Few would disagree that the very soul of our country is in peril under the current administration. Elements of fascism, dictatorial leadership, intentional misinformation and vilification of a free press are among the greatest risks to our democratic republic.
I am indebted to Parker Palmer and his paper on the five habits to sustain a democracy for this week’s blog idea. You can find a link here
Parker Palmer suggests five habits needed to sustain a democratic way of life. They are habits, because like other behaviors they are learned and they require intentionality. To develop a different way of being in the world requires a different intention, an exploration of our most deeply held values and a willingness to let those values be enriched by different voices.
Whether we like it or not, we are all in this together. There is no “us” and “them.” It is all “us.” We are a local, national and international community. Dehumanizing another is the first step toward denying essential personhood. From there it is easy to take away benefits and supports that undergird the lives of those whose needs are different from our own. It is part of what makes the occupant’s behavior so troubling. He is a master at creating divisions among people and marginalizing those with whom he disagrees.
However, there is deep value in connecting with those who are different than we are. All prejudice and hatred have a root in fear, and much of our fear is about the unknown. The way to dismantle fear is to see another as fully human, deserving respect and care, and sharing the same essential personhood as every other person on the planet. We have so much to learn from those who are different from us. Our lives are enriched when we interact with those whose religion is different, whose skin color is different, and those whose mental and emotional capacities are different. Our lives and our understandings are enriched when we take the time to be with those who are different than we are.
We are living in an either/or society. In the current divisiveness of our time things are one way or the other. They are good or bad, right or wrong. In reality there are few things in life that are wholly one way or another. Most of the important issues in life fall somewhere along a continuum and our ability to hold seemingly disparate issues and goals in creative tension are part of how we build understanding with others. Modern life is filled with tensions and our relentless tendency to choose one side over another does not hold the tension. It increases it and creates a power struggle. We see the evidence of those power struggles every day and we unwittingly participate in them when we choose one side to the exclusion of other points of view. Listening and seeking understanding may not change our position, but it does remove the division that so often attends disagreement. Lovingly disagreeing and seeking some measure of common ground are necessary for a civil society. Unity does not mean uniformity.
Willingness to enter into loving dialogue with the ones with whom we disagree fosters a sense of personal voice and moral agency. A consequence of our deeply divided culture is that we have stopped listening to each other. When we are busy thinking up our next argument or response to someone, we have stopped listening to what they are saying in the moment. When we stop listening we diminish the moral agency of the other. When white people deny there is racism in our country they dismiss the agency of those who live with judgement based on the color of their skin. When Representative Mike Kelly (R Pa) said that he was a “person of color” as a white man of Irish descent, he systematically dismissed the experience of people of color who are paid less, have fewer opportunities and live with much higher levels of violence and poverty. It was a slap in the face to every person of color who lives with systemic racism every day.
Finally, we are in desperate need of intentional efforts to build community. We live isolated lives and most of us have little interaction with those whose skin color, language, physical or mental capacity is different from our own. As a result, our world view is shaped by homogeneous communities that speak largely with one voice. To speak with one voice when a community is diverse creates harmony instead of one unison voice singing the same tune.
Building community, enabling voices other than those like our own, learning to hold tensions in life giving ways, deepening our appreciation of those who are different than we and realizing we are all in this together are the keys to undoing the damage done to our democracy by an administration hell bent on creating division.
Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote, “We may have come on different ships, but we are all in the same boat now.”
The Irreverent Reverend 