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What is the most important thing Augustine has to say to us about human nature and why is this important for political and civic life?

Augustine teaches us to be cynical, first, about ourselves. The most important thing he has to say is, Be careful of your own motives. Make sure you see the log in your eye before the specks in others'.

And watch out for what you think is good and just. Maybe what you think is good and just is not really so good and just. It's just good and just for you. This kind of Augustinian understanding is going to make you a better citizen.

When we can get the American public to appreciate this Augustinian view of human nature, more people are going to be receptive to hearing about God's love and to seeing life for the miracle that it is.

Your book is titled Blessed Are the Cynical. How can cynicism be a good thing?

If you are Augustinian, you know that people rationalize. Whatever they say they're doing for others, they're doing for themselves, ultimately.

Cynicism is good in our context right now because, for an awful lot of us, times are still good. The recession hasn't hit that hard for some of us. Cynicism makes us pause and ask, Is it really good for everybody? When President Bush tells us about the goodness of the American people, is it all about peacekeeping in these international interventions? Or is it more about American interests and economic interests?

That's the kind of thought process cynicism gives you. It helps you to see that maybe the scales aren't as even as we think they are, that maybe times aren't as good for everyone as you think they are.

You talk about the cynicism that motivates us to seek justice. How can cynicism do that?

I want to work on two levels: as an American citizen and as a Christian. From the standpoint of an American citizen, who doesn't have to be a Christian, how does cynicism motivate you to get involved in political action? It begins to make me more sensitive to the needs of others. It also helps me get into a dialogue with a neighbor, because if I'm cynical about myself, I see that I need you, I need your ideas. Maybe together we can do a lot better than we can alone.

Now, as a Christian, cynicism gets me on my knees, helps me to see the need for God. It's really grace then that creates my motivation. As a Christian, I don't know more than my atheist friend or my Jewish colleague about what is good and just for society. They may have superior insights into what's good for the economy. What I have going for me that they don't have is that I've got a superior motivation. I've got God's grace to motivate me, whereas they have to rely on cynicism and general sense of concern for the whole of humanity.

Much American politics is structured around a good guys/bad buys frame of reference. Why is it better to balance competing interests rather than simply to concentrate on electing the good guys?

My first response is that in that good guys/bad guys frame of reference you don't have any civility. And without civility, you don't have a real chance to work together. If I see how fallible my views are, I know I need your insights. And the more minds there are working together, the better chance there is for a solution.

In the Congress of my youth, you would see some colleagues who would be dead set against each other, but they were friends. That occasionally happens today. Isn't it beautiful? Isn't that a miracle?

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February (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47