Divided We Stand, Divided We Unite
Now I suggest that maintaining the tension between seeming “opposites” is the chief way to cope with most of our dilemmas in the modern world. And this is just about the hardest attitude imaginable for a race of beings conditioned for millennia to swing to one opposite or the other, to view life as an immutable dualism between the “good” (my way) and the “bad” (your way). (Sydney J. Harris, The Authentic Person: Dealing With Dilemma).
The human condition seems to evidence some kind of strange, gravitational pull toward homogeneity. I don’t understand it, except that none of us really enjoys the tension Harris refers to. On the other hand, we value community; which means that inevitably we must deal with one another. We have a choice between locking ourselves up in our homes and cocooning, using technology to stay “connected” to the outside world, or taking the tremendous risk of experiencing the tension that awaits us in “real” community.
I am going to risk differentiating here between “real” community and “false” community. False community is a homogenous community where everyone agrees with everyone else, everyone gets along (because they have too, or else!), and everyone minds themselves to play the role that has been prescribed for them by the community. If you’ve seen the new M. Night Shyamalan film The Village you would have at least one example of what I’m talking about.
Churches, synagogues, mosques, etc. are often false communities that do not allow for true diversity, either of personhood or of thought/belief/P.O.V. Religion and society can create a volatile mix of intolerance for true diversity by suggesting that the given religion has “the truth” while “the world” does not. This dichotomy institutionalizes that “immutable dualism” between “the “good” (my way) and the “bad” (your way).”
In his speech at the DNC convention Barack Obama said, “Now even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us... Well, I say to them tonight, there is not a liberal America and a conservative America — there is the United States of America…the pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States...But I’ve got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don’t like federal agents poking around in our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and yes, we’ve got some gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and there are patriots who supported the war in Iraq. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.
I remember that now infamous and rhetorical question of Rodney King, “Can’t we all just get along?” Well, Rodney, not if we have to agree all of the time; unless, of course, we agree to disagree. Besides, Rodney, we can do better than just “get along.” We can actually work together, residing together in “real” community if we can accept the fact that the persons to our left and our right may have a different view of God, the world, and life than we do. To live in real community we need to honestly and openly admit that none of us has “the truth,” but rather that if there is any truth to be accessed at all by humankind it will emerge from the respectful dialogue it is our privilege to engage in as human beings.
In the 12th chapter of Luke Jesus makes some comments about division. I think that Jesus was confronting that religious emphasis on homogeneity, saying in so many words that he wasn’t going to play that game. Jesus was being honest and forthright about the inevitability of divisions between us. And now, in our time, well, just listen to radio or watch television, or read an op ed column. It is quite clear on a daily basis that we are divided. Whether or not we are willing to create community in spite of that tension may just determine our future as a species on this planet.
I believe that Hope Church is a model for real community. We are a work in progress, no doubt. I celebrate that we aspire to the creation of real community. I see us continuing to grow in our ability to live in that creative tension that is woven into the very universe itself, the tension Sydney Harris invites us into. And I certainly welcome us into real community this Fall with continued excitement and enthusiasm for the evolution of this grand experiment called Hope Church, UCC.
- Vance Toivonen