The Common Good

You don’t know the half of it, like the old folks used to say

but the half of it is what I do know
What I don’t know is the other

-   Lucille Clifton, “God Bless America”

 

As 2013 drew closer, reminders of the year(s) past were everywhere.  Among the well-rehearsed stories brought to our attention was one which, yet again, described the complexities of the U.S. population – not only is it changing, but now changing more rapidly and noticeably.  Pundits tell us that a glaring example of this change was seen in the unwillingness or inability of many political candidates to see and hear the needs, ideas and beliefs of their constituents.  Defeated candidates were - it’s been said - out of touch with the future of America; their message was shaped by and to voters that are or will be in the minority, an America of the past.  “Past” and “future” are defined by beliefs, values, ethnicity and so many ways of defining and distinguishing 2012 citizens from our nation’s demographic history.

    What we learned in the year past is not new, our country has seen this coming from centuries.  This, in Lucille Clifton’s words, is “but the half of it [we] do know.”  We are a diverse people, this is something our country has always been.  While diversity has been part of the U.S. for hundreds of years, it has finally reached a place where it can no longer be ignored or dismissed as of little or no consequence (which is easy to do from places of power or isolation).  We, as a nation, I believe, must now recognize that there are consequences to the depth of diversity that is (and always has been) our nation.  We need to say more than " We are all Americans."  Yes we may be, and there is so much more to say and do.

    Let me reiterate: We have always been a diverse nation.  Diversity is part of who we are as the United States.  As our diversity has grown, the differences have become striking and shaping.  In recent decades, these differences have accelerated and many - including disappointed candidates and their supporters - were lost in the gap between a distant past and an emerging future.  And now we are long overdue in becoming collectively intentional about focusing our attention and direction on our diversity.  This is called pluralism: while diversity happens (after all, the human race is diverse), pluralism - learning to live with (and celebrate) diversity – is intentional.  Right now, it seems to me, we are struggling with being intentional.  My sense is that individuals and institutions (including Unitarian Universalism) are all struggling with what it means not only to be diverse, but how to embrace and welcome pluralism.

    Pluralism assumes an appreciation and desire for individuality, but not individualism; life in the U.S. for the 21^st century will be about more than individual freedoms, freedoms often described as “rights.”  Some describe these freedoms and rights as though they are intrinsic to being human, but many/most of them are not.  Most of these freedoms and rights are found in laws and proclamations that were created by us, in a particular time and space, and they can be tempered or even removed when necessary.  It seems to me that the biggest challenge our nation and its institutions face is how to support the common good, which may or may not support individual rights to which we have grown accustomed.  Might it be that the belief in individual rights is rooted in diversity where the common good grows from pluralism?  If this question is an important one to answer, then it begs an additional one: What rights are you willing to moderate or relinquish in order to deepen the common good?  It is my hope that these are questions we can address together in 2013.
    Take care and see you soon,

            Fred