Choosing Sides - the Collision of Politics and Faith

Dear my future daughter,

Through the current whirlwind of political strife, I’ve begun to reflect on my own political views as well as to observe those around me. The last few months have been gut-wrenching for many, but I do fear intentions quickly become misplaced in the environments of political disparity. But where does this disparity really come from?

In my observations, hardened divisiveness comes from our innate human desire for community and affirmation. Starting when we’re young and our brains are sponges, we absorb everything around us. We first tend to follow our parents’ suit when it comes to political ideology, even more so if they exclaim their views exuberantly and confidently. Ultimately, from our earliest days, community proves to be a very powerful thing - to both positive and negative ends. To any length, we follow the intense urge to feel self-assured in the bed we made. We want affirmation, control, and black/white answers.

As a Texan (so naturally required to be a football fan), I often equate the way folks in our country pick their political party to how one picks their football team. We tend to pick who we root for and then hold that fanship in a death grip. After all, faltering at all makes for a lousy band-wagon fan. With political parties, they hand you a laundry list of ideals to support, and this, in turn, draws us back to the sense of community and control. The psychological phenomenon of confirmation bias (the tendency for humans to only take in what affirms our beliefs and easily reject what doesn’t) will lead us to seek any means of strengthening our feeling of certainty and righteousness about our political stances. The majority of people will then tend to armor up with faulty “research” (read from our friends on social media sites rather than independent fact-checkers or concrete sources), word-of-mouth news, and miscellaneous “facts” we find on the internet to confirm our stances. We feel put on the defense immediately when crossed with someone we know is on the “other side” and in turn become spewing fire hydrants of this broken research sandwiched between words of hate.

Naturally, we find both comfort and energy in the passionately outspoken figureheads of our decided party. They confirm us and boost us up in our beliefs, which they often mostly do through angry generalizations spewed about the other side. So….we sink in deeper. We relish that feeling of being on the smart side, the correct side. We surround ourselves with like-minded individuals so we can link arms so tightly that it becomes impossible to shake our “opponents’” hands at the end of the day.

So, when does “picking sides” become something that goes against what Jesus has called?

This occurs when our passion for our political ideologies becomes a blinding rage against others- when we begin to view everything as us vs. them. All of the sudden the figurative flag we fly is drawn up higher in our minds than the God we follow and the call of action He has for us. Evangelism is broken when we draw these lines and proudly step backward to scoff across them.

My daughter, allow yourself to be quicker to question boxes than jump into them. With Jesus at the forefront of your heart, how you treat others and make others feel comes first. I’ve seen differences in political opinion cause typically sugar-tongued people to spit fire on others. They fall right into the trap of the Enemy, and they forget that these worldly lines have great potential to divide us in a destructive way, to distract us from the greater mission which is Jesus. Gentle, humble, loving, kind - THESE are the characteristics that we are called to display regardless of the situation. Succumbing to anger, divisiveness, stereotyping, and demeaning attitudes quickly disintegrate our ability to love others well.

So, firstly, learn. Learn well. And I’m not just talking about reading and researching, but explore the world you live in and the people that are a part of it. Put yourself in shoes that are unlike your own so you can broaden your perspectives. Read articles and books of those who believe differently than you. Use independent and reputably unbiased research sources to research (Politifact is one example here). And, still, once you’ve felt you’ve learned enough and solidified stances, take a hammer to the door. Although it may feel uncomfortable and VULNERABLE, that open door provides you an open mind; with an open mind, you allow your heart to be anchored in Jesus alone.

My girl, life will never be that simple, and most gray areas will only become black and white by wrongfully shutting out pivotal information around you. Remember that some of the most brilliant minds and most avid researchers of today are on different sides of political lines. Do not make the mistake of believing that being passionate about something means there aren’t still areas of gray that can be explored. There is room for gray.

Overall, my girl, I urge you to do the following:

• Immerse yourself in that gray - allow the vulnerability, because where there is a vulnerability there is a reliance on Jesus.

• Ask the questions, have open conversations

• Pick a party, or don’t. It’s not your identity, and it’s not your label.

Finally, and most importantly, humble yourself enough to realize we are all just humans in a world created by an AMAZING God - a God with a mind and plans beyond what we would ever be able to fit into our worldly boxes.

Look up, sweet girl - higher than that flag.

Love Always,

Your Mama

In response to the above… A great friend of mine and esteemed political researcher provided the following insights on where to look for independent information sources, fact-checkers, and more:

Information Sources

• Encyclopedia

• Britannica

• Wikipedia (caveat that information is often fact-checked AFTER someone posts rather than before)

Fact-checkers

• Politifact

News sources (the key here is to never rely on one source - it recommended that you consider the political leaning of the source first and foremost to avoid catering to our innate desire for confirmation.)

• Sources that are reliable but thought of more as left-leaning:

  • New York Times

  • Washington Post

  • NPR

  • Vox

• Sources that are reliable but thought of more as right-leaning:

  • Wall Street Journal

  • Financial Times

• Note that cable news is by necessity an oversimplification as they don’t have an infinite time to dive into topics. You will also want to err on the side of caution with distinctively left/right-leaning cable news stations as they will attempt to appeal to our emotions (media wants to draw you in, and they know that charged emotions and affirmation of your beliefs can do just that).

• International sources (helpful to understand how the rest of the world is interpreting what is going on)

  • BBC News

  • Al Jazeera