Do you tend to hang out with folks who think like you?
Last week I spoke to an Optimist Club. I shared A Reluctant Optimist’s Code and invited audience members to add to my list.
One guy said that optimistic people tend to associate with other optimists.
I suppose that’s true. In general, we’re all drawn to those who share our world view and core values. Birds of a feather probably do tend to flock together.
But I wonder—is that always a good thing? What do you think?
Isolated in a crowd
We’re immersed in a diverse, global culture with instant access to infinite information and opinion. It’s relatively easy to access an entire world of data, information, and analysis.
At the same time we’re buried in this virtual avalanche of input, it’s never been easier to avoid views that challenge our own.
Not so long ago one had to work hard to be isolated from different voices. Limited media options meant we all heard roughly the same content. Unless one refused to read a newspaper or listen to television or radio, most folks operated with relatively similar inputs. We can debate whether that was helpful or not, but it doesn’t really matter. Those days are gone.
It’s now not only possible, but relatively easy, to immerse myself constantly in input—Internet, television, radio, reading material—and NEVER encounter a single competing perspective.
The good guys
We become fans of a particular ideology or perspective and support only those who reinforce our convictions. We no longer think or discern; we’re part of a cheering section. Anyone wearing our team’s uniform is a good guy; the rest are bums.
Everyone in my section wears the same colors, so we’re surrounded by birds of our particular feather. It’s easy to imagine that all the really good, kind, informed people are in my section. They’re the only individuals I encounter.
Those in the other section are “over there.” They’re one of “them,” indistinguishable faces in a crowd that exists solely to oppose “us.” I don’t know their kids, their struggles, or their dreams. I know only that they’re part of the other team and that anyone who isn’t with us is against us.
We see the results: increasing polarization, harsh, divisive rhetoric, and the inability to discuss, debate, and disagree respectfully. “They” are not just wrong. They’re evil, they’re the enemy, they want to destroy “us” and our values. And the only way to stop them is a preemptive attack.
I have a dream
Last week we celebrated the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He’s known most prominently for the I Have A Dream speech in which he proclaimed:
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I wonder today whether he might amend his dream to include the hope that his grandchildren might not be judged, categorized, and either demonized or exalted based on their particular choice of feathers.
God’s on our side
A while back an online comment claimed that a certain notion was anti-Christian and that anyone who supported it obviously didn’t believe in Jesus. Since it happened to be an idea with which I agree—and I’m pretty sure I believe in Jesus—I replied with a simple question: Are you sure Jesus would be a _____? (You fill the blank—conservative/liberal, Democrat/Republican, or any other label).
The reply was unequivocal: Absolutely! He would be an extreme _____! And the page filled with concurring comments, an entire circle who seemed prepared to deny the sincerity of my faith because of my opinion on a question of public policy.
People tried to draw Jesus into the political and religious conflicts of his day. He refused to engage. His kingdom was bigger than any nation or policy or human-created label.
I suspect He’d take the same stance today. When I become certain that He’s on my team, I’m creating Him in my image. I’m telling Him to follow me.
That’s not how it works.
He’s not in my exclusive cheering section. He’s not waving my flag, wearing my team colors, and hoping my side wins. He doesn’t want the other side to lose.
He doesn’t hang out exclusively with birds of my particular feather.
As crazy as it seems to me, He died for the folks with the “other” label.
He asks me to follow him, to go and do likewise.
Do you fall into the trap of flocking only with birds of your particular feather until you can’t see anyone else? What are your thoughts about this notion?
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