The Power of a Common Enemy vs Common Good
Life seems hard, fear is rampant, there are lots of bad things and bad people, and I’m in danger… or am I?
Listening to author and professor Matthew Petrusek I swayed between “Oh that makes sense.” to “Oh that’s not how I view things.” He is offering an alternative to Identity Politics with the argument that a focus on the common good might be what our world needs.
Common Enemy
A common enemy gives groups who normally wouldn’t agree, the opportunity to rally around the idea that they all share a common enemy. Yet this approach actually doesn’t redistribute power or find a way forward to solving an issue. It is based on fear and divides and isolates even further. This trend Petrusek argues can be seen in the fact that the current state of the Western world should be showing signs of increased equality based on the practice of Identity Politics and the rallying around a common enemy and yet he argues that we are seeing the opposite take place and more division is actually the result. 1
Common Good
What would the world be like if we focused on the idea that we could rally around a common good a moral point and from that move forward towards the equity and inclusion that is sought. Dignity and Empathy are the results rather than alienation and it begins to actually solve the issues before us rather than push the problem further down the road. Petrusek’s rationale and argument for this shift in political and social thought is rational and offers insight into how a more peaceful and less fearful existence could actually not just be good for us individually but good for society.
Conclusion
I have often commented on how in a divided society both sides are doing to the other what they complain is being done to them with different rhetoric but similar behaviors. The othering of each other, the dehumanization of the opposing, the blaming, and the portrait painting of the enemy the oppressor, these are actions created from fear for a place of woundedness. So then where can we find our healing and wholeness and how can it help the world… Jesus modeled for us the humanization of the. other, an invitational practice rather than a demanding, and a loving of the enemy. If we were to engage in the teachings of the one we follow how would our existence change and how would our view of the world and those different from us be? Would this be finding the common good that Petrusek talks about? I don’t have all the answers but the questions are worth asking. I do know this however, life is more full of joy and excitement, love and adventure when one lives through the lens of finding the good, loving through empathy for the other, and seeking to understand and explore the beauty of our differences. God is bigger and more creative than any box we can create, trouble we can stir up, or definition we can write and I for one would love to learn and enjoy the creative nature of God, “And God said, it was good…”
About the Author
Sara Taylor Lattimore
Sara is adopted, a wife of 17 years, a mother to 2 amazing children who give her opportunities to be a cheerleader, dress up like a princess, play soccer in the mud, and go on amazing adventures. With a Bachelors in political science and sociology, Sara worked for Child Protective Services as a legal caseworker before following a call into full-time ministry in 2008. During her time in full-time ministry Sara has served in medium to large size local congregations, as well as camp ministry. Sara has a passion for serving others, writing, and speaking. In 2016 Sara worked on a joint publication as a Curriculum Writer. Sara wrote the Intergenerational/Family & Day Camp Resources in “Beyond Belief” for InsideOut Christian Resources for Outdoor Ministry- Published by Chalice Press- Release Date 2018. Sara is looking forward to writing her own book next. Sara completed her MDiv from Iliff School of Theology in 2019 and is currently working on her Doctorate in Leadership and Global Perspectives from Portland Seminary. Sara currently serves as Lead Pastor of a local church in Southwestern Montana. She has previously served in ministry positions leading congregations in engaging globally in healthy mission and outreach partnerships, living life missionally, building innovative programs, and building relationships as the Director of Missions and Outreach, College Ministry Coordinator, Family and Children’s Ministry Director, Director of Christian Education, and Camp Program Director. She is an innovator and visionary who looks to find empowering and dignity restoring ways of building communities of belonging, while listening and partnering with others to find ways to also address the needs of the communities she is planted in. Beyond her work, Sara dreams of growing her family through adoption, kayaking with Orcas, going on pilgrimage on the Camino De Santiago in Spain, traveling in an RV across North America, and traveling internationally.2 responses to “The Power of a Common Enemy vs Common Good”
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I agree, we are human no matter our choices. We should be treated as humans.
Shonell, I believe that the most dangerous thing we can do is to dehumanize others and forget that dignity God-given.