An Early Plea to My Conservative Friends
Before I go any further in this blog, I want to acknowledge how important it is that we learn to accept the reality that each of is wired with certain propensities and leanings. In his 2008 TED Talk, The Moral Roots of Liberal and Conservatives* Jonathan Haidt lays out the five moral values that are split by each group which I encourage you to read. I'll ask you to pardon some of his snark because his audience was mostly liberally-leaning, ok? His use of "open" for liberals and "closed" for conservative may seem slanted and inflammatory so it is important to view those as not positive or negative aspects but further constructs for our wired tendencies and preferences.
Generally speaking Haidt indicates that left-leaning people are somehow wired to prefer fairness, inclusion, novelty, and an openness to new experiences. They
show a preference for a society that is open and changing. They highly value protection and care for the planet, animals and one another. Conservative individuals on the other hand value tradition, things that are familiar, safe and dependable. They lean toward the moral values of in-group loyalty, authority/respect and moral purity. Again, you'll have to go to the TED Talk at
https://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_haidt_the_moral_roots_of_liberals_and_conservatives?language=en to delve more deeply into these moral values that each group values most.
I state this early on in this blog to acknowledge that I have come to see myself wired as more liberal and progressive in my sensibilities. This shapes my paradigm for how things are and forms my world view. Just as much as I pray that you, my dear conservative brothers and sisters reading this, would accept me with kindness and compassion, I assure you that I strive to do the same for you when I see us holding different sides of an argument or decision. Again, knowing this about me is crucial because if we don't agree, its not because I haven't prayed enough or that I've sinned too much. Its not because I haven't had the time or the sense to come around to your way of seeing things.
If bringing this to your attention seems obviously absurd, its because in all humility, I've succumbed to thinking this about you when my fearful or bruised ego has taken hold my thoughts and feelings. My deepest prayer is that we would come to see one another's propensities and leanings as complementary gifts that complete us in our wider sense of journeying as a human community. I value interdependency and have come to believe that without your conservative gifts, the world would spiral out of balance. I pray you'll recognize my gifts in the same way.
While trendy to a fault in some circles, the world of personality profiling is (at its best) based on the very same premise you hold out here, Dan. The discovery that others don’t approach life with the same set of eyes as you and to recognize that not as a venue for competition but as an opportunity for collaboration. Thank you for outlining it so clearly. Now I shall go find that TedTalk :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Kelli. There is just so much mutual damning going on, like when rival church leaders condemned one another as anathema to the truth. The more I come to realize and honor how my conservative friends operate and reason, the more I stand to widen my own approach. This does presume that each are willing to be respectful and willing.
DeleteDan...I probably lean more "liberal" than the traditional conservative Catholic or evangelical church but more "conservative" than you describe your own views...but know I appreciate so much your thoughtfulness, art with word, unique perspective and ministry of peace, rest, connection, and restoration through Chiara. I look forward with anticipation to reading more.
ReplyDeleteThank you again for your response. I really dislike entering into the dualistic waters of this/that, black/white, this/them, etc. because truly the world is blessed with nuance, diversity in terms of who each person is. Nobody likes being pegged, boxed or labeled. I'd like to think we'll emerge from the present dualism and find our way back to tolerance, then appreciation, then love.
DeletePowerful ideas. I have always loved this ted talk, Ricardo Simlar and Ken Robinson, round out my top 3...
ReplyDeletesomething I almost added as a response to your last post "Liminalescence?" was the defeinition of
Mercurial:
"(adjective)1.changeable; volatile; fickle; flighty; erratic IE: a mercurial nature.
2.animated; lively; sprightly; quick-witted.
3.pertaining to, containing, or caused by the metal mercury.
4.(initial capital letter) of or relating to the god Mercury.
5.(initial capital letter) of or relating to the planet Mercury."
and..
Emergent:
"(adjective) 1.coming into view or notice; issuing.
2.emerging; rising from a liquid or other surrounding medium.
3.coming into existence, especially with political independence:
4.the emergent nations of Africa.
5.arising casually or unexpectedly.
6.calling for immediate action; urgent.
7.Evolution. displaying emergence.
knowing those two terms, hear this:
"Time means succession, and succession, change: hence timelessness is bound to disarrange, schedules of sentiment.-Vladamir Nabakov
now see and do not understand this(Pearl):
"Time means succession,(perception of time)
and succession change,(time=change)
therefore timelessness(time= <1, 0 or ∞) is bound to disarrange(entropy)
schedules of sentiment(feeling)"
Consider this, if i had infinite time"Timeliness" (time=∞) to consider my well thought out opinion on any given subject, my Idea or Ideal would change...
and consider this, if I had no time(timelessness) to consider my opinion on any given subject, I would be completely unable to articulate my feeling...
so in conclusion of considerations, if you add infinite time or remove all time, my Ideas/mind/opinion disappears and All that I am left with is my Deep inward feelings.
So my statement...
"Time means succession, and succession, change: hence timelḭness is bound to disarrange schedules of sentiment." -Chase
...has the same "effect" and/or/nand/nor/xor/xnor... the same "affect", as Nabokov's'.
Even though they mean most precisely the exact opposite thing.
...consider the following statement Nabokov : Chase :: Trump : Yang...
...Andrew Yang says "UBI or GBI" aka. "freedom dividend"... the thrust of which we eliminate burocracy add might to the american back bone strengthen our HUGE diverse POWERFULL middle class and their traditional values...
...Conservatives turn a deaf ear...
...Donald Trump says "erry boddy gunna get, thousan dolla week. start right nah!"...no plan to fund it, no reality of sustaining it, no plan to make it real...
...Conservatives(Trump supporters) go Friggin Nuts!..they be all... "let me go check this mail box see if my Obama check done com thru the mail yet?" oh wait... "I mean my Trump check...."
now hear this:
To the uninitiated god appears as "mercurial(fickle/volatile/erratic)" and "emergent(arising unexpectedly/calling for immediate action)", but the Uninitiated know not: God is "not real..."
...That is to say that he is "mercurial ego emergent non-corporeal gender less ego"
or...
...god is ever changing self(rapidly evolving, seemingly wildly),
that comes from an unknown place(that which is felt and perceived? but not understood)
without the all of time or complete lack of time (Alpha and Omega)
God is a voice between our ears that we cannot not hear(perceive, it is so faint in fact we cannot even tell if its a man's or a woman's voice),
but who's whispers rattle our window panes and who's breathless sighs topple mountains!..
...after all Mercury is said to be the messenger of the gods. who better to deliver his soundless words and shape our dulled blades.
tune in next time where I define "Divergent" and explain how it differs from "Emergent"...