Local Leaders | Spirituality: Is it possible to disagree well?

Well, frankly, because I'm so sick of feeling angry, or upset, or disappointed, or discouraged by the aggressive and violent way in which social media is currently used to 'go after' those who are different than ourselves.

Sometimes this happens in ways which are so obviously abhorrent that it is easy for us to discern that a line has been crossed.

But other times we can all be guilty of participating in this divisiveness in ways which are quite subtle: sharing a meme that we find funny without thinking about how it might affect others, or re-posting something without checking if it is true.

It seems that our default position has become to assume the worst in others.

And, almost inevitably, we end up retreating into our corners, only associating with those who are the same as us, until we forget that there are different ways of seeing the world at all.

In other words, we've forgotten how to disagree with each other in a healthy way.

When the Uniting Church was being formed, one of the greatest challenges the three founding denominations faced was that the differences between them just seemed too large to overcome. So, the founders made an intentional decision: to focus first not on resolving our differences, but instead on naming what we have in common.

They acknowledged the ways that they were all human and had all gotten things wrong. They named their shared passions, and their hopes for the future of our world.

And only then, once they had a strong relationship of trust, did they start to work out their differences. I wonder, could we do likewise? Could we find common ground? Could we disagree well?

I hope so.