Can We Listen?

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry (James 1:19, NIV).

What if our discussions on politics and social issues were governed by the simple rule above?

I'm not saying don't believe what we believe about God and what the Bible says about certain things. Obviously, certain things are plainly wrong and unacceptable. However, even if certain behaviors are simply wrong, the people who do those things are still people who need the love of Jesus, and therefore mine too. Right?

Listening in Politics?

What I'm saying is that in this season of "I can't believe anyone can support Trump," and "I can't believe anyone can support Hillary," what we're not seeing is people listening to those they disagree with. I mean really listening.

Maybe we don't want to listen because we've already decided they're idiots. Maybe, but if so, that's a pretty dumb decision.

I don't know which one of those two would make a better president. Frankly, at this point I don't think either of them would make a good one. I hope I'm wrong about that. I'm still not sure I can vote for either with a clear conscience. I wish I could register my abstention. 

What I hear from Trump supporters is how sick and tired people are with politics as usual. For whatever else you might say about him, Trump is not "politics as usual." He is a strong leader with the potential to get something done in a town that can't seem to. What I hear from Hillary supporters is the importance of taking care of the less fortunate, including immigrant children, the poor, those with inadequate access to health care. Whatever else you might say about Hillary she is campaigning for those noble causes.

Already you may be stoking up your arguments against either Trump or Hillary, since I have the audacity to say something positive about both of them. Some may object to my stance of being in a moral quandary, assuming that doing so will be a de facto vote for Trump, or Hillary (whichever you think is mostly likely to win without my vote). I can almost hear the "Yeah...but...'s" coming. Here's my question though: do you know why people disagree with you on this? Have you listened to them?

We all have to take into consideration the possibility that some of the people who disagree with us do so for very good, and very commendable reasons - even if we still disagree with them!

Let's just stop doing the mud-slinging, fact twisting, truth spinning we so abhor when the candidates do it, shall we? At least that. At least.

Listening in Social Issues?

When it comes to racism and policing, why are so many so ready to jump on the band wagon of which lives matter more? I suppose that if the movement were called "Black Lives Matter Too" it would take the wind out of a lot of sails. However, I suspect that the reason so many don't want to hear the complaints of those in the Black Lives Matter movement is that they are already convinced that there isn't a problem, or if there is, it's just a problem of just a few individuals. 

What's weird though is that the same folks who would blame racial policing on a few bad police officers are quite quick to tar the whole Black Lives Matter movement with the actions of a few. A little excess on the side of police, or the protesters and your own movement has all the justification it needs. But then, when did people ever act consistently?

I don't personally have the broadest access to data that would give me a reliable impression about whether racism is a real thing in police shootings. Some data says "Yes." Some data says "No," and what I know about statistical analysis is that with a little figuring you can usually make statistics say whatever you already decide your the truth is. 

What I do know about racism I don't know by being a racial minority. I only know what I know from listening to people who do have the experience of being a racial minority in our country. What I've heard isn't pretty. I can't tell you whether it's an experience clouded by just a few bad experiences with a projected fear that goes beyond reality, or whether there actually is a systemic and unseen (by those in the racial majority) bias. That bias may be a subtle as preferring and feeling safer with people who seem more like me. Even that subtle bias, which we may not even be conscious of, can have enormous consequences, I suspect. And this is a part of what folks of color have told me. 

Treat All People Like People (not Like Issues)

We fear what we don't know, or understand; that's a normal human reaction. What we don't know or understand in a stressful situation often feels infinite. There are no boundaries on it.  Fear builds walls, and can even project evil intent on others. Sometimes those fears are well-founded, and when they are our strategies for self-protection are reinforced.So it's easier to lump people together, create a caricature of them, and reject the whole lot. But they are people.

Now, I don't believe that if we could just all sit down and talk all our problems would go away. I've been around enough blocks to know that such a perspective is just naive. But I also know that when we decide to not even try to talk, we have pretty much decided that we don't need to know any more than we already do. We have decided we don't want our "truth" clouded with facts. We've already decided that people who believe X, or support Y, or do Z are gullible, foolish and/or  evil and have nothing to offer us.

"...clothe yourselves with humility toward one another because, 'God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble'" (1Peter 5:5).

That individual with the sign in their yard that supports the "other" candidate is a person. The one carrying the protest sign in the parade is a person. The cop making a traffic stop is a person. That strange looking one, who dresses weird, or has a thick accent, is a person. 

Maybe they need Jesus, if so, you may be the one through whom they first meet Him. Maybe they already know Jesus, in which case you're looking at your sister or your brother.