--- title: Election: How to Heal America's Splintered Soul description: There is a sense in this nation that something shifted in this election and that what is coming to fruition is a fractured nation. canonical: https://time.com/4564228/election-americas-soul/ author: Rabbi David Wolpe article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-09T15:42:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:54:57.507Z article:section: Ideas og:title: How to Heal America's Splintered Soul og:description: 'We need to leave the voting booth and be human again' og:url: https://time.com/4564228/election-americas-soul/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt35b4e00372e0b077/6988adc4e20a873b72a93280/landon-nordeman-hillary-clinton-election-night.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: landon-nordeman-hillary-clinton-election-night og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How to Heal America's Splintered Soul twitter:description: 'We need to leave the voting booth and be human again' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt35b4e00372e0b077/6988adc4e20a873b72a93280/landon-nordeman-hillary-clinton-election-night.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How to Heal America's Splintered Soul > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ## Video: Donald Trump Runs for President: A Look Back [Watch (HLS stream): Donald Trump Runs for President: A Look Back](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/dgn8DCbB.m3u8) (7:19)  _Published 2016-10-31. In one of the most shocking U.S. elections in modern political history, Donald Trump has defeated Hillary Clinton._ by [Rabbi David Wolpe](https://time.com/author/rabbi-david-wolpe/) ## Rabbi David Wolpe Nov 9, 2016 3:42 PM UTC  Landon Nordeman for TIME by [Rabbi David Wolpe](https://time.com/author/rabbi-david-wolpe/) ## Rabbi David Wolpe Nov 9, 2016 3:42 PM UTC _“How small, of all that_ [_human hearts endure_](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/03/opinion/brooks-the-stem-and-the-flower.html) _/ That part which laws or kings can cause or cure.” — Samuel Johnson_ There is a sense in this nation that something shifted in this election and that what is coming to fruition is a fractured nation. We are told that there are two Democratic Parties—the left-wing Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren supporters and the moderate Hillary Clinton ones. We are also told that there are two Republican Parties—the Donald Trump supporters and the traditional party stalwarts. The fault lines run in many different directions. America’s soul is splintered. People have always harbored different opinions and experiences, but how did the grand canyon of distance between Americans come to be? The length of campaigns leads to an increase in the duration and depth of the division. Two years of planning to defeat the other guy do not allow an easy or quick healing. There has been too much time for wounds to fester, for accusations to spread through the body politic, and for combatants to shore up their arguments. The mechanisms of unity are growing fewer. Everyone used to watch the same news, read the same newspapers, go to the same few movies and watch the same few TV shows. With an increase in choice comes a decrease in shared culture. People for whom “Hamilton” was a major cultural event probably didn’t know much about the NSCAR winner. The result is not division alone, but mutual incomprehension and stereotyping. The politicization of what used to be seen as neutral organizations or outlets means that there is no clear refuge from the division that stalks the rest of society. The police became a lightning rod for left and right; so did the FBI; and the media is divided. It seems that there is no news station or newspaper that is not labeled by its adversaries as belonging to the left or to the right. Between the contending political factions, “no man’s land” has disappeared. Often nations are brought together by a common enemy. But even here, while everyone agrees that we must address terrorism, cyber attacks and economic issues, there is a split on who should be defined as the enemy and how to deal with it. Simply pleading for people to come together has no effect. The societal forces that promote separation are real and growing. The few places that remain apolitical, like professional sports, provide too few opportunities for lengthy, informal interactions that might reduce the cracks in the American soul. We need to encourage the spaces where we meet. Religious institutions should seek to stay apolitical, so they can accommodate all people. Everything from playgrounds to bowling alleys should be areas of conversation and commonalities, not political argument. When public issues infect private relationships, friends become adversaries. The nation will not be healed from the White House. It has to be healed in backyards, in halls of worship, in public parks and clubhouses. Nothing lowers temperatures like seeing someone play with their dog or push a child on a swing. We need to leave the voting booth and be human again. In dictatorships, everything is about politics. Not here. America is not the land of politicians. It is the land of people. ## Transcript I am officially running