pride and prejudice... and the Gospel

Several friends have asked how I’m reacting to the recent media coverage about demonstrations and social media trends following various police actions and grand jury decisions.  Other than pithy summaries of what I’m getting from Bible readings many Sundays, I don’t tend to participate in political banter on Facebook, so you won’t find a lot of reaction to stuff in the media on my page.   Having said that, here’s the punchline of a longer response I wrote to a family member today that represents what’s on my mind and heart these past couple of weeks:   What is potent in our progress on civil rights (heck, what’s essential to human dignity) is when people with more social power and privilege risk of some of that by standing in solidarity with those who feel (and might actually have) less… and to question why things are the way they are… and to hold each other accountable to offering relief, providing opportunities for repentance and reconciliation, and striving for restoration of our equal standing before God. That’s at the heart of what Jesus did in his earthly ministry. Perhaps I got a little preachy here, but for me this is more than just the particulars of what’s been in the media lately, this is about a way of life and the trajectory of our culture. I wonder if we're doing better with daily self-awareness, humility, and concern for others as God would have us be concerned for each other.


For the record, here’s a little more of what I wrote:  Because we take issue with any particular bit of someone’s argument doesn’t warrant us dismissing that person’s entire perspective or other points that person is making. I believe that’s some of what frustrates many people today – the degradation of civil discourse and loss of willingness and ability to engage in rigorous and critical debate without shutting down our minds and hearts because we disagree with some bit of what someone has said in context of a particular time and place. We seem to be too quick to simply agree or disagree… and jump on bandwagons of groupthink. I don’t support violent and destructive riots; nor am I debating the merits of a grand jury decision (I might take issue with the grand jury judicial process itself, but I wasn’t presented with all the evidence or legal considerations presented to these juries); nor do I believe it’s safe these days for any of us to wave a toy gun in public or to mouth-off to or aggressively resist police (even if we disagree in the moment with the attitude or tactics of officers confronting us). These have become flashpoints for more chronic frustration under the surface that is rooted in the avoidance of acknowledging and talking about, despite some social progress, how we (particularly white males of relative privilege) too often fail to acknowledge and challenge presumptions, prejudices, and stereotypes that benefit us and discount others. The subconscious generalizations that drive our behaviors are often based on prior life experience that threatened or harmed us. Parts of our brains hold on to bias and stereotypes for survival –it’s a more basic instinct. However, the opportunity we all have as we mature is to own up to our prejudicial tendencies that unfairly hold others back and support beliefs/systems that benefit us while diminishing other groups of people (and their perspectives and concerns). Though later life experience living and working amid all sorts of diversity (beyond what my mono-cultural suburban childhood exposed me to) has helped me keep check on some of my own prejudices and overcome them in my behavior with others, I still notice my instinct to give some people more benefit of the doubt, to avoid conversations with some people, to assume good things about some people, etc. all based on outward appearances. What is potent in our progress on civil rights (heck, what’s essential to human dignity) is when people with more social power and privilege risk of some of that by standing in solidarity with those who feel (and might actually have) less… and to question why things are the way they are… and to hold each other accountable to offering relief, providing opportunities for repentance and reconciliation, and striving for restoration of our equal standing before God. That’s at the heart of what Jesus did in his earthly ministry. Perhaps I got a little preachy here, but for me this is more than just the particulars of what’s been in the media lately, this is about a way of life and the trajectory of our culture. I wonder if we're doing better with daily self-awareness, humility, and concern for others as God would have us be concerned for each other.