The Flag and Christ's Teaching About Love

The recent discussion about the proper use of the Confederate flag raised for me important Christian issues. I start with the observation that many seem totally blind to the meaning this flag has to millions of Americans, especially Black Americans. I wondered why it is that so many, especially here in South Carolina, are so tied to the display of this flag on our Capital grounds where it offends so many.

I purposely entered into some of these discussion on Facebook to see what lay behind these objections to removing the flag from such a public space. I kept getting the same answer, "It's our pride in out Southern heritage and a way to honor those who died in the Confederate army during the Civil war." It was quickly clear that there was no way to engage in a true discussion with an alternative view as their view was so strong. This bothered me because for me the flag was a sign of hatred, especially now that it was linked with such a horrible crime as occurred in the massacre in Charleston where the Civil war began.

How does this all relate to the teachings of Christ? Christ tight us to love our neighbors as ourselves and to love our enemies. To me the inability and unwillingness of those who defend the flying of the flag on the Capital grounds to see the perspective of Black Americans and many others was a sign of disrespect, a disregard for the hurt this symbol causes for so many others. The issue is about human dignity, about love of others who are different from us. Love demands an understanding of the perspective of those who have a different view from us.

We are all often blinded by our own perspective and the underlying assumptions that lie hidden behind it. Because of these hidden assumptions we find it difficult and fearful to understand what others perceive and uncover our hidden assumptions.

I was once involved in a PhD program made up of cohorts of mixed back and white students. We were engaged in a task of Synergy. The task was to take an issue and first clarify our own perspective and the assumptions that were behind it. Next was to investigate the perspective of others and its assumptions. Once the other perspective was gathered it had to presented to the other group to test it. Both sides did this. In our case we were divided into two groups, one all white and the other all black. The Black group had no difficulty in understanding the White groups perspective. But our White group had difficulty in expressing the Black view. When we tried to represent the Black group's perspective we failed to accurately represent it.  We had difficulty doing so after many interactions. The Black group was amazed at the difficulty we had. What this taught us is that when we are an advantaged group, it is very difficult to understand the view of a group that has historically been disadvantaged.

What does this mean about love as Christ taught? To love our neighbor as ourselves we must be able to first understand the view of our neighbor as clearly as we understand our own perceptive if we are to love them. Without this deeper understanding of each other we cannot understand their actions or their needs. Our love is only superficial. It is nearly impossible to take actions of mutual love.

To address an issue such as the one that has risen over the Confederate flag, we can only deal with it if we are willing to sincerely explore the view of the others. Knowing this is difficult we need to actively seek out the other's view while we hold true to our own view.  Once we feel we have understood their view then we can hold both views together in our heart, in our love, and see what will emerge, how the Holy Spirit will guide as we hold these two truths together. Out of the love of Christ will emerge a third view, one that is bigger than either of the two, synergy, that will lead us to a creative resolution of the issue based on mutual love and respect.

I write this to encourage all of us as we deal with the explosive issue of racial discrimination, the aftermath of the history of brutal slavery, the years of discrimination and segregation that followed, and the modern cries of white supremacy, to take the time to first examine your own perspective and uncover some of its underlying assumptions. Then seek out to understand the others perspective and the assumptions underlying it. Finally, prayerfully hold both views and see what insights emerge that allow you to speak with love towards all our brothers and sisters in Christ. Only then will your actions be able to communicate the love of Christ.