A little gray around the edges.

I don’t know what the catalyst was. I am not sure what spark lit the fuse. Maybe it was Joseph McCarthy or Vietnam or the Civil Rights movement or Watergate. Maybe it was Iran/Contra or Bill Clinton’s impeachment or the 2000 Presidential election. Maybe we should blame Al Gore’s internets or the Swift Boat Ads?

I’m not sure when it started. Somewhere along the way we became a nation of extremes. Some event between the end World War 2 and the present tipped the first domino. They are still falling; cascading towards polarized nation facing off against itself.

We have argued ourselves into an “Us vs. Them” society. Democrats versus Republicans. Christians versus Seculars. Gays versus Straights. The world is black and white; right and wrong. There is no gray. It’s a dangerous precipice we stand on.

I don’t think we can place blame on one event. I don’t think we can place blame on one group or individual. Unless you’re willing to blame yourself.

We like easy decisions. We like easy answers. Liberal or Conservative. Yes or no. Zero or one. Please don’t give me a third vague option. I either agree or disagree. “Do or do not. There is no try.”

It’s even better if we can pick a group and just let them tell us which side we’re on. The church says Gay Marriage is bad, so I say it’s bad. My labor union supports Barak Obama, so I support Barak Obama. God forbid you should belong to two opposing groups. Who does a Southern Baptist Teamster vote for? That thought might cause some heads to explode.

Unfortunately, it works in reverse also. I think we could call it the transitive property of politics. I’m against Gay Marriage; Miss California is against Gay Marriage; therefore I support Miss California. This is all well and good until nude pictures start popping up. (As you read these next sentences imagine your anxiety levels and consternation rising with each word.) I’m against pornography. Naked women are pornographic. Miss California posed nude. Miss California is pornographic. I support Miss California. I support pornog… I’m against por… I supp… I’m agai… [Insert exploding head here]

I’ve been down this road before. We are lazy. We like to have others make our decisions for us. But that is not my point today. My point? As a nation we have become completely polarized. Our right or wrong, yes or no worldview has produced an adversarial atmosphere in which no one is willing to listen to the other side. No one is willing to discuss any issue. “I’m right, your wrong. End of story.”

In my opinion, this tone is no more evident than in the Christian church. (Allow me to get churchy for a minute.) In recent years the most vocal parts of the Christian church have come down with decisive opinions on many issues. Millions blindly accepted those opinions as the “truth.” Once their “truth” was established anyone whose opinion diverged from the accepted view was wrong. End of discussion.

Homosexuality? Wrong! End of discussion. Stem-cell research? Wrong! End of discussion. The Republican Party? The only option! End of discussion. Evolution? Wrong! End of discussion. Gay marriage? Seriously? Don’t even start the discussion.

And that’s the problem. No discussion. Why have so many turned their backs on the church? No discussion. We have been far too inflexible for far too long. We have been unwilling to listen for far too long. We’re right. They are wrong. End of discussion!

I’ve been there. For a long time I knew I was right about everything. I was certain I knew the “truth.” I was right. The world was evil. Everything was black and white; right and wrong.

Several years ago, I began to notice some gray areas. I started to think that maybe there are some things that are not so absolute after all. It scared me to death. My binary view of the world shook a little. After many months of Bible, prayer, and discussion I realized that the gray areas were okay, maybe even necessary.

That leads me to a quick, shameless plug. Starting next Wednesday I am leading a discussion of Adam Hamilton’s Book Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White: Thoughts on Religion, Morality, and Politics (click for more info on the book). It should be a fun, lively discussion. You can sign up and order a book at Edgemont UMC, comment here or email me scoats1974@comcast._net, or email the church office@edgemontumc_.org (Be sure to take out the underscore on both addresses.)

Everyone and anyone is welcome. And I do mean everyone. I don’t care if you’ve never set foot in a church before. All I ask is that you bring and share your opinion and a willingness to listen to others’ opinions.

This is not the reason I wrote this. I’ve actually been planning something similar for many months. I just got around to it today. Of course promoting the class was a motivator to go ahead and write it. So it’s not entirely coincidental.