As a child, I was immersed in a lively political environment in my family. My parents were usually active Republicans (my mother occasionally registered as an Independent.) We were almost daily in the company of my maternal grandparents, Byron and Helen. Byron was a Republican who voted for Dwight D. Eisenhower and even voted for Alf Landon, while Helen was an Irish Democrat for whom JFK was nearly a saint.
My paternal grandparents, who had survived the Dust Bowl, were Republicans who nonetheless spoke with great admiration of the Roosevelts whose policies helped them save their wheat and cattle farm. Even with such a background, I find our current era of political and cultural polarization challenging.
Behavioral scientists consider polarization a distinct social dysfunction: it’s a selperpetuating cycle of communication and relationship dynamics that breeds mistrust, misunderstanding, and dehumanization. Almost any difference in values, perspectives, or identities can evoke polarization. They note eight marks:
- Discussions about the issue are dominated by people who are passionately certain. They leave no room for complexity and drown out other voices.
- The most vocal individuals and groups portray themselves as the protectors of virtuous values / objectives and paint the “other side” as ignorant, reckless, or motivated by malicious pur- poses.
- Interruptions, angry outbursts, and personal attacks are increas- ingly common.
- People selectively cite evidence that supports their views while searching for evidence of lies, ill intent, and ignorance in the assertions of their opponents.
- People use slogans, shorthand, canned talking points, and buzz words whose meanings and contexts are rarely unpacked.
- Few genuine questions are asked. Assumptions about the meanings, intentions, and values of the “other side” go untested and unexplored.
- Little new information surfaces in conversations. Discussions of the topic take the form of a repetitive, well-rehearsed perfor- mance.
- Silence hides significant differences.
Life in a polarized political context is a challenge that leads me to prayer and to tapping our Anglican roots. Much of what we treasure about the Anglican/Episcopal expression of the faith came forth in times of extreme polarization. The late 16th and the 17th-century saw the British Isles rent asunder between opposing political policies and monarchs and the polarizing religious ideas of the Continental Reformers and the Roman Catholic Church.
In such a time, figures like Richard Hooker, George Herbert, Jeremy Taylor, and the Caroline Divines forged ahead in faith. They walked the “Via Media,” the Middle Way, that has become a signature mark
of Anglican Christianity. In a time when “people who are passionately certain” left no room for complexity and drowned out other voices, these Anglicans claimed that God had endued humans, who are made in God’s Image, with “reason,” the ability to engage complexity and choose nuance in the face of polarizing forces.
by the Rt. Rev. Cathleen Chittenden Bascom
835 SW Polk St.