Thanks for this Gabriel. In between being raised in a blue state liberal social network and in mature adulthood returning to raise my kids in the same, there were a few college years in which I moved, had my being and identified as a conservative evangelical. Reflecting back, I will add that the sense of being condescended to and dismissed is a powerful accelerant to creating group identity. The sense of being under siege is intoxicating; for me as a young man being a part of this church community pricked an age-appropriate urge to rebel and self define, and probably kept me interested, connected and trying to make personal apologetics for certain theologies (that intuitively felt off) way longer than I otherwise would have. But it was far from all defense and fear, and though I decided to go a different way, I would actually say that those were some of the most relationally and even intellectually rich years of my life. I'm over here Amen-ing your call for humility and curiosity; because of my experiences I'm pretty sensitive to the cartoonish understanding of "the other side" by many folks in my sphere. Everyone longs for connection, purpose, and a way to make sense of and coexist with... death among all the other fears and nasty experiences. Glad you mentioned "Friends of Friends;" ( sorry, wary of wearing you out with kudos for this album) it really feels like a sorely needed message.
“Here, again, is that hubris: when convinced of our moral and analytical superiority, we tend to see the behavior of others filtered through the lens of our values and experience. In other words, hubris stifles curiosity, the absence of which makes empathy more difficult to cultivate.”🙌🏾
Thanks for this Gabriel. In between being raised in a blue state liberal social network and in mature adulthood returning to raise my kids in the same, there were a few college years in which I moved, had my being and identified as a conservative evangelical. Reflecting back, I will add that the sense of being condescended to and dismissed is a powerful accelerant to creating group identity. The sense of being under siege is intoxicating; for me as a young man being a part of this church community pricked an age-appropriate urge to rebel and self define, and probably kept me interested, connected and trying to make personal apologetics for certain theologies (that intuitively felt off) way longer than I otherwise would have. But it was far from all defense and fear, and though I decided to go a different way, I would actually say that those were some of the most relationally and even intellectually rich years of my life. I'm over here Amen-ing your call for humility and curiosity; because of my experiences I'm pretty sensitive to the cartoonish understanding of "the other side" by many folks in my sphere. Everyone longs for connection, purpose, and a way to make sense of and coexist with... death among all the other fears and nasty experiences. Glad you mentioned "Friends of Friends;" ( sorry, wary of wearing you out with kudos for this album) it really feels like a sorely needed message.
Love this:
“Here, again, is that hubris: when convinced of our moral and analytical superiority, we tend to see the behavior of others filtered through the lens of our values and experience. In other words, hubris stifles curiosity, the absence of which makes empathy more difficult to cultivate.”🙌🏾