The value set I encounter at work (DEI) , the teachings of my church (of Christ) and the world I live in (including the wars in Ukraine and Gaza) do not give me any sense of common purpose. If “Woke” is a thing, it was dealt a savage blow on October 7th when Hamas broke every value in the book. Over 20,000 Palestinians have died since then, most of them – having no part or sympathy for Hamas’ behaviour.
It is too soon to say whether the woke era ended on October 7 or merely reached a crossroads. But the racism it called out, and its poisonous legacy, are still haunting us. So too sexism and myriad other social injustices. We will have to find new ways to think about and confront them.
Or perhaps the new ways are just the old ways – what’s so funny about peace , love and understanding?
Our minister, sadly soon to be our ex minister at our church has regularly defended “woke” , the good liberal that he is. It caused a lot of discussion amongst the congregation because nobody could agree what woke was about. Everybody’s identity was so different that the system described as “woke” simply didn’t fit.
Our congregation, of whom only a small number trace their origins to Britain , are alert to injustice and discrimination in society, especially racism. But the family structures that dominate don’t fit easily with Diversity, Equality and Inclusion and as for their reactions to the Conflict in Gaza, views are – to say the least – divided.
The clarity of thinking that emerged through Black Lives Matters is easy to identify with.
But the problem is that the woke conception of the world — obsessed by systems and identity — mishandles Jews and Israelis. It tends to cast them as wealthy “white oppressors”, and so cannot see them as victims.
The way that our Church has dealt with the problems surrounding condemnation, has been to turn the problem on its head and shout out the values that can bring people together. Put simply “love” brings people together and “hate” condemns and divides.
While I hate racism, I can’t be doing with hating racists.
I would rather not focus on its destructive force , nor call-out out racists, but try to understand and even love those who appal me. While I hate the destruction in the Ukraine, the violation of basic rights in China, the disregard for truth in American politics, the indiscriminate fury of Gaza, I cannot hate the perpetrators. Love makes room for peace and excludes the negative values that lead to misunderstanding and violence.
“Not hating” is not the same as “not tolerating”. Racism and other oppressions need to be called out within society and we have a legal system that punishes “hate crimes”. We can’t have bullying because of gender or of disability or of sexuality or because of race.
But the enforcement of law is not the sole answer. Much of the problem is endemic and systematic, the problem is “within” the institutions of society. It is within me and it’s within you – “those who are without sin, cast the first stone”.
Where we find prejudice within, we must understand it, just as we must understand the prejudice without.
When we understand it, we can deal with it. But simply condemning the action without thought for what is driving the action, is reinforcing prejudice. We must come to these problems with love in our hearts , peace as our aim and understanding as our means to get reconciliation.
What’s so funny about peace love and understanding?
