My father has had four loves in his life: my mom, science, biblical scholarship and the world wars. Our house was stacked with books in nearly every room, on topics ranging from biology to creationism to aircrafts to Stalin; one of my favourites was an animated treasury of wartime propaganda, showing how both sides depicted one another as ghoulish villains, designed to incite fear and hatred into the hearts of the public.
There was a constant weighing of scientific evidence vs biblical scholarship; my dad was adamant that in no way did the bible exclude evolution, or any other science, and that the two could in fact be complements to one another if each was taken for what it was; its own distinct inquiry into the reason for our existence, satisfying different needs and aspects of our natures. This was no small thing in an evangelical church where evolution was taboo and creationism was the norm; a theory that, in Orwell's words "told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears."
I went to a protestant church and to a catholic school, and got to understand from a young age that, in spite of how the different groups wanted so desperately to believe that they were right and the other was wrong, they actually had more in common than they had differences.
Because of this I have, I suppose naively, assumed that everyone would try to approach difficult and complex conversations with a desire to avoid polarities, and to find the place where oppositions begin to overlap into something resembling unity. I’ve assumed that, for all we know about tactics of war, corrupt governments and corporations with excessive overreach to have policies changed in their favour; for all the books we’ve read and movies we’ve watched about dystopian futures where the unseen powers have irrevocably crushed individual and collective freedoms; for the many, many stories we know about how government bodies have lied, tricked and harmed the public with little to no recourse; for all the thousands of times pharmaceutical products have harmed individuals and for how many billions they have paid out in settlements; for all our Noam Chomskys, Naomi Kleins, George Orwells and Margaret Atwoods warning us both explicitly and metaphorically; I’ve assumed that, if and when a global crisis arose, we would at the very least be skeptical of the stories being told by governments, media giants, pharmaceutical companies, and the assigned and highly paid experts who are aligned with them all.
I was wrong. in little over a year, questioning any of these things will now have you assigned some pretty ugly labels: science denier. Anti-vaxxer. Conspiracy theorist. Idiot. Selfish. Spreader of misinformation. Crazy. Stupid… that’s a whole lot of gaslighting for questioning power and having the audacity to expect to maintain your rights and make your own decisions.
Too many intelligent and conscientious people have fallen into the trap of the false binaries we are constantly having shoved down our throats: pro-vax vs. anti-vax; right wing vs. left wing; informed vs. misinformed – this is not how the world actually works. We can’t leave out the thousand shades of grey just because it’s easier and makes us feel superior; this is intellectual imperialism: I am the civilized therefore you are the savage. We can’t claim that our truth is the only truth and everyone must fall in line; this is intellectual evangelism: the belief that my group owns the truth, and anyone who does not fall in line is a sinner doomed to burn in hell. Today the hashtag “