Those looking nothing alike can cast the same shadow.

Those who may possess (or be possessed by) different ideologies can have the same effect on the world.

The hardline, fundamentalist right. The staunch, progressive left.
They are two sides of the same coin, really.
They may just become best friends if they get to know each other.

Polarity, division, hatred.
This is nothing new.

This is not the first time a tribe, specifically America, has experienced this.
From stolen land,
to stolen labor,
to the litany of wars we have initiated and or been a part of;
this divisiveness is not a new phenomenon.

Regardless of time, place, or creed, at our core, we are tribal people.

Sure, we are technologically advanced people, but we are still deeply tribal.

Henri Tajfel and John Turner came up with the Social Identity Theory, which proposes being a member of a group provides a self-esteem boost and a sense of belonging. There are three stages to this:

1) Social Categorization: We look for patterns and create categories to better understand the world.

• • Christian, Atheist, Jew, Muslim, etc.
  • Democrat, Republican, Independent, etc.
  • White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, etc.

2) Social Identification: We adopt the identity of the group we belong to.

• • We embody the expectations and norms of the group
  • Us vs Them begins to form and strengthen

3) Social comparison: We favorably compare our group to other groups to boost our self-esteem and our sense of belonging.

• • We endlessly, (un)consciously seek positive evaluations of our group
  • We endlessly, (un)consciously seek negative evaluations of other groups

We seek to draw attention to their errors, all while hiding and covering over our own. How often is a particular party / demographic / country / religion unfairly blamed and scapegoated for all of one’s problems?

It may create a clean narrative, but it’s likely an incorrect one.

This type of disillusionment makes violence not just a potential, but a reality.

Taken to its fullest conclusions, you see horrors of the
Catholic – Protestant Wars
Holocaust
Rwandan Genocide.

Or consider the fairly recent blame the LGBTQ+ community received over
9/11
Hurricanes
Forest fires.

Engaging in prejudice and hostility towards others is socially unacceptable, but it provides many of us with a stronger sense of identity and belonging, not to mention a coherent story to tell ourselves.

Just as Richard Rohr talks about with the ego: tribalism demands this separateness and superiority from others. This further distinguishes us from them, all while providing a nice dopamine high.

REMINDER: When someone’s identity and belonging depends on them not understanding or agreeing with something, they are not going to understand or agree with it.

Contrary to what you may frequently see or hear, this type of tribalistic fundamentalism is not reserved for the religious right.

In specific heated matters, the left becomes the very thing they hate in the right.
The self-righteousness, narrowness, and group gate-keeper rules often present in the far-religious right become embodied by the progressive left.

We are not coming from the same direction.

Progressives tend to seek to bring about a new world.
Conservatives tend to seek for things to go back to how things once were.

We are coming from the same tribal position.

I wonder if our method of criticism brings about the results we desire.

It’s far too common (and easy) for public shaming to be our way of criticizing some person or organization. It appears as if something is missing if our primary way of critiquing someone is only taking shots at them. Is this providing the change we want?

Pointing out wrongs is needed and necessary;
I simply do not think it should stop there.

“The best critique of the bad is the practice of the better.”
– Richard Rohr

The best critique of the bad is the embodiment of the better.
It is not scapegoating, demonizing, blaming, shaming, guilting them.
It is not playing gatekeeper, censoring, belittling, attacking, ostracizing them.

When we indulge in these practices, we rightfully realize things could be better, but we wrongfully lay the totality of the blame (and responsibility) at their feet.
It is all too convenient, really.

“The best critique of the bad is the practice of the better.”

We can decide to not waste anymore energy blaming others.
We can operate in a way where our ego is not at the steering wheel,
We can choose to live for something instead of against,

And, as we do this, we can strive to set aside the tribalistic game, allowing us to finally see the humanity, worth, and dignity we see in ourselves, within others.