It’s the most wonderful time of the year. That feeling is true for many who celebrate the December holidays. Perhaps because it emphasizes what’s best about people: goodwill, joy, generosity, and charity.
These things naturally lead us to recognize the inherent human dignity of others. Having dignity means that all of us, regardless of circumstances or status, have innate value from the moment we arrive. It means we’re worthy of respect just by virtue of being alive. Having such a North Star – even on our worst days – helps fight daily temptations to view others with contempt.
Many of us (including me), though, lapse into giving human dignity lip service: “Oh, what a nice idea.” Then we go back to spreading gossip or attacking the “crazy people” who think differently from us. But it’s not just a nice thing to do. Recognizing the human dignity of others is a must-do that’s foundational to our republic, maintaining social peace.
The Christmas horror comedy, Krampus, leans into the consequences of rejecting human dignity. The film is a modern retelling of the myth of Krampus, the devilish companion of St. Nicholas who punishes bad children. It paints the holiday season as a display of hypocrisy and selfishness. In the opening scene, Bing Crosby croons “It’s Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas,” as hordes of vicious shoppers burst into Mucho Mart, a fictional amalgamation of Target and Home Depot. Shoppers trample over each other battling for sale items. Meanwhile, a children’s Christmas pageant taking place in the store turns into a brawl between the performers. And a gawking audience stands there gleefully recording the chaos on their phones.
Despite the scene’s exaggerated nature, it likely captures the perceptions of many Americans. Specifically, that society is infected with pervasive selfishness, anxiety, and contempt.
Thankfully, another holiday film provides the antibodies to Krampus’ cynicism. Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life celebrates how a person has profound and positive ripple effects on everyone around them. In it, George Bailey of Bedford Falls reluctantly inherits the family building and loan – a local institution that’s the sole bulwark against the miserly Mr. Potter who wants to control everything in town.
George cares about the people in his community. He engages with them compassionately because he sees their dignity and worth. Mr. Potter, on the other hand, views them contemptuously as “riffraff.” George Bailey’s approach becomes the foundation for holding Bedford Falls together by providing friendship, purpose, and opportunity for people to build happy lives.
Many of you probably know the story. In a dark moment of financial ruin, George goes to Potter asking for help.
“You’re worth more dead than alive,” the old man sneers in response. It’s then that George decides to take his own life, thinking his family and the world would be better off without him. But his guardian angel, Clarence, intervenes and sets George on the right path by showing him the terrible consequences if he had never been born.
“Strange, isn’t it?” Clarence asks George. “Each man’s life touches so many other lives. When he isn’t around, he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?”
It’s important for the health of our democracy to reject the Krampus model of civilization. Instead, embrace George Bailey’s method of recognizing human dignity and building community upon that. Fortunately, there are some real-life examples for doing this.
Recently, Governors Spencer Cox of Utah, a Republican, and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, a Democrat, appeared on stage at the National Cathedral. Generally, it’s encouraging to have prominent Republicans and Democrats sitting together urging fellow Americans to embrace shared love of country and to recognize the human dignity of others. Their conversation specifically focused, though, on the impact of political violence in America and modeling a better way.
Over the past year, both governors faced fallout from political violence in their respective states. In September, Cox contended with the murder of influencer Charlie Kirk on the campus of Utah Valley University. Meanwhile, in April, an arsonist set fire to the Pennsylvania Governor’s Residence with the intent of assassinating Shapiro and his family.
“Yes, there have been emotional scars,” said Shapiro, reflecting on the incident. “But the healing has come because of the goodness of the American people. The goodness of the people of Pennsylvania. And that’s put us in a position to not only get through it, but to feel stronger as a result of it.”
Political violence is the grave danger our country faces when it fails to take innate human dignity seriously. When it fails to recognize that dignity in our fellow Americans – both those we like and those we don’t – things fall apart.
“Until one of these parties [Republican or Democratic] decides that we’re going to do something different,” Cox says about changing the toxic state of our politics. “That we’re going to go back to treating each other with dignity and respect. Whether you’re MAGA, whether you’re progressive, whatever label we give you, then we’re never going to get out of this.”
Those words return me to Bedford Falls and the experience of George Bailey. It’s difficult to imagine a folksy Jimmy Stewart in the guise of Bailey saying, “Screw these people, I’ll do what I want.” And yet, that’s exactly what the character wanted to do. Instead, though, because he cared about the dignity of his neighbors – because of his goodness – he sacrifices his personal ambitions to maintain the family business that allowed members of the community to buy affordable homes. In doing so, he became the foundation of a more virtuous and prosperous community.
We as the audience know this is true because we’re privy to what would have happened had George Bailey never existed. Without his commitment to upholding the dignity of his neighbors, Bedford Falls would have transformed into a place resembling the opening scene of Krampus – with gross displays of selfishness and vice.
“We need you now more than ever,” Cox challenged fellow Americans. “This country, if we’re going to make it another 250 years – if we’re going to make it another 2.5 years, we desperately need you tonight to lay down your swords and treat each other with dignity and respect.”
Don’t misunderstand those words. Cox isn’t advocating for kumbaya togetherness or compromising personal values. Quite the contrary: He believes Americans must have passionate debates over the issues for which they care deeply. But the recognition of human dignity in one another allows us to do so – to be a pluralistic democracy – without killing each other.
Instead of disagreeing with contempt, we do so with love and respect as fellow Americans. So tweaking Cox’s challenge to each of us, I say, be George Bailey, not Krampus.
