Some Insights on Tribalism and Vilifying

I began the Three Dream Question project and subsequently Our Dream Place out of a sense of sadness as well as curiosity about the current political climate, the divisions and the incomprehensible phenomenon of wonderful human beings being able to view and interpret social and cultural issues and draw such opposite interpretations. People are vilifying those who are trying to do good while deifying extremely unethical people and unconstitutional behaviors.

I began life as an ultra-conservative Republican which lasted until I went on an LDS (Mormon) mission in Europe where I found stereotypes and labels, based on superstition and folklore, did not quite meet muster. My eyes began to open and my heart began to soften and the first tinglings of oneness with all humankind began to flutter inside me. I did not always act on the notion of oneness, in part because I had no context for it and zero exposure, by choice as well as circumstance, to the vastness of Eastern philosophies that speak of it. I was brought up with the idea that we are all children of God BUT, some children were CHOSEN or allies while others were enemies. Politics and religion got all intertwined and the Transformational aspects of Christianity became Transactional and hereditary/racial (See Richard Rohr: The Universal Christ) and, instead of unifying, Christianity became a label instead of a practice, making it easy to label everyone else, Us vs. Them. Christ became a tribal god justifying ungodly behaviors. Then Christianity got broken into cults and sects, more transaction and less and less transformation, division trumping cohesion, war over peace, fear over hope, inner turmoil over inner peace.

My own spiritual practice is evolving and it will bleed into coming entries. I actually got a bit sidetracked here because I wanted to highlight a couple of articles about tribalism and how we got here. Click Here for some insights on Tribalism vs. Truth Click Here for insights into how Conservatives have come to see Liberals as evil.

I hope some of you will take a look at these articles and not be offended. My purpose is not to change anyone’s mind or even your heart. The posts are to share insightful views so I can reflect on my own situation.