{"id":37389,"date":"2024-04-11T11:44:10","date_gmt":"2024-04-11T18:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=37389"},"modified":"2024-04-11T12:52:30","modified_gmt":"2024-04-11T19:52:30","slug":"everyone-has-an-opinion-but-where-is-the-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/everyone-has-an-opinion-but-where-is-the-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Everyone Has An Opinion, But Where is the Love?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Created in Canva by Nancy Blackman<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWhat’s wrong with the world, Mama?
\nPeople livin’ like they ain’t got no mamas
\nI think the whole world’s addicted to the drama
\nOnly attracted to things that’ll bring you trauma
\nOverseas, yeah, we tryna stop terrorism
\nBut we still got terrorists here livin’
\nIn the USA, the big CIA
\nThe Bloods and the Crips and the KKK
\nBut if you only have love for your own race
\nThen you only leave space to discriminate
\nAnd to discriminate only generates hate
\nAnd when you hate, then you’re bound to get irate, yeah
\nMadness is what you demonstrate
\nAnd that’s exactly how anger works and operates
\nMan, you gotta have love just to set it straight
\nTake control of your mind and meditate
\nLet your soul gravitate to the love, y’all, y’all\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It was just after the 2016 election, and a friend and I were talking on the phone. She was never shy about her conservative political stance. At one point in the conversation, I said, \u201cWell, it\u2019s obvious we canceled each other\u2019s vote.\u201d She wanted to talk to someone who didn\u2019t vote the same way to understand why. Knowing her personality, I laid some ground rules.<\/p>\n

Before I go further, I know that Matthew Patrusek’s book Evangelization and Ideology: How to Understand and Respond to the Political Culture<\/em> is about the intersections of religion, politics, and culture in the frame of Catholic Social Thought. I\u2019m choosing to focus on Chapter 2, \u201cStop Fighting\u2014and Start Arguing,\u201d[2] <\/a>because I\u2019m tired of fighting.<\/p>\n

I was raised by a father who created dinner table conversations for his children into scenarios of debate. Each child had to pick a side and argue their points. Why did he do this? Because he knew once we moved to the U.S., they would be navigating a political and sociological landscape they were not used to, having been raised across four continents as young children. He wanted them to know their voices and opinions were valuable, but how they shared was key\u2014always with love. Amor. \u0627\u0644\u062d\u0628. Cinta.\u00a0\u0e23\u0e31\u0e01. Aloha. \uc0ac\ub791. Liebe.<\/p>\n

Back to my friend who reached out to me for this conversation. Having lived for 20 years in the Washington, D.C. area, where politics was woven into casual conversation, I entered this one hoping for the same thing. I thought we would debate our sides of the aisle rationally and politely. I thought, just as my brother and I had, many years prior, debated our sides and then hugged each other with an \u201cI love you\u201d at the end, that this would be a similar scenario. Everyone has an opinion, yes? We\u2019re allowed to have our opinions. We live in a country that lays claims to free speech.<\/p>\n

I was dead wrong. My friend entered into this conversation prepared to go to war. There was no rationalizing. With each terse word and raised pitch of her voice, I did my best to diffuse. After all, we both love Jesus Christ with all our hearts. Why were we at odds?<\/p>\n

When I read the quote by Bishop Robert Barron, \u201cDo not pit reason against faith,\u201d[3]<\/a> I was reminded that was exactly what I had done as I entered into a lion\u2019s den. I thought two Christians talking about politics, regardless of opposing views, would be an argument, not a fight. We didn\u2019t cross into scientism. We were logical and concise, not allowing feelings to enter, but somewhere it went haywire. As someone who is not confrontational, I became quiet.<\/p>\n

She shared one news report after another. But, and this might be a big but \u2026 sometimes the evidence shared with the public might not be the truth. The evidence my friend kept bringing up was the opinions of others that she now laid claim to. So, I asked, \u201cWhat if you’re wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n

Petrusek uses a phrase I often use: \u201cbegging the question\u201d[4] to avoid the core issue. In this case, my friend was so certain that she was right that\u00a0I kept begging the question, \u201cWhat if you\u2019re wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n

She believed what she read was the truth. Perhaps she was falling into a state of what Barron refers to as voluntarism\u2014the state of wanting things to be true because you want them to be true. I agree with Petrusek\u2019s claim that \u201cVoluntarism is completely incoherent; to assert that there is no universal truth beyond an individual\u2019s own definition of truth is to embrace a universal truth.\u201d[5]<\/a> All parties are allowed to have an opinion if they don\u2019t stand in because I said so<\/em>.<\/p>\n

As the conversation continued, I felt an unhealthy barrier building between us. I kept wanting to end the conversation, but she insisted we keep talking, even though she was doing all the talking. Sometimes, we get over-involved in blaming others instead of taking a stance of responsibility. “Cyncism thrives in large, complex societies in which is easily divorced from effect.”\u00a0[6]<\/a><\/p>\n

This brings me to the African philosophy of ubuntu\u2014I am because you are. It says we are stronger together. It says we can overcome differences and problems, no matter who we are, where we live, or what culture we come from, because we choose to coexist in harmony and peace.[7]<\/a> It is about orthopraxy, which is not about believing you are right but acting right.<\/p>\n

\u201cHarmony, friendliness, community are great goods. Social harmony is for us the summum bonum<\/em>\u2014the greatest good.\u201d[8]<\/a><\/p>\n

May you use your voice with grace and love.<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> The Black Eyed Peas, \u201cWhere is the Love?\u201d lyrics from Verse 1, https:\/\/genius.com\/Black-eyed-peas-where-is-the-love-lyrics.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Matthew Petrusek, Evangelization and Ideology: How to Understand and Respond to the Political Culture<\/em> (Park Ridge, IL: Word on Fire Institute, 2023), 26-45.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Ibid., 26.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Ibid., 30.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Ibid., 32.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Paul Rogat Loeb, Soul of a Citizen: Living with Conviction in Challenging Times<\/em> (New York: St. Martin\u2019s Press, 2010), 99.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Mungi Ngomane, Everyday Ubuntu: Living Better Together, the African Way<\/em> (New York: Harper Collins, 2020), 13.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Desmond Tutu, God Has a Dream: A Vision of Hope for Our Time<\/em> (New York: Doubleday, 2004), Chapter 2, Location 328.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhat’s wrong with the world, Mama? People livin’ like they ain’t got no mamas I think the whole world’s addicted to the drama Only attracted to things that’ll bring you trauma Overseas, yeah, we tryna stop terrorism But we still got terrorists here livin’ In the USA, the big CIA The Bloods and the Crips […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":128,"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":[3184,3182,2997,3183,3029,2967,35],"class_list":["post-37389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-churchandstate","tag-dldr","tag-petrusek","tag-politicsandreligion","tag-politicsandthechurch","tag-dlgp03","tag-leadership","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37389","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\/128"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37389"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37389\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37403,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37389\/revisions\/37403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}