those proBaBilities from the Beginning. If they are very likely not to end in the removal of the President from office, what is at stake in the impeachment hearings? The Rule of Law? One consideration in every impeachment has Been the responsiBility Congress has to check and balance the power and conduct of the president. Interpretation of this duty can be highly politicized, of course. Looking through different partisan lenses, one Behavior is a “crime or misdemeanor” to one pair of eyes and a mere indiscretion to another. But at the Base of this discussion is a constitutional mandate. On the other hand, some have worried that when we lower the Bar concerning “impeachaBle offenses” we slow down government and weaken the presidency. Here is a consideration of the constitutional language around impeachment: The Language of the Constitution The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. (The U.S. Constitution, Article 2, Section 4) The simple-seeming language of Article 2 of the Constitution is not quite so simple at all. While Article 3, Section 3 will define treason, we never get help defining BriBery, high crimes, or misdemeanors. There is no “Definitions” section to answer this question, and that leaves the task of defining these terms to the U.S. Congress. In a polarized context, that’s a high-degree-of- difficulty dive. Here’s what we know: Fran Park Center 4 ©Allen Hilton Treason “Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.

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