Martin Marty & the Future of Civility

Ann and I attended Martin Marty's Cleaver Lecture at the Saint Paul School of Theology last Thursday. Marty is a noted teacher, author, theologian, and small-town Nebraska boy; see the previous post for a link to an archive of his "M.E.M.O." columns for the Christian Century magazine.

The talk was a reflection on this paraphrased text from Harold Isaacs: "Around the world there is a massive, convulsive ingathering of peoples into their separateness and over-against-ness, to protect their pride and power and place from others who are doing the same."

Let that sink in for a minute.

Marty's thoughts strode deftly among many fields (history, anthropology, theology, psychology). He was eloquent, clear, and witty in person; everyone's favorite professor, small in stature, eager to challenge his students but never confrontational. Out of a very rich lecture, one of his questions struck me as a key: "Hasn't this always been the human condition?"

I think most of us do feel that as a nation, and as a world, we're being split apart; diced into tribes of ideology or political party or religious belief. Tribalism has deep roots in human nature. A cohesive group of people can always acquire or generate amazing benefits by working with each other, over-and-against outsiders. Making the assumption that we are all self-interested*, there is a basic progression from a person's exclusive, individual self-interested-ness --> to working in small groups or "tribes" for members' mutual benefit --> to the ideal of universal concern, care, or interest. I'm condensing a huge amount of thought and material into the previous sentence, but I think the core insight persists.

What do tribes look like today? Big ones: nation-states, corporations, religions. Local tribes: sports teams (see our recent ballot initiatives in KC), churches, families. Privileged elites of any kind (power, economic, occupational) often act out of tribal interests, consciously or not. Again - the basic drive to create tribes (communities!) can be good - it expands our exclusive self-interest to include others - but in today's world self-interest must be expanded to include all humanity, and all Creation. Ever-widening circles. Tribal over-against-ness causes problems we, as a human family, cannot abide; I call it a moral evil.

Returning to Isaacs' thought, in the midst of a seemingly resurgent tribalism, we also can find wonderful progress! On a smaller (more easily seen) level, consider the work done with technology at WorldChanging, our own StillSpeaking initiative with the UCC, and the amazing data on global conflict since WWII (must-read! You wouldn't know from our mainstream news media, but since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Earth has steadily become a more peaceful place! Check out the graphs at least!). For the big picture, take the Brin test; stand on a city street corner and turn in a circle slowly, counting the miracles. If you don't find 100, repeat.

To answer Marty's question, yes, tribalism is part of the human condition. Fortunately, so is the possibility of defining our "tribe" as all of humanity, and all Creation. May Christ's story inspire us towards universal love and care.

-howie

*Well-supported by scientific evidence, human experience, folk wisdom, and your own antecdotes I'm sure.