A few blog posts ago, I said that some comments I was hearing in response to George Floyd's death, seeming to justify it in some way or lessen the implications of it, seemed like groupthink to me, which is dangerous. If you disagree, then the point that needs to be made is that police officers are not judges or executionists and you wouldn't want them to be if you or your loved one were in that position.
When I first learned about groupthink, I suppose it was in psychology class, as it is a psychology term that refers to the phenomenon when people feel as though an idea is a good idea, although it may not be, simply because the majority of their group believes it is a good idea. The example given in the class where I first learned the term was the Bay of Pigs Invasion where the U.S. funded and supported Cuban exiles to attack Cuba in an attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro. It is viewed as a failure in U.S. foreign policy, but it seemed like a good idea to decision makers at the time. Poor decisions were made as a result of groupthink.
In my blog post, I mentioned groupthink in reference to a society that produces juries that convict people of crimes they are innocent of and condemn them to death or decades in prison, largely influenced by the color of their skin. Just Mercy is a movie about the Equal Justice Initiative and its first cases. Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) is an organization that combats such injustices through providing legal representatives for victims of marginalization in the criminal justice system. If you want to learn more, I highly suggest watching Just Mercy and checking out EJI.
Over the past few weeks leading up to the inauguration of Joe Biden, and surrounding the insurrection on the U.S. Capitol that was incited by President Trump's refusal to accept his loss at the election, I have been seeing groupthink overload. It was surely already there, but I think it is exposing itself even more now. Before I get into what I am seeing largely among a group I suppose can be called Christian nationalists, who seem to be primarily white folk, let me share quickly a story of how I was a victim of groupthink a few years ago.
Project Esperanza receives several volunteer groups each year (with the exception of 2020, of course). Many of these groups are college students traveling together during spring, summer, or winter break. The groups are usually accompanied by a professor, T.A., or sometimes student leaders. Volunteer groups are normally about 80% female and 20% male. The exception to that last stat is that we have a partnership with Morehouse Bonner Scholars from Morehouse College, led by the amazing Dr. Whitney. They are an all male group, and Morehouse is a historically black college (HBCU). They have come and served with us every year since 2015 (again, 2020 excluded, but they came twice in 2016).
A few years ago, we had a group come for our English summer camp registration which was held on a Sunday evening, then the first three days of summer camp. The group had already served in the capital for a week, faced some challenges, and by the time they got to us, they were not so fresh anymore. This group was also majorly composed of females of color, which is important to note as I share the perspective that was present.
Project Esperanza had a new volunteer coordinator working just during that summer. This was her first group. We also had a mother and teenage son volunteering, who are also from the U.S. Other than that, some of our local teachers were present at camp and our students. The volunteer coordinator, other volunteer, and I perceived negative feelings coming from this group after the first day of camp, which were out of the norm. This friction built over the next few days of camp, although many of the group members got into the groove of camp, connected with the campers, and executed planned activities.
There wasn't time to address this friction as the group was not staying with us at our volunteer house, and was actually paired with us through an agency that took care of the logistics of their trip. So after saying good-bye on their third day of camp, we had no more contact with the group. However, the agency shared a blog post with me a few days later, written by one of the group members as a reflection assignment.
Reading the words of this volunteer who had spent a few days in our school with us was shocking. The post displayed this student's extreme misconceptions and assumptions based on her life in the U.S. She was basically comparing our school run off of donations of foreign donors to U.S. institutions that are perhaps government funded. She basically claimed that our free education provided to them was a problem because it's imperfect. She unfortunately didn't see the education as a way to combat the alternative life for these kids in the streets, but looked at both with disdain. It was an angry, biased, and flat out untruthful account in many ways. I don't say untruthful to defend myself or the organization, but because she criticized the camp for things like not having drinking water, whereas there was literally a jug of water with cups in the hallway during the three days she was at camp, and the kids drank during break time. Upon learning that I personally read the post, it was removed from the internet, and dialogue and apologies followed from the group leader, who was not actually present during their time with us.
Some of the perspective gained helped us to sharpen our volunteer orientation pre-trip package and to provide a better quick orientation for groups that came in throughout the summer, especially those who did not stay at our volunteer house. But in summary, it was a very offensive experience. It was also unfortunate, as I felt as though if there was more time to talk with these students and they could've felt comfortable raising questions, as well as were open minded to listen to answers, then their experience could've been completely different. And not all students felt the same way as this student, but the positive voices were apparently silenced by the negative ones, from what I was told.
I share this in no way to complain about this group or to say that Project Esperanza and me personally are above any sort of criticism, but to examine the issue of groupthink. When I replied with my rebuttal to many of the claims made in this blog post, the writer likely realized that she was ignorant and should not have been so sure of her assumptions. But why was she so sure of her assumptions? She hadn't formed them alone. Surely they were grown and strengthened and encouraged by some of her group members who she dialogued with after camp, during the evenings, on the bus to and from, etc. Perhaps some of the world views she had formed in her home community or in her studies in the U.S. also inlcluded assumptions that hadn't been challenged yet by experiencing more outside of her bubble up until that point. But the point is that she felt confident enough about her comprehension of what she saw that she boldly posted a quite derragotory account on the internet. After more than a decade of leading volunteer groups, this was a first.
