When we don't know people in real life who are different than us, it's very easy for us to assume the worst about "them."
We are persuadable and impressionable people. We want to believe that "we" are the good people, and "they" are the bad people.
Not only does this make us feel better about ourselves and our groups that we align with, but it keeps us from wondering if, perhaps, we need to rethink our choices, actions, alignments, and assumptions about how the world works (think religion, politics, social dynamics, neighborliness, etc.).
My kids do this in their pre-adolescent brains. Yours do too. They believe there are "good guys" and "bad guys" in all of their play. This is how their world works. Their brains are not developed to the point where they can see the nuance of the good and the bad that often exists simultaneously in all of us.
But adults are different. We *do* have the capacity to see the good and the bad, but often we make the choice to believe that we are "good" and they are "bad."
Why is this?
What damage is this doing in our society?
And what are we to do about it?
In the Gospel of John, the author speaks into this. If you're a Christian - a Jesus Follower - this is for you.
I love the way The Message (translated and paraphrased by Eugene Peterson) renders this passage:
"The Word became flesh and blood,
and moved into the neighborhood."
-John 1:14
If we want to turn down the dial on how we *feel* about people we don't know, we need to do the work of "moving into the neighborhood."
How do we do that when we live so far apart?
We have podcasts.
And documentaries.
And books.
And discussion groups.
Even in my county, where our current President won the 2016 election, 1 out of 3 people who voted did not vote for him.
That means, if you live where I live, if you voted for the current President, everywhere you look, you'll see one person who voted as you did, and one person who did not.
That's a great opportunity to be curious about why people you work with, worship with, live next to and build a local community alongside, see the world differently than you do.
As a Christian - following the Way of Jesus - the invitation for you is to "move into the neighborhood" by learning to relate, with curiosity and humility, to those folks in our community who see the world, and the basic realities our national narrative, differently than you do.
This is your work to do.
This is for you if you lean left, and don't know anyone who leans right.
This is equally for you if you lean right, and don't know anyone who leans left.
Democracy thrives when we learn to live within a society of difference, and we make it as simple, easy, and safe as possible for everyone to vote who deserves to vote (meaning, all who are citizens of this country). We have work to do on this front.
If you judge the entire group of people who vote differently than you do base on the destructive actions of a fringe few, you are equally the problem.
If you are Liberal, and you do this with Conservatives, you are the problem.
If you are Conservative, and you do this with Liberals, you are the problem.
When you say to yourself, or others, "I don't know how ANYONE could believe something like that?" you betray your position that you haven't done the work to understand why reasonable, smart, respectable people could come to a different conclusion than you have.
You have assumed the worst about your neighbor, without even doing the work to hear them out.
I know really good people, who I trust and respect, who happen to be Conservative.
I know really good people, who I trust and respect, who happen to be Liberal.
I have faith in our democracy for several reasons. Chiefly among them is that I know good, decent, caring people who vote on all sides. I know good people who love and are invested in their communities on all sides. I know people who hold their convictions strongly, but who choose to love those who are different from them, on all sides.
Our political moment - and some politicians - would have you believe that "we" are good and "they" are bad.
Don't let those vying for power manipulate you into thinking things that go against your values.
You're too smart to fall for that.
And if you live where I live, in small-town, rural Midwest (where I was raised too), then keep in mind that in many cases, no matter where you are, no matter where you go in your community, or who you are talking with, there are people who see things differently than you do.
That doesn't make them "bad", or stupid, or evil.
It makes them part of a democracy.
An imperfect union.
If we can keep it.