The Answer to the World's Problems: Hanging Out
Dirty 9 Square - Political/Cultural Segregation & Doing It Pirate Style

I've been thinking non-stop these past few days about the hypothesis of this amazing article I read in this week's Economist "The Big Sort: Political Segregation in the United States" all based on a book by Bill Bishop entitled "The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America is Tearing Us Apart. ".

The author asserts that we are increasingly segregating ourselves geographically by our politics. We gather and live in like-minded clusters. Some would argue that only the wealthy can really choose where they live. This is in part true, and the study shows that when Americans move they most likely have equal options where they can live in the new city. They usually choose a new neighborhood to call home based upon the dominant political view of that 'hood. This mild preference for living with like-minded individuals leads to increasing and deepening political segregation. This is dangerous because when a group is homogenous it tends to grow towards the extremes of the dominant worldview or foundational thought. They are exposed less and less to contrary views and so it becomes easier to rally around the flag pole in a balkanizing way and to villify in a personalized way "those" of a different perspective who are kept at an experiential arms-length as a mentality of us vs. them deepens.

I found this amazing thinking about events of the last week: same sex weddings and my experiences at the General Assembly. I think our faith communities are becoming increasingly balkanized. I heard a woman of a modernist or "old school" perspective ask me last week if Bruce Reyes-Chow was conservative or liberal. When I wouldn't answer the question with he's ______. She was pissed and threw down the info sheet I'd given her and walked away. After Bruce's election at a celebration reception/party I overheard a man express his indignation and quasi-paranoid fear: "That guy wasn't even wearing a tie! How can we elect someone to lead us, a pastor, who doesn't even wear a tie!" A phone call from a parishoner this week shared with me the tension of their doctrinal understanding of same-sex relationships and their experience of personally knowing a same-sex couple that was married in Oakland this past week.

This polarizing "Big Sort" isn't just in our housing and neighborhoods. It' definitely in our faith communities. We know which is liberal, conservative, accepting, or Bible-Based and act accordingly and talk about each other in the same way. But Jesus calls us to a larger community embracing diversity not just in race, culture and age, but also in theology, worldview and political perspective. If we as communities are seeking to know God how can we expect to do so in a polarized congregation that more correlates more to an ethnic ghetto than to a gathering of seekers.

At Summer Camp this week I see this same thing personified. The more diverse people "hang out" singing at campfire, playing dirty 9 square things change. Really BEING together breaks down barriers, invites conversation, opens doors to discovery, maturation, and collaboration. Here's some of those experiences that jogged my brain.





John Lennon said that "all we need is love." It may sound cheesy or trite, yet I suspect he was onto more than just a good lyric lick. Jesus continually said to those seeking answers in his teaching, "Come after me. Follow Me. Come and See!" It was all about joining a community comprised of rich and poor, men and women, Jew & Gentile, fundamentalist and synchrotist in view of discovering deeper faith. Maybe a part of the truth emerges only from hanging out, spending time together, experiencing each other, which can't be known simply in academic study, intellectual reflection, or communal polarization? As we sang at campfire last night, "It only takes a spark to get a fire going and soon all those around are warmed up in its glowing. That's how it is with God's love. Once you've experienced it..you want to..."