I surely have been involved in groupthink myself. I can remember taking part in mischief, especially in 8th grade, that I highly regretted afterwards. I am reminded of some words from James 3. Here are verses 5-9.
"The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one's life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God's likeness."
During my adulthood here in the Dominican Republic, I feel like I have been such an outsider most of the time that I have barely had the opportunity to participate in groupthink. I often oppose trends that I see in my kids' school or in our neighborhood and critique them with my kids, basically, teaching them to think a different way. For example, I will not become accustomed to the idea that on certain days, kids have to pay 10 pesos to enter school, a school where their parents pay monthly tuition, as a fundraiser for the senior class. I will not become accustomed to the idea that entire days of school will be dedicated to rehearsals for the Christmas dance that will be shown on TV. Had I grown up here, maybe I would, but it's too late for that. Okay, maybe those are not examples of groupthink but simply customs I don't like, but the influence goes down the same path.
Had I stayed in my hometown in Virginia, maybe I would be more susceptible to being influenced by some of these conspiracy theories floating around because many others around me would be sharing them and repeating them. Or maybe I would be opposed to them and feel as though I was surrounded by them all the time, wanting to escape. Maybe I would've been susceptible to other kinds of groupthink. But I see great value in embracing diversity and considering all points of view. I see it as a Christian practice. I believe many may see bathing themselves in their tribe, referring to their community, comfort zone, family, and church, as a way of staying true to their faith and to God. However, I think it could potentially influence you to do just the opposite if you are not careful.
As I have scrolled through Facebook, (which I prefer to Instagram as I like to read articles, not just look at pictures, and I don't use Twitter), I see church leaders posting prophetic dreams which portray things like Donald Trump speaking to a burning bush as Moses did, then climbing back down to find his people dancing around a pagan fire, as Moses also did. But the dream goes onto show that faces of people like Kamala Harris and George Soros appear in the fire!!! These sorts of things really pain me.
George Soros, for example, is someone I learned about from following Foundation Database and looking for grants that could be applicable to Project Esperanza. I see his philanthropic work and the generosity he has displayed. He himself was a Jew who faced persecution growing up in Hungary, and went onto "change his stars" and use his position to make the world a better place. This is actually the type of thing we preach at our English camp, which is called Change My Stars. It's about using your education to change your position in life and serve your hometown and country.
But because he has, in addition to financially supporting projects all over the world, financially supported the Democratic political party in the U.S., he apparently deserves to be portrayed as a Satanic figure. Shame on that. Unless someone has some hard facts of abusive activity coming from him, we must realize that we are the evil ones in sharing such slander.
I have also been disappointed at posts made by Christians stating why they will not celebrate Kamala Harris as the first female VP in the U.S. and they mention that she "slept her way to the top". I could go on and on, but again, how could you possibly have reliable knowledge on that subject to feel confident in repeating it? And there is not time to even get into the hypocrisy of forgiving or ignoring dozens of such allegations against Donald Trump, yet repeating that one about Kamala Harris. Here is a fact check on that allegation.
Do people even know the roots of the slander they receive? Someone recently brought a name to my attention, and that name is Alex Jones. Wikipedia shares sources naming him "America's leading conspiracy theorist". His words are responsible for horrific acts like the stalking of parents who lost their kindergartners in the Sandy Hook shooting. He also apparently spoke at the rally that incited the insurrection and comes up with and spreads a lot of these conspiracy theories that people share so effortlessly. Is this the type of "work" we want to be supporting?
Let me share another verse to examine the notion that the Democratic party is aligned with evil and the Republican party is aligned with good.
"Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God."
- 1 Corinthians 6:9
"Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."
- Galatians 5:19-21
You see the word homosexuality in there? Yes, we see that word. Okay, what else? Enmity, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, and what does revilers mean? A quick Google search says "to assail with scornful or abusive language". Wow, that's a great word to describe Donald Trump, who is still being prophesized as an anointed leader by God. I don't see any levels in those verses. I don't see it said that God will have more grace for those who promote enmity, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, and are revilers more than he will for homosexuals. I do see there is quite a focus on division as all those words I just mentioned go hand in hand. God seems to extremely dislike division. It seems to have been quite the theme to brush off the "scornful and abusive language" of Donald Trump, as if it doesn't affect someone's spiritual status. I have felt convicted to speak out about it, not because I want to stir up conflict, but because I feel it is wrong.
Brothers and sisters, those who call themselves Christians and those who don't yet personally know the son of God who sacrificed so deeply for us, let's get excited about Luke 10:2.
"The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. "
We don't have time to waste on all of this junk. We have work to do. And you know who has the biggest responsibility?
"From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."
-Luke 12:48
I'm talking to you America, land that I love. From the mountains to the prairies to the oceans white with foam. God didn't give us all these blessings so that we could hoard them! And he didn't bless us so that we could go on and on about our rights and liberties, feeling as though they are always under attack. I hope and pray to see no more posts or comments comparing modern day Christians to Babylonians in captivity! I find it to be a delusion and a display of ungratefulness. Sorry, not sorry.
¡Vamanos! ¡Manos a la obra!
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