Between being out of town and the Fourth, it's been a slow couple of weeks here. Let's get July started with an Orson Scott Card column at the Mormon Times, "Mormon 'Tribe' Feels Like Home." OSC reflects on the fact that Utah seems like home to some Mormons who weren't born there and don't live there.
Here are a couple of paragraphs from the column.
These days it isn't politically correct to talk about "tribes" -- we're supposed to say "ethnic groups." But those are not exact synonyms. A tribe is considerably more than a mere shared ethnicity.
A tribe commands your loyalty -- often more than any other community you belong to. When you're in a place where your tribe is in a minority, you feel like a sojourner; you look to the tribal homeland as the center.
I imagine that for Catholics Rome is the "tribal homeland" and for Jews it is Jerusalem. Do Evangelicals and Protestants have a tribal homeland? Or is Protestantism so decentralized (which is a nice way of saying almost incapable of maintaining institutional unity and integrity) that it does not have a central place?
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It depends on the Catholic. And it depends on the Mormon.
Some Catholics and some Mormons are not exactly all that committed or concerned about their nominal religious affiliation. Their level of commitment to, and affiliation with their religion may impact whether they really feel themselves a part of the tribe.
That's why, Seth, I really enjoyed the part when OSC wrote:
"What matters is that when people join the LDS Church -- really join it, accepting callings, making it the center of our lives -- it becomes more than our "church of choice."
and
"We know that wherever we go, if there's a Mormon chapel, we can find fellow members of the tribe. We'll walk in and know immediately what's going on. We'll speak the same language -- even if it's not English -- because we have scripture and ritual and calendar and worship services in common."
So, it already notes the necessity of commitment. After a critical period, I think, it sticks for quite some time.
As much as I enjoy OSC’s books, his columns are usually just wrong. This one on tribalism is no exception. I can see how the “warm fuzzy” feeling you get when you go in to a chapel that has nearly the exact layout of the last you one you were in, or find the familiar religious artwork, or just find people reading out of the same books, or hear the same melodies, albeit in a different language, might strike you as comforting. However, considering yourself part of a tribe is just wrong.
We no longer live in a world where we can permit more than one tribe: the human tribe. The kind of attitude described by OSC cannot be tolerated. It is true that religion, especially the more conservative faiths, provides a sense of belonging and a feeling of being part of the “in group”. The other side to this is that all others must automatically fall into the “out group”. I’m gobsmacked, although not entirely surprised, to read that OSC (and probably many religious people) seem to almost look forward with delight to a total breakdown of society so “that Mormonism (could) function as a tribe under such circumstances.” How could you get more wrong-headed than that?
What the world needs is fewer in group/out groups. Although this “tribalism” may feel good it, in fact, does nothing to make our world a better place. The “network of mutual dependence” that OSC mentions is actually creating an “us versus them” situation. We are all members of the human race. We all inhabit this world, the only one we have. Religion is at its absolute worst when it promotes such tribalism. And what is even more terrible is you feel good doing it. Such behavior is unacceptable in the global community we live in. Why would anyone look forward to a situation where tribes or even ethnic groups are the result? Just look to Serbia/Croatia not many years ago, or Afghanistan under the Taliban or even today, for that matter. Are you crazy or just stupid?
"We no longer live in a world where we can permit more than one tribe: the human tribe."
Sounds like more of that "everyone is special - so no one is" crap that the PC movement has been peddling for the past twenty years.
That may be, Seth, but any "tribalism" leads to intolerance of those not part of the group. Just because your brand of tribalism makes you feel good doesn't justify the intolerance that naturally results.
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