Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year for 2024 is “polarization,” defined as “division into two sharply distinct opposites; especially, a state in which the opinions, beliefs, or interests of a group or society no longer range along a continuum but become concentrated at opposing extremes.”
Pope Leo XIV, in his first meeting with the media, calls for reclaiming the “precious gift” of speech and avoiding division fueled by angry words. “We do not need loud, forceful communication,” he said, “but rather communication capable of listening.”
In this summer’s Broadway hit, Good Night and Good Luck, CBS reporter Edward R. Murrow remarks, “A great many people think they are thinking when they are really rearranging their prejudices.”
Polarized Times
Each of these recent events illustrates a type of division or polarization that is making daily interaction with people we disagree with not only more difficult but also undesirable. Polarization has historically been viewed as a matter of ideological divergence, but in the past decade, there has been an alarming rise in polarization not centered on social policy but rather on attitudes toward our fellow human beings. This phenomenon is commonly termed “affective polarization,” and is particularly prevalent in political discourse. Democrats and Republicans both say that members of the other party are more closed-minded, immoral, and unintelligent than other Americans. Likewise, universities that once stood as the pinnacle of free speech are now experiencing an increase in political polarization and incivility across their campuses.
In this themed issue, we explore the causes of affective polarization and its primary remedy: understanding others’ convictions. How can we as Christians understand issues more deeply through the perspective of others? The articles, interviews, images, and poetry in this issue help us break through affective polarization to engage diverse perspectives.
Article: The View from Here: Facilitating Perspective-Taking Through Art
In the first article, art historian Katie Kresser reminds us, “People born in this place, who grow in this place, who die in this place, experience the world a certain way.” Over time, we grow used to seeing the world in a particular way. Why change my view by listening to something that challenges my perspective? Kresser argues art can help us experience the world differently. She takes us on a tour from Van Gogh’s Shoes to Caravaggio’s Calling of Saint Matthew to communist art meant to “reset” minds. Particularly gripping is Henry Ossawa Tanner’s painting of a grandfather and grandson giving thanks for a humble meal after the Civil War. It invites us to ask: Who is not seated at the table? Where are the parents? What was their fate? The images accompanying this essay will stay with you long after you’ve finished reading.
Article: What Good Is Perspective-Taking If No One Changes Their Perspective?
As the author of our second article, I appeal to the wisdom of ancient Biblical writers who say a timely word can be compared to fine art (Proverbs 25:11). While the impact of perspective-taking may not be immediate, it creates the communication climate necessary for conversation to continue rather than dissolve the relationship. This assertion is rooted in my research that brought together three self-identified members of the gay community in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and three members of a conservative Christian campus organization. Before discussing their differences, they engaged in weeks of perspective-taking exercises. When the time came to engage, their practiced perspective-taking changed what might have been the expected polarization dynamics.
Interview: Dual Perspectives on Critical Race Theory
If race and CRT are difficult to discuss publicly, imagine writing a book about them, knowing the strong emotions it is likely to engender for both supporters and detractors. In this issue, we review Untangling Critical Race Theory: What Christians Need to Know and Why It Matters (InterVarsity, 2024). Before presenting the review, we invite readers to practice perspective-taking by hearing from its author, Ed Uszynski. I asked him to respond to divisive ideas such as systemic racism and white privilege. How would each side respond and why? His ability to present both sides with clarity is a model for perspective-taking.
Book Review: Untangling Critical Race Theory
Since the inception of the Winsome Conviction Project at Biola in 2020, we have found that no topic causes people to abandon perspective-taking more quickly than CRT. Communication scholar John Hatch notes that Uszynski’s accessible book corrects the most widely heard voices that have tended to favor demonizing over perspective-taking when discussing CRT. Hatch’s review explores helpful aspects of CRT and core beliefs that are troubling. He notes that the book avoids caricatures and unreflective embracing of CRT, forming a nuanced understanding of how race and power intersect.
Article: When Emotions Block Understanding
Why has perspective-taking become not only difficult but undesirable? Psychologists Elizabeth Hall and Erin I. Smith, philosopher Timothy Pickavance, and theologian Jason McMartin write that certain perspectives are viewed as “not only incorrect but morally incomprehensible or repugnant.” This is a significant problem for Christians since Jesus instructs us not merely to tolerate our enemies but to love them (Matthew 5:44 – 45). Love is difficult when replaced by anger, disgust, and contempt. Recognizing these emotions is not enough. They suggest spiritual practices that can replace disgust with love and contempt with charity.
Article: Munificent Selves: Hospitality as an End to Conflict Amplification
The last presidential election left some students and faculty filled with dread, while others were elated. The problem is that those groups seldom interact, and negative impressions are rarely challenged. “We rarely verify,” notes sociologist Aaron Franzen, “that the assumptions we have built about other people or groups are accurate.” How can Christians reach out to fellow believers with whom they disagree? Franzen argues conflict can be addressed by reclaiming a spirit of hospitality—evidenced by the early church—opening our homes and hearts to people with diverse views.
Interview: Traveling to a War Zone to Foster Understanding
Perspective-taking is not merely cognitive. To do it holistically, we must enter another’s environment. We can read about our city’s Skid Row, but walking its streets reveals that homelessness is anchored in real sights, sounds, and smells. The same is true of the Israel/Palestine conflict. After the October 7, 2023, terrorist attacks, Simon Greer, a Jewish bridge-builder, Saad Solomon, a Muslim bridge-builder, and I decided to visit the actual sites. We went to a burned-out kibbutz outside Gaza, the Nova music festival where hundreds were massacred and forty-four taken hostage, and to the farm of a Palestinian Christian surrounded by expanding settlements where their electricity and water are often turned off. What can be learned by engaging with each other at the site of this historic conflict? What can be learned by being with each other at the physical site of this historic conflict? Perhaps for this trip, it was the connection between Simon and Saad that would forever transform their relationship.
Poetry may be one of the greatest gifts to see issues from different perspectives. In this issue, “Rabbit Skin Pelt” shows how a friend’s childhood regret shapes their communication style, while “Guards and Neighbors” prompts us to consider the cost of isolation. “For the Student Strikers,” written during Vietnam War protests, is a call for dialogue and a reminder that today’s divisions are not new. The last poem, “Higher Education,” offers hope in divided times.
How might indigenous brothers and sisters retell Biblical passages using unique language and point of reference? Might reading familiar passages from Ephesians and Revelation in another language help us see the Great Spirit in a new way?
In Conclusion: A Way Forward?
In a time deeply divided over slavery, Frederick Douglass offered a way to understand the issue from the perspective of the enslaved. He was moved by hearing the passionate songs of those traveling to the enslaver’s house for their meager rations. The “mere hearing of those songs” convinced him of the horrific nature of slavery more than “reading whole volumes of philosophy.”1 To understand another, we must move beyond a cognitive grasp. Reading about the plight of enslaved people was not enough. Douglass’s solution? Stand in the “deep pine woods” and “analyze the sounds that shall pass through the chambers of the soul” as we listen to the narratives of others.2 In the works that follow, my co-authors and I invite you to enter the deep pine woods of perspective-taking to understand our troubled times—and possibly find a way forward.
Michael Y. Ahn (Biola University) is the co-guest editor for this themed issue.
