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Toxic Tribalism What it is. What we can do about it.
ribalism seems to be on the rise around the world. This trend affects many facets of our lives, particularly our ethics. How do we live in polarized societies? Authors and commentators around the globe have noted that “Brexit” in Great Britain, political polarization in the United States, delegitimization of Muslims in India, and anti-immigrant sentiment across Europe’s political landscape also seem to derive from tribalism. Thus tribalism is neither confined to primitives, nor to particular regions. Tribalism shows itself as unswerving loyalty to one’s group—usually to the detriment of other persons or groups. Paradoxically, as globalization gives rise to cultural uniformity through technology and social media, underground forces of toxic tribalism engender polarization rather than unity. Escalation in fundamentalism, reflected in political opinions, social rhetoric, and religious discourse, too often results in schisms between right and left, conservatives and liberals. This leads to a breakdown in communication and collaboration—elements essential for societal harmony.
OUR NEED FOR COMMUNITY
All humans have a natural tendency to associate in groups because of our need of being and belonging. Those needs are not evil. It’s a natural human desire to form a community of people with similar goals, needs, and desires. But tribalism turns toxic when it seeks to eliminate those with divergent views, opinions, or identity. It thrives on the notion that the other is the enemy; a situation responsible for anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim attacks in places of worship, causing the deaths of innocent worshippers in America, New Zealand, Israel, and Afghanistan. It has resulted in the killings of politicians whose views diverge from those of their assailants. So prevalent is this condition on social media that some believe ours is the age of tribalism. Unfortunately, even the Seventh-day Adventist Church, with its high moral ideals and divine mandate, is not immune to this tribal mind-set, as two accounts illustrate. Not long ago I preached at a church in a country in which recent government elections had resulted in discord and crisis in reaching Adventist homes featuring intercultural marriages. The political impasse fueling cultural tensions between two major tribes affected married couples who shared strong common beliefs and a Christian heritage. Just as telling, a friend of mine relates how, when he asked someone for help in San Antonio during the most recent General Conference session (in 2015), he was refused, based on his African Photo: Markus Spiske
