Threats against free thought
Above is a simplistic illustration of what appears to be happening in America right now. The Covid-19 pandemic, along with much needed attention on racial injustice that has plagued our country since its inception, has shed light on a shift that has been taking place in American politics for over a decade; an increasing level of distrust has permeated our democracy. Today, the two sides are unable to agree even on facts, as issues of public health have become hyper-politicized, mobilized by the rampant spread of misinformation and fake news stories via social media platforms. It’s scary to witness the ways in which partisanship has fogged the thinking of otherwise rational people. Unfortunately, these factors have inspired an outright demonization of others based on their political leanings; this is something we should all be fighting against.
In statistics, the concept of variability plays a foundational role. If the ratio of between group variability to within group variability is large, one can say there is a significant difference between the groups. We should all want there to be large variability of thought and ideas within our political parties, and even some overlap between political parties. This protects against the dogmatic environment that is just annoying at this point; both sides are at fault on this. I’ve been at fault on this. The two party system is in large part to blame; ideological breaks from mainstream party lines tend to get squashed and in a very practical sense, people are forced into a binary choice of alignment.
In reality, I think most people are much more moderate than extreme and if ideas were discussed in the absence of knowing each other’s political party, we would witness much greater variability of thought and, perhaps counterintuitively, find more ground that unites us. The problem is that a lot of the media and information we consume overemphasizes the extremes, leading someone on the right convinced that everybody on the left is pushing for a “Marxist takeover” and someone on the left convinced that the right is full of racist nationalists. The problem is that a sustained environment of distrust will start to actually push people towards the extremes, and none of us should be on board with that.
As kind of a side note, but still in the same vein — as a Christian, it has been disheartening to see the “Christian” title become popularly associated with racism, bigotry, ignorance, and a resistance towards positive change. These attributes are the opposite of who Christ was while he walked this earth and who he is now as the risen King. Jesus was the most radical figure in history. Everything he did and all of his teachings, I’m convinced would be denounced by many who claim his name today. His life was about the “least of these” and that’s what I want my life to be out. For those who have placed Christianity in a box based on the words and actions of many who claim to be Christians, I challenge you to investigate Jesus, the life he lived, and what he actually taught — you may leave with a different picture.
Here are some thoughts on how to combat distrust and binary thinking in discussions with someone with a different perspective:
- Try to let go of your assumptions about what they believe.
- Listen to what the other person is saying. Pay attention to the actual arguments the other person is presenting.
- Engage with what the other person is saying rather than being dismissive and jumping to another point. Respond as specifically as possible to the arguments.
- Admit when you don’t have a response or don’t know something. Admit when they make a strong point (hard to do).
- Be open to your perspective being flipped or shifted (really hard to do).
The last thing I’ll say is if you are getting the majority of your news and information from things that pop up on your social media feed, you should make an effort to go to reputable sources directly! There is great power in targeted information, which basically means that Facebook is feeding you information that will confirm your biases rather than challenge them. We all need to be challenged.
