{"id":17793,"date":"2018-05-24T20:06:49","date_gmt":"2018-05-25T03:06:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=17793"},"modified":"2018-05-24T20:06:49","modified_gmt":"2018-05-25T03:06:49","slug":"the-righteous-mind-a-light-summer-read","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/the-righteous-mind-a-light-summer-read\/","title":{"rendered":"The Righteous Mind: A \u201cLight Summer Read\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

While some of my friends are packing their favorite YA novel into a beach bag, I spent this week being sucked into Jonathan Haidt\u2019s The Righteous Mind<\/em>, and devouring the entire book. Not necessarily the best idea, if one wants to reflect critically and comparatively. But entering this book, I realized I didn\u2019t<\/em> want to read critically and comparatively. I was looking for answers, for help.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Tread on my Rainbow Flag<\/h2>\n

Haidt, a social psychologist raised in a culturally rich secular Jewish family, a self-proclaimed progressive, uses the philosophy of Hume, Darwin\u2019s evolutionary theory, Durkheim\u2019s functionalism, and utilitarianism to construct a way for us to understand why our country is currently so polarized socially, politically, and regionally. Like a cancer patient willing to try any alternative treatment for a cure, I realized I was open to anyone willing to offer a model for how to theoretically understand our country\u2019s polarization, and even more important for me, how to understand and respond to why I see the world so differently than my birth family (parents and sister) does. This polarization hits home for me as, I assume, it does for many of us. This apparent polarization is not just in my family, but the churches I\u2019ve been part of, and even my neighborhood. (These two pictures are my neighbors two doors down, one right and one left, literally and socially).\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019ve heard many people say that you usually can\u2019t reason or use logic with someone in order to change their mind; Haidt , though, articulated why<\/em>, and did it in such a way that doesn\u2019t dismiss or denigrate those we attempt to convince. It\u2019s not logic or reason that drives us, but our intuition (the \u201celephant\u201d), Haidt argues. Reasoning and judgment, rather than driving our decisions, follow in order to justify our intuitions. It is<\/em> possible to change our minds, though, through varied experiences (and how open we are to those experiences feeds our proclivity to liberalism or conservatism), and learning from others\u2019 judgments and reasons (primarily others whom we trust).[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

Labels Totally Mess Us Up<\/h2>\n

Haidt\u2019s development of the Moral Foundations Theory and its six elements fascinated me. I discovered, by taking the test at YourMorals.org, that I need to stop calling myself a Progressive<\/em>, because I fall between \u201cliberal\u201d and \u201cconservative\u201d on all matrices except Authority (sorry, Jason. I really do respect [some] authority). \"\"<\/a>Englewood folks often state that we\u2019re \u201ctoo progressive for conservatives, and too conservative for progressives.\u201d I\u2019m finally ready to agree with that and call myself a Moderate, primarily because I\u2019m willing to affirm the value of (most) all the matrices, though to different intensities than those on the extreme. Like a good progressive, I strongly value caring for the vulnerable, marginalized and oppressed (because, well, Jesus). Likewise, like a good conservative, membership and belonging in a group is extremely important (in fact, I just finished my semester essay on the detriments of individualism on both society and individuals).[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

My hunch, and in agreement with Haidt[3]<\/a> is that most of us don\u2019t fall into the extreme ends of liberalism or conservatism. I mentally think about each one of you, my classmates, and how, initially before we knew each other well, it was much easier to label you into one category or another. Now that we\u2019ve spent valuable time together in rich conversations and prayer and parties (those are important!), it\u2019s much more difficult to peg you into a single sanctified matrix either. Like me, I believe each of you is complex. And this, honestly gives me hope and excitement for my relationship with my sister and parents, who have landed on a different place on the liberal-conservative spectrum than I have. Haidt encourages, \u201cdon\u2019t bring up morality until you\u2019ve found a few points of commonality or in some way established a bit of trust. And when you do bring up issues of morality, try to start with some praise, or with a sincere expression of interest.\u201d[4]<\/a> My sister and I share a love of gardening and unprocessed foods. She\u2019s currently speaking out on behalf of potentially striking teachers. We believe our faith is important, as is family traditions and stories. It becomes so easy to see only the things that we differ on (and I don\u2019t want to minimize them; that chasm is wide), but if we\u2019re to continue in a relationship (sometimes that\u2019s the harder choice), we\u2019ve got to build trust and find things in common.<\/p>\n

The Feast of The Lamb<\/h2>\n

Finally, being a creative moderate(!), I believe both committed belonging to a group and<\/em> an openness to welcoming the outsider\u2014permeability\u2014is possible. Haidt argues that we need membership in groups to bring cohesion to society; I, too, see great value in the mutual deference, trust, and commitment to one another that we find in healthy groups.[5]<\/a> He also suggests that diversity (valued by liberals\u2014including me) reduces trust within and between groups, thus weakening social capital.[6]<\/a> The apparent incompatibility of these two disturbs me, though. At some point I reject a complete utilitarian view of the world and embrace something a bit more inefficient and paradoxical. As followers of Jesus, we are compelled to be part of a tribe\u2014not of Americans (or Brits)\u2014but a local expression of the Body of Christ, \u201ca chosen generation, royal priesthood, a holy nation, God\u2019s own people\u201d (1 Peter 2:9). And that \u201ctribe\u201d is extended to the stranger, the Other: \u201cHospitality toward both fellow believers and those who are unknown is seen as virtuous (Romans 12:13; Hebrews 13:2; 1 Peter 4:9).\u201d[7]<\/a> I have to believe that both are possible\u2014strong, trusting membership within the church, and a welcoming of those who are different.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to imagine that the Eucharist is a place where those intersect\u2014strengthening belonging and welcoming the outsider into our tribal identity: \u201cin some cultures to share food signifies that one belongs to the same family and that sharing a table is the first sign of membership in a group.\u201d[8]<\/sup><\/a> This purpose of meals \u2013 especially the Eucharist, with Christ as the host\u2014 reminds us that our choice of guests at the table is powerful, shaping current reality into the possible future that God desires.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Jonathon Haidt, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion<\/em>, (New York: Pantheon, 2012), 47.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> I\u2019ve got to be honest though, and say that libertarianism doesn\u2019t sit well with me.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Ibid., 276-277.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Ibid., 318.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> This is the kind of membership that Wendell Berry values and threads through his writings. See, for instance, The Wild Birds: Six Stories of the Port William Membership<\/em> (North Point Press, 1989); and \u201cHealth is Membership,\u201d a lecture given at the \u201cSpirituality and Healing\u201d conference, Louisville, KY, October, 1994. http:\/\/home2.btconnect.com\/tipiglen\/berryhealth.html<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Haidt, 308.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> http:\/\/www.christianstandard.com\/2017\/03\/what-does-the-bible-say\/<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Norman Wirzba, Food and Faith: A Theology of Eating, <\/em>(New York: Cambridge University, 2011), 171.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While some of my friends are packing their favorite YA novel into a beach bag, I spent this week being sucked into Jonathan Haidt\u2019s The Righteous Mind, and devouring the entire book. Not necessarily the best idea, if one wants to reflect critically and comparatively. But entering this book, I realized I didn\u2019t want to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1267,1214,1269,1266,1268],"class_list":["post-17793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-confederate-flag","tag-haidt","tag-norman-wirzba","tag-rainbow-flag","tag-wendell-berry","cohort-lgp7"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/85"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17793"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17795,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17793\/revisions\/17795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}