Aah, yeah [ APPLAUSE ]. for President of the United States [ APPLAUSE ] and we are going to make our country great again. The American Dream is dead, but if I get elected President I will bring it back bigger and better and stronger than ever before and we will make America great again. I was called by a major major reporter whose name I won't use. And he said to me what you've done has never been done Male 1: In the history of United States politics. And more and more people are resonating to what I'm saying. That's why I'm leading in every poll. We will have so much winning if I get elected that you may get bored with winning. I think I have to win. I'm about winning. Male 2: It's been amazing to follow and exciting because you say some shocking Things [ LAUGH ] You've called women you don't like fat pigs, dogs, slabs, and disgusting animals. Your Twitter account. Only Rosie O'Donnell Look at those hands, are they small hands? And he referred to my hands, if they're small something else must be small. I guarantee you there's no problem there, I guarantee it. I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters okay? You gotta see this guy, I don't know what I said. I don't remember. [ APPLAUSE ] Here's a guy throwing punches, nasty as hell, screaming and everything else when we're talking. I mean what can happen, and we're not allowed, you know the guards are very gently with him, he's walking out like big high fives. Smiling, laughing, like to punch him in the face. [ APPLAUSE ] USA! USA! USA! When Mexico sends their people, they're not bringing their best. They're sending drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapist. I will build a great great wall On our southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for that wall. The former president of Mexico Vicente Fox, he said today, and I'm quoting him. He said, I'm not going to pay for that quote, F'ing wall. How are you going to make them pay for the wall? I will and the wall just got ten feet taller, believe me. Zero tolerance for criminal aliens, zero, zero. Now a different threat challenges the whole world. Radical Islamic Terrorism. Donald J Trump is calling for a total and complete shut down. Of Muslims entering the United States. Donald Trump, let me ask you, have you even read the United States Constitution? You have sacrificed nothing, and no one [ APPLAUSE ] I think I've made a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard. I've created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs. Built great structures. I've had tremendous success. Those are sacrifices? Sure I think they're sacrifices. [ MUSIC ] As the proud daughter of your nominee I am here to tell you this is the moment and Donald Trump is the person to make America great again. [ LAUGH ] I humbly and gratefully accept. Your nomination for the presidency of the United States. And we will make America great again. God Bless you and good night. I love you. [ Music ] Ladies and gentlemen, the Republican nominee for President, Donald J. Trump. And the Democratic nominee for President Hilary Clinton . >> You're telling the enemy everything you wanted to do . >> No we're not . >> See. you're telling the enemy everything you wanted to do . >> There are different . >> Secretary, is it President Obama's fault? Wrong >> That is absolutely Wrong . >> Prove over and over again. Wrong. I also have a much better temperament than she has, you know? If Hillary knew how she would have done it already, period, end of story. I won the debate, I stayed calm just like I promised, and it is over. Goodnight, [ INAUDIBLE ]. [ LAUGH ] I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know I'm automatically attracted to beautiful. I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. [ LAUGH ] Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything. Whatever you want. Grab them by the ****. I've said and done things I regret, and the words released today on this more than a decade old video Are one of them. This is nothing more than a distraction from the important issues we're facing today. You bragged that you have sexually assaulted women, do you understand that? No I didn't say that at all. I don't think you understood what was said. This was lock Locker room talk . >> Just breaking a damning report from the New York Times that claims Donald Trump inappropriately touched two women, the first nearly [ INAUDIBLE ] That more women now accuse Donald Trump of improper physical contact . >> The People Magazine writer who said that Donald Trump kissed her and groped her in 2005 while she was interviewing him and his then pregnant wife Melania . >> These vicious claims About me, of inappropriate conduct with women. Are totally, and absolutely false. I didn't know any of these women, I didn't see these women. And I didn't even apologize to my wife, who's sitting right here, cuz I didn't do anything. Thank you. Do you make the same commitment that you will absolutely, Sir, that you will absolutely accept the result of this election? I will look at it at the time. I'm not looking at anything now, I'll look at it at the time. And I will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential election. If I win. 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