It's Us vs. Them, or the Rhetoric of "Both Sides"

I have been troubled lately by the division in our nation. Probably many of you have also been troubled. It starts at our very highest levels and seeps down to every part of society. Our workplaces, churches, families, all are affected by this division.

I have noticed that there is often a phrase used when a controversial subject comes up. (Now, it seems practically any subject if controversial, including a medical pandemic). That phrase has something to do with "both sides."

We might hear, "There are good people on both sides..." or "If people on both sides could just come together..." or maybe "Surely people on both sides can agree to..."

Are we that simple a species that on whatever subject there are only two sides?

So, in thinking about this I realized something that many of you already knew. The idea of "two sides" is an illusion created to control us. Each "side" in politics makes progress by boiling down a debate to the "right" or "wrong" side. You are either on the right side or the wrong side. There is no middle ground.

Add to that the idea that we must vehemently hate those who are wrong because our very humanity is at stake. They must be defeated, humiliated, destroyed, not because this is fun or makes us feel good, but because it is the only way to ensure that our society will be what it is meant to be.

As complicated as the issues are that we are dealing with, are there really only two positions to take? Aren't there many, many more? What could we gain by ending the condemnation of others because they are on the "other side" and just realizing that there are so many different sides that we may never come to consensus, but maybe that's OK.

I am not appealing to simple moral relativism, however. There are rights and wrongs in the topics of the day including national health (life is more important than money/the economy/inconvenience), and racism (spoiler alert: racism is wrong). But even these issues cannot be boiled down to only two possible positions.

We need to recognize the beautiful diversity of experience, ethnicity, religion, gender, and other traits in order to be who we are designed to be by God. All people should be able to share in that type of community, not only "us" or "them."

It is far easier to make society two opposing poles, one good, the other bad, depending upon where you are located, but the reality is much richer, and I think much more beautiful. We will move forward together when we can stop being manipulated by political machines and start listening to one another cross all those lines that are used to divide us. It's not as simple as "us vs. them," but as long as we allow those with the biggest megaphones to convince us that is the case, we will continue to suffer.

Maybe that's the true revolution--a multitude of voices against two boiled down choices.

The Cost of Truth Telling

Many will know of a book written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a theologian during the Second World War in Germany, entitled The Cost of Discipleship. In it, Bonhoeffer argues that being a true disciple of Christ costs something. Claiming the name Christian without allowing the teachings of scripture to change us or make us uncomfortable is something Bonhoeffer refers to as "Cheap Grace."

There is a cost to truth-telling, too. I am sorry to say that sometimes when you speak up for truth, others will be threatened. Sometimes they will react crudely, unkindly, or even violently, and it may be impossible to actually get to the source of their anger. I imagine sometimes people who have these feelings do not know the source of their own anger. But whatever you have said has challenged their world-view in ways that make them so uncomfortable, they must blame you. I have recently experienced this to and past the point of bullying.

Don't let these violent voices silence you. Continue to learn, continue to have your eyes and ears open to new truths, truths that others can offer to you from their own experience, but when you speak truth that makes others uncomfortable, don't let the dismissive reactions of others cause you to be quiet. The status quo is strong, because disrupting it makes so many people so afraid of change and of loss that they will do all they can to silence, to correct, to shout down, to shame, to hurt you.

I have noticed that there seems to be a lack of trust in experts on any subject. The way our nation has reacted to the Coronavirus is one example. If an "expert" is saying something we don't want to hear, we are likely to find another person, expert or not, who is saying what we like better, and then we trust them.

This happens in all professions. I can speak from experience about how it happens in Theology. I hold a master's degree from a prestigious institution in Divinity. But if I say something from my understanding of scripture that makes someone else uncomfortable, some will find a way to dismiss it. There are several code phrases for this. One is "don't be so political." All human interactions are political. It's only too political when the politics are different from someone else's.

Another code phrase is "just preach what's in the Bible." I have dedicated my life and invested lots of my own money into studying the Bible, trying to understand the culture from which it sprang, and then hoping to help others understand what it meant to its first hearers and what it means to us today. And I assure you, when I preach, I am offering the message given to me to the best of my ability to discern from the Spirit for the people of this world.

Change does not come about without discomfort. We all need to hear the words of scripture anew given the world we live in--one that is different from ever before and one that is extremely different from the worldview of the crafters (and editors) of scripture.

When our words make others uncomfortable and cause them to lash out, it may be more about what they fear than what we said.

At least, that's the view today...