Last week I attended a conference with a plenary session featuring two Senators (one Democrat and one Republican). The facilitator, a former Governor, led them in a conversation about how our faith can inform our public engagement.
A lot of the conversation focused on how we can transcend the worst aspects of partisan politics. The idea of vilifying and demonizing those who disagree with us was rejected, and the politicians shared examples of how to disagree with respect. It was a good reminder for all of us, and the Senators navigated the conversation beautifully. They received a standing ovation.
An hour later many of us attendees boarded a shuttle bus for an off-site dinner. The woman I sat next to was from Southern California. We had met the day before through mutual friends, but neither of us knew each other well. We chatted amiably.
Somehow our conversation shifted to the pandemic, and she shifted her tone. She began with a faux apology and said, “Well I’m sorry, and I know you are from Northern California and might see it differently, but our emperor in the State Capital put ridiculous restrictions on us during the pandemic. We just ignored them in our city.”
There is so much wrong in her words. First, she makes an assumption about my political viewpoints merely on my geographic region. Second, she belittles the Governor by calling him an emperor. Third, and this is my main point, she completely ignored the message we heard just an hour earlier.
It was another reminder of how difficult it is to break from the negativity in our culture today. This is a woman of privilege — wealth, education, living in a beautiful place — who vilifies a politician because she doesn’t agree with his policies. It’s exactly the kind of thing the Senators called out an hour earlier.
A few days later I was going through some old notes and came across a short piece I’d written about ways to be countercultural. It seems to me that the conversation on the shuttle bus is exactly the kind of cultural norm we have to break, so here are five ways to be countercultural:
- Don’t say anything bad about anyone. Ever.
- Read old books, not just popular new ones.
- Invest in your family to root out dysfunction.
- Don’t use Facebook.
- Be still and listen.
Do I actually do these things? To be honest, no, at least not all of them. But should I? Yes.
How about you? What are countercultural behaviors you think we should practice?
Photo courtesy of The Gathering.