Let’s take “blessed are the peacemakers” seriously.

Note: This is not a Christian blog, but it is a blog written by a Christian. Occasionally, such as in this post, my faith comes up, because it is central to who I am. Because peacemaking is important to many people of different faiths or no faith, I hope that, no matter what you believe, you will find this post helps you in your quest to make a difference.

I’ll be honest. Some things I want to write about in relation to making a difference are really difficult to address these days, because things seem to be happening so fast that anything I write could be outdated the day after I write it. In fact, I had already started this post when 13 men were arrested for plotting to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Since then, President Trump has held a rally in Michigan, where instead of discouraging people who were chanting, “Lock her [Whitmer] up,” he simply responded, “Lock ’em all up.”

Nevertheless, with the election looming, I want to address the tension so many of us are feeling.

It feels like the country is tearing apart. Some people are preparing for violence; after the first presidential debate, one neo-Nazi wrote, “He is telling people to stand by. As in: Get ready for war.” And there have already been acts of violence on both the right and the left: This summer there were multiple incidents of people ramming their vehicles into Black Lives Matter protesters, and a left-wing protester shot and killed a Trump supporter.

Let’s embrace the radical act of peacemaking.

I understand why most of us, myself included, have strong feelings right now. Fortunately, I have forces that pull against my anger and dismay at “those people.” One of those forces is exerted by Preemptive Love Coalition, which I wrote about in an earlier blog post. In a Facebook post on September 29, they wrote:

We can hunker down in our echo chambers, listening only to those who think like us, demonizing everyone else. We can stay silent, refuse to engage, declare that politics really isn’t our thing—a luxury or privilege afforded only to those whose lives have never hung in the balance.

We’ve seen the violence that lies at the end of that road. In Iraq, Syria, Venezuela… and yes, it can happen where any of us live, too.

But we’ve also seen what happens when we choose a different road. When we seek out those who view the world differently than we do. When we relentlessly humanize everyone.

Let’s make that our story. When the world is scary as hell, #loveanyway.

– Preemptive Love Coalition

Another force is my faith in a God who calls us to peacemaking. The kingdom of God described in both Isaiah 2 and Micah 4 is one in which swords are beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he lists peace as one of the fruits of God’s Spirit.

I also don’t think that violence will accomplish anything beyond splitting the United States further apart. It’s merely throwing gasoline on the fire that’s already burning. If we’re going to move forward, we have to end the divisiveness and actually start talking with each other.

We must commit to peace.

I think most Americans have no desire to commit acts of violence, and I doubt many of us have the power to change the minds of those who wish to start a civil war. But if we commit to peacemaking, we may be able to keep extremists from recruiting others.

What can we do?

We can stop “othering” people.

I understand the temptation to lump people into groups and to allow certain groups to anger us. When I pass houses with political signs I strongly disagree with, I do not think kindly about the people who put up the signs. But I need to separate the people from their ideology. I can and do strongly disagree with them, but I should remember that they are real people with real problems. They experience joy and sorrow. They have dreams. And they love and are loved. Just like me.

We can step outside our bubbles.

If we only hang around folks like us, we’re only going to hear one point of view. Exposing ourselves to a diversity of people and opinions isn’t easy. We need to leave our comfort zones and be willing to allow others to challenge our beliefs. But we will be better people for it.

We can start listening and talking.

How often do we avoid the forbidden topics of politics and religion, because discussing them just isn’t polite? Indeed, fighting about these things isn’t good for relationships between friends and family, but if we can’t talk about them, we’ll never be able to bridge our differences. It’s difficult and will take a lot of practice, but if we listen to try to understand the other person, and if we talk not to argue someone around to our point of view but to explain where we’re coming from, we may be able to ease the divisions in our country.

We can be willing to cut others a lot of slack if they’re willing to talk with us.

If you and I are very different in terms of background and/or point of view, we are probably going to step on each other’s toes if we start talking about the hard things with each other. The best way to move forward is to forgive each other, again and again, when we do that. It doesn’t mean we can’t speak up and say, “Hey, what you said just now was hurtful. Do you mind if I explain why?” But we shouldn’t immediately assume that the other person deliberately said something offensive. I know from experience that I’ve unintentionally made hurtful comments, and I’m grateful for the times I’ve been gently corrected, instead of being automatically cut off.

We can take a stand against inequity.

Injustice, inequality, and threats to democracy breed violence. As the saying goes, “If you want peace, work for justice.” This isn’t a threat. It’s a truth. Some of the violence after George Floyd’s death came from opportunists who wanted to incite a civil war or hurt Black Lives Matter protestors, but some of it came from people who are fed up with empty promises. If I call for peace but refuse to work for justice, my desire for peace is empty and self-serving.

We can engage in civil disobedience to fight authoritarianism.

As this piece from The Guardian notes, authoritarianism reduces politics “to a question of friends and enemies, us and them.” The authors go on to claim that unarmed civil resistance is “twice as effective as armed struggle.” Rather than embracing the idea of violent action, we need to continue to engage in actions ranging from protests to boycotts. If we participate in organized, peaceful resistance against those who would wield power through intimidation, we will eventually win.