The cries the privileged – we’ve all heard them; I, from where I sit, quite a lot over the past eight years. I’ve heard them from pro-birth advocates in response to the SCOTUS reversal of Roe v Wade. I’ve heard them from long-time ‘friends’ who couldn’t understand why I spent four years – four painful years! – condemning the presidency of Donald Trump; and why I’m beginning to become so vocal once again. And I’ve heard them from White friends who don’t understand why the issues of race, White Supremacy, and Christian Nationalism continue to occupy so much of the brain and heart space of so many of us.
“Why can’t we all just get along?” “Why can’t we dwell on what unites us, rather than on what divides us?” And in the church, “Why can’t we focus on our unity in Jesus; and just accept the fact that we’re a ‘purple’ church so that we stop alienating people?”
They are great questions; and I confess to having asked some of them myself. But if we’re honest, such questions are only the cries of the privileged.
Author and activist James Baldwin taught us years ago that we can disagree on things and still be united and in community with one another . . . unless our disagreement is rooted in someone’s oppression. That’s why today we’re not hearing cries for unity coming from women being denied to the right to control their own bodies. We’re not hearing cries for unity from the Capitol police officers who were on duty on January 6, 2021. And we’re certainly not hearing cries for unity from the families of people who look like Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor, or George Floyd.
Not at all! Because cries for unity almost always come from we privileged people who hold all the power, we advantaged White people who don’t have anything to lose as a result of this desired unity. We don’t have to sacrifice our health, our bodies, or at times our very lives! We don’t have to give up on dreams for a better future for our children, or deal with systems and structures that continue to try and hold us back and hold us down. We don’t have to abandon the reality of our gender or our sexuality. We don’t have to give up any of these things; and because we are so blind to the injustice of the situations in which so many find themselves today, unity becomes that all-consuming priority . . . that over-arching objective that distracts us and everyone around us, from the oppressive foundation of this artificial harmony being sought.
So let’s consider a few responses to these pleas for unity!
“We can’t all get along because you don’t trust me to make my own decisions, especially if they disagree with your decisions.”
Or how about, “we can’t dwell on what unites us because what divides us is killing us, and our Black and Brown siblings, and you just don’t seem to care!”
And when it comes to our unity in Jesus . . . well . . . this is the easiest question of all to answer! “Our unity in Christ is born in our behavior, not our beliefs. And it comes from walking in HIS way; not OUR way, and certainly not the way of an off-the-rails political party!”
Whether talking about a nation, a family, or a church: who doesn’t want unity? Unity is a worthy goal and a valuable aspiration. But when it comes at the expense of justice; when it involves my conforming to your standards, and negating what I believe; when it means ignoring sin, oppressing others, or failing to be the person I was created to be; when it means accepting the ways you seek to level power over me in an attempt to control my destiny . . . well, that’s not unity! That’s abuse. And while people may have a different ‘opinion’ about that – opinions not based in facts, are untruths! They are false proclamations, and will never become true regardless of how long and how loud one keeps shouting them from the halls of their power.
Privileged people: we hear your cries! And we understand your fears. But your cries are no more worthy of our attention than the cries of the poor, the marginalized, or the oppressed. And because your cries have been dictating the policies and practices of country and congregations long enough, it’s time we pay attention to the cries of others. So we will stand by you, and walk with you, as change comes. But change will come. And you just need to trust us. One day, your tears will turn to joy; and God’s kindom will make life better for everyone – for immigrants and refugees, for people of color and the differently abled, for Muslims and atheists, for Americans as well as for citizens of every other country on the face of this earth. That is the promise of God. And it is the promise made to ALL of us; not just to you!
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