Sound bites often stand in the way of thoughtful argumentation. If we want to win votes or win people to our spiritual perspective, we will say almost anything. We load terms to unload on the opposition rather than define terms carefully and make careful deliberations…. So often, people take stands to prove their point or to win votes rather than to go in search of common ground for the common good. How do we move beyond the impasse? We must share space and time, share our hearts and values, and share our faults while looking for the good in others so that we move beyond the fault lines. In other words, in religion and politics, we must share our common humanity. Only in this way will we be able to navigate effectively the intersections of life.
Though I without apology put forward some strong opinions in this space from time to time, I often find myself reflecting on the meaning and useful of it all. It seems we spend so much time and energy screaming at and talking past those we disagree with that we’ve lost all hope of finding common ground. Tip O’Neill once famously said that politics is the art of the possible…only it seems the “art” and the “possible” have departed the scene. The Right spends their time obstructing and propagandizing; the Left spends their running in circles like a dog chasing its tale.
In yesterday’s Sunday Oregonian, I ran across an article co-written by Paul Louis Metzger and Kyogen Carlson. Metzger is a professor of Christian theology and theology of culture at Multnomah Biblical Seminary/Multnomah University in Portland. Carlson is co-abbot of Dharma Rain Zen Center in Southeast Portland and a transmitted Soto Zen priest. I’m in the process of becoming a member of the sangha, or community, at Dharma Rain Zen Center, so I found myself particularly interested in what Metzger and Carlson had to say.
We view ultimate reality very differently, as our exchange makes clear. But we also view one another, our respective communities and our convictions very differently (for the better) as a result of these encounters.
Differing realities are not a threat in and of themselves. Ideas are just thoughts organized in a way that communicates what we believe in or believe to be true. Ideas are not the enemy, yet so often we find ourselves screaming at and/or disrespecting those we disagree with. We all do it; Lord knows I’ve held up my end of the bargain in that respect. We do it because we care, because we’re invested…and because we want to get our way. Everyone wants the world to be organized in a way they find agreeable; some take it a step beyond that desire and work to force others to live and be governed by their beliefs. This isn’t productive and serves only to create anger and suffering.
Too often, we view politics as a zero-sum game. I win. You lose. The problem with that construct is that winning is transitory and losing creates resentment. There’s naturally going to be a certain amount of tension in a democracy, because there are always those who are up and others who are down. Today’s winners become tomorrow’s losers, and vice-versa. The cycle remains unchanged…unless we decide to make the effort to change, if not the system, then ourselves.
I don’t know what the answer(s) is/are. I don’t know how to fix a system and a society so clearly frayed at the edges and in turmoil. What I do know is that we could all benefit by taking a step back and focusing on what we have in common instead of what divides us. While I don’t think sitting around a campfire singing songs and telling stories will fix what ails us, it might be a good start. We can continue as we are, with obstructionism and self-interest faced off against anger and resentment…or we can admit that things are working and figure out how we can do things differently.
At the very least we could start by speaking with, instead of talking at, our adversaries. We might also try listening to them, instead of merely hearing them as we mentally formulate our principled, unassailable rebuttal.
It’s possible that nothing will change, but where’s the harm in trying?
