What is the role of the Church in an age of polarization? What resources can our Catholic faith offer to heal the fierce partisanship of our times? How might the sacramental imagination and wisdom of Catholic Social Teaching help transform the “us” vs. “them” mentality that holds so many in its grip? How might Christians themselves avoid the trap of polarization and become a leaven for a world in need of mutual understanding and communion? These are the questions that animate the present issue of C21 Resources.
It is commonplace to describe our current situation as polarized. Our politics are feverishly partisan and our news outlets fragmented and at odds. Schoolboard meetings and curricula spark widespread controversy, while our public institutions are subject to growing distrust. Sporting events, corporate sponsorships, social media platforms, and public demonstrations are the latest fronts in our so-called “culture wars.” Even our churches and families are increasingly the sites of contested ideologies and identity-formation, turning what should be places of refuge and belonging into hotspots of painful dispute.
Polarization is not just any problem. It is a problem that encompasses and exacerbates many others. More of an underlying dynamic than a specific issue, polarization distorts the field of communication that allows informed discussion, healthy debate, and shared planning to take place. It is challenging enough to gain consensus on large-scale problems such as climate change, healthcare, immigration, racism, poverty, and international relations. But when a partisan mentality sets in, even a good faith effort to understand “the other side” can seem like a betrayal of values. We feel a strong affinity for those who think like us and an equally strong animus toward those who do not. We fall prey to in-group bias and insulate ourselves from acknowledging our contradictions. Meanwhile, we readily believe the worst about our rivals and suspect their motives—and at times their basic goodness. We take security in righteous indignation, certain that our side is just, while the very existence of our opponents seems a threat to our tenuous identities.
The essential vocation of the Christian is one of mercy and reconciliation, and thus Christian identity can never be one of “us” vs. “them.“ It must be an all-inclusive “we” in the Spirit.
LOVING SOLIDARITY: THE HEART OF THE GOSPELS
If polarization seems to rage at a higher pitch these days, we should admit that the dynamics just described are not exactly new. The tendency to latch on to an identity in contrast with some “other”—a stranger, a rival, an enemy—seems endemic to the human condition. Little wonder that the Bible is chock full of stories about conflict: rivalries among siblings, tribes, and nations; conquests, enslavement, and the trauma of exile; a Kingdom of God ministry resulting in crucifixion; an early Christian movement trying to resist factionalism. Whatever the ultimate meaning of scriptural revelation, it is evident that the human tendency toward rivalry and conflict, along with God’s work to bring about reconciliation, is at its core.
It is striking that at the heart of the Gospels is a crucifixion. This is not because the New Testament is preoccupied with violence but because it proclaims God’s love and forgiveness precisely amid human conflict. Jesus’ entire ministry was devoted to enacting a way of life that welcomed the stranger and invited rivals to the table. It called for loving one’s enemies, praying for them, and winning their friendship.
This hardly means that Jesus avoided conflict. He was quite willing to provoke decision through his prophetic words and actions, and to this extent he may be described as a “polarizing” figure. But herein lies the difference: whereas destructive polarization presupposes some definitional contrast with the other (“us” vs. “them”), Jesus’ challenge was consistently one of inviting the other into loving solidarity. This was so much the case that Jesus was willing to give his life for the sake of the other, even praying from the cross, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).
The early Christian movement ultimately springs from an encounter with the risen Christ, who embodies God’s reconciling love. The resurrection is not just a miraculously happy ending to a frightful affair. It is God’s concrete offer of communion where previously there was division, and it is a bracing summons to follow Jesus through the repatterning of our desires. The essential vocation of the Christian is one of mercy and reconciliation, and thus Christian identity can never be one of “us” vs. “them.” It must be an all-inclusive “we” in the Spirit. Only when rooted in this source experience of God’s embracing love can the Church begin to offer resources for healing the polarization of our times.
REASONS FOR HOPE: THE ARTICLES AHEAD
It is tempting to feel fatalistic about the growing polarization all around us, but there are good reasons for hope. This is what the present C21 Resources issue means to inspire.
The articles curated here are intended to provide insight into why we are so polarized and how we can work together to overcome it. Some articles focus more on describing and diagnosing the dynamics of polarization, while others offer practical guidance for navigating conflict in our personal and public lives. By no means exhaustive, the magazine’s contents aim to be representative of the main issues and inspirational for readers to become leavening agents of mutual understanding and communion.
The voices featured in this issue cover quite a spectrum: there are students, teachers, and faculty administrators; there are lay persons and clergy; there are politicians and journalists; there are men and women representing various races and generations; there are public intellectuals and more domestic perspectives. But, above all, there is a chorus of voices informed by a Catholic imagination and eager to share insight and practical advice for healing polarization.
As Pope Francis recently put it, “polarization is not Catholic.” Indeed, the very meaning of “catholic” (Gk. katholikos) is “universal,” or “on the whole.” Wholeness in this sense is aspirational and dynamic, not enclosed and uniformist. With this aspirational and dynamic spirit in mind, may the readers of this magazine find themselves newly stirred and prepared to realize Jesus’ prayer, “May they all be one” (John 17:21).
Brian D. Robinette is the guest editor of this Fall 2023 issue of C21 Resources, Journeying in Faith Amid Polarization.