Individual vs. Relationship

I have noticed an interesting (though not particularly original) correlation between political and religious socio/economic perspectives.

I will begin with the political realm. As I look at the respective platforms of the Democratic and Republican Parties, I notice that the Republicans seem to lean toward the rights of the individual to prosper – usually with a spurious promise that the prosperity of the few at the top will somehow find its way to benefit those at the bottom. The Democratic leaning is more toward the well being of the community and that to have a healthy community requires resources and opportunities not only to be available, but to be encouraged across the board. The Republican platform leans more towards the value of competition among individuals while the Democratic one leans more towards mutuality and care for the whole group.

Having made these broad statements, I am well aware that actual behavior does not necessarily match stated principles, and that the actuality may turn out to be better or worse than the stated objective.

At the same time, I see a similar pattern in much of religion. In America, many if not most traditions have emphasized the eternal status of the individual soul as the most important religious issue. The farther right a particular tradition is, the more individual piety seems to matter. What’s interesting here is that religious traditions seldom come into being by promoting the rights of the individual to achieve.

To give a couple of examples: much of Judaism is based in the Exodus story where the product of their wilderness experience is to become “a people” (rather than a collection of competing individuals). Centuries later, Jesus lifted up the integrity of the Realm of God as offering benefit to all, rather than the individualistic piety that had become so common in his time. Jesus witnessed to a God who cared for all people, the good and bad, neighbors and enemies, not just the socially and religiously acceptable ones.

American Christianity is to some degree a product of the extreme individualism that has always been associated with a pioneering spirit, so we have come about our problematic leanings honestly. It seems to me that the connection between right wing politics and right wing religion is no coincidence. They share the same radical individuality. This is not the kind of individuality that values uniqueness and diversity. It’s a kind of hierarchical individuality – sort of like “king of the mountain.” Everyone has an opportunity to become powerful in this system, but then the powerful inherit the right to tell everyone else how they should believe and behave in order to be acceptable.

While the political shift toward the Democrats, and particularly toward Barack Obama, may be largely a product of present economic woes, there is also an undercurrent of awareness that our system has let individuality become so extreme that corruption in the service of greed has been the result.

I would not say that individuality and community are completely antithetical perspectives. Any healthy system must hold them in proper creative tension with one another. Family System Theory says that a healthy family supports the differentiation and development of healthy individuals, and that healthy individuals tend to contribute to healthy families. This is true for groups of all sizes, even at the cultural dimension.

I hope that if the election goes according to what the polls are reporting, an improvement in both the integrity of the system and in the availability of opportunities for diverse individuals will be the result. In the final analysis, we are all connected and our cultural health is in the balance.

What do you think?

Wayne Gustafson


“No matter who you are, or where you are in life’s journey, you’re welcome here.”
The United Church___of Christ