“By itself, the recognition that we have common hopes and dreams won’t end all the gridlock, resolve all our problems, or substitute for the painstaking work of building consensus and making the difficult compromises needed to move this country forward.”

–President Barack Obama (from his victory speech on November 7, 2012)

In a scene from The American President (I know; it’s a chick flick, but I love it), POTUS interrupts his press secretary’s daily Q&A with a soliloquy that includes the following:

“America isn’t easy. America is advanced citizenship. You’ve gotta want it bad because it’s gonna put up a fight. It’s gonna say, You want free speech? Then let’s see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who’s standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs for that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land is the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country cannot just be a flag. The symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest.”

I’m not going to talk today about burning the American flag. But I am going to talk about the two issues at the top of our country’s culture wars: gun rights and abortion. Nothing else–climate change, voting rights, foreign policy, race relations–stirs our emotion pot like these two.

First, gun rights. Plain and simple, it is addressed in the Constitution’s Second Amendment. One could argue the right to keep and bear arms relates to the need for a well-regulated militia; however, historically it has been interpreted as allowing citizens to own guns.

But in our nation’s 246 years, we’ve gone from the days of the flint rifle to today’s assault weapons, capable of rapid fire and mass destruction. What’s next, rocket-propelled grenades? Is that really so far-fetched? Can’t we agree that some legislation is warranted that addresses red flags, mental health, school security, and the process whereby one obtains a potential weapon?

Unfortunately, we can’t legislate parental stupidity and lack of oversight. The father of the Highland Park shooter facilitated his son’s purchase of a weapon, for heaven’s sake.

Will legislation stop senseless murders and mass shootings? Of course not. The young adult who conducted the July 4th massacre in Chicago used an assault weapon, even though Chicago bans assault weapons. Do you think he gave a whit about the ban?

Maybe legislation will stop some half-cocked, impulsive teen from obtaining a gun and doing something that changes his and his victims’ lives forever. But, as I’ve previously said in these pages, by the time the soon-to-be shooter buys the gun, the proverbial ship has sailed on preventing what’s about to happen.

To their credit, Congress passed gun legislation a few weeks ago and President Biden signed it into law. Some say it’s too little, while others say any restriction on the ready availability of guns is a bridge too far. There must be a compromise. Without it, we make no progress.

And then there’s abortion. First, full disclosure: I’m pro-life. As a Christian and a physician, I neither have nor seek any other option. After all, the opposite of “life” is…well, it isn’t “choice.”

And it’s not “reproductive health,” as politicians euphemistically try to sell it. Abortion is the antithesis of reproduction.

To be clear, abortion is not mentioned in the Constitution. Almost fifty years ago, through confusing mental calisthenics, SCOTUS decided the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause addressed abortion. There was no legislation, Constitutional right, or common law on which to base that decision. In the absence of action from the legislative branch, an activist court construed law, and even the liberal Justice Ginsburg almost immediately realized the Court had gone too far.

The recent overturning of Roe v. Wade merely corrects an overreach by the earlier Court. The ruling does not eliminate abortion; rather, it sends it back to the legislative houses of our fifty states to determine what each will allow. That’s federalism, and anything not specifically mentioned in the Constitution is supposed to be determined by the states.

And if you think federal legislation is coming, don’t hold your breath. The Democrats couldn’t do it, or didn’t try, when they held the White House and super majorities in Congress. They were content to let the Court do their bidding.

The reaction to the ruling has been predictably vitriolic and disruptive. Understandable from impassioned citizens, but unacceptable from our leaders, who should know better. Regardless of your opinion of President Biden’s politics, don’t you think it’s patently wrong for our president, on foreign soil no less, to denigrate the Supreme Court, an equal branch of his and our country’s government? Shameful at best; a pitiful attempt to win votes for his party at worst.

In the Preamble to the Constitution, the writers clearly indicate an attempt to create “a more perfect union.” Implicit in that wording is we are not perfect and, almost 250 years later, we realize we likely never will be. But we are the best of the best of the world’s nations.

Despite his lofty words and ambitions, President Obama failed to build consensus, just as all presidents have failed since President Reagan’s first term. The political landscape is different now…not better, just different.

The cultural and political battles over gun rights, abortion, and other seminal issues will continue. Can’t we address them as a civilized society through reasoned discourse and compromise? Perhaps that’s the only way we can move toward the goal of becoming a  more perfect union.