Today there is a lot of talk about tribalism in our culture. What is tribalism? It is the idea that a person is only accepted if he or she shares one or two outward characteristics. Tribes may be created by one or more distinguishing features – race, gender, ethnicity, social class, etc. While dividing people by tribes may be helpful to speak of people in broad strokes, it has two dangerous downsides. First, tribalism simplifies people who in reality are very complex. Everyone has a distinct back story, experiences, family, education, and interests. Describing people in narrow terms is a power play to manipulate and use people. Second, tribalism creates division. It typically divides people according to outward characteristics rather than inner characteristics of shared belief, values, and goals. Tribalism pits one group against another on the basis of singular outward characteristics. It creates us/them, good/bad, righteous/evil language that only serves to make enemies of people. In the end, people are told that outward accidentals are more important than inner character.
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