We Can't Turn Back the Clock

 Change is always messy. That's one of the reasons change is so difficult. It's one of the reasons we don't like change. 

It seems to me we as a nation are in the midst of change - a shift from what we once were to ... to what? To something new, something different, and, thereby, to something strange and uncomfortable for many of us. No wonder the change is messy!

Let me hasten to add that this shift is normal ... and, I would add, healthy. It is a part of our maturing as a nation. But in order to grow up, we have to leave some things behind. Hence, change - the shift. But, it seems to me, some of us don't want to grow up.

This shift has been happening since the 1960's. At least, that's my awareness. It probably started long before the '60's, but that was before my time. In my lifetime, the shift became apparent in the '60's. The '60's was the decade of great social upheaval, particularly the hippies' free-love revolution questioning long-held social norms, protests against the Vietnamese War in which authority began to be questioned and distrusted, and the Civil Rights movement in which African-Americans called for equal standing and equal rights under the Constitution. Those movements were followed by the women's lib movement and bra burning, Latino/a advocacy - led by Caesar Chavez - for the rights of migrant workers, and the gay rights movement. 

In other words, the shift was away from the American melting pot to an American stew, away from one dominant, homogeneous social pattern  to diversity, away from a white male, patriarchal society to a more egalitarian society in which women and people of color have status and standing alongside white men, away from a time when authority was accepted without question (how many of us grew up hearing "because I said so") to a time when authority and institutions are questioned and not trusted. This social shift has been accompanied by a shift economically. We have moved from an agricultural and industrial society to an informational society, from the country to the cities. 

Our identity as a nation has changed ... or, at least, is changing. And many of us don't like it. We are resisting this change with every fiber of our being. This resistance is a major factor in this election. The election has become a struggle for the identity of our nation. Some are saying the election is for the soul of our nation. 

Interestingly, those of us who are resisting these changes are those who enjoyed the benefits of a patriarchal, white-oriented, Christian-dominant culture. The growing diversity of our nation is viewed as a threat to our way of life. We view those who advocate for continuing change - the protests and BLM, the calls for police reform, the advocacy for regulations that impact climate change, the calls for a national healthcare plan and a livable minimum wage, the growing ethnic, religious, and gender diversity in places of leadership - as "the radical left" who will destroy our nation. We fear they will replace our capitalistic society with socialism, taking our hard earned money and giving it to people who are too lazy to work. We fear Islam and Islamic law will replace Christianity. We want to stop the change and, if possible, turn back the clock to the way things were "when we grew up." We want to go back to an American melting pot where everyone is "like us" or "knows their place," adapting to us. We want to go back to being "a Christian nation."

Our resistance to the cultural shift that is taking place is not just an attempt to protect our way of life. It is an attempt to impose our way of life and our beliefs on others. (Think of the arguments about prayer in school or abortion or Second Amendment rights to bear arms.) It reflects an "I'm right, you're wrong" mentality. It reflects a rigid, black-and-white way of thinking that is driven by fear and emotional reactivity rather than by logic and rational thought. It discounts any perspective or understanding that does not agree with my beliefs and desires. It expresses a "my way or the highway," "if you don't like it, leave" attitude. 

This desired return to the way things were is not going to happen. We can't turn back the clock (even though we turned back the clock last night from Daylight Savings time). If we as a nation are going to continue to mature, we must embrace the change. We must live out our constitutional promise of "liberty and justice for all," not just for the few. And as the followers of Jesus - who embodied God's advocacy for the poor, the powerless, and the marginalized of society - we must lead the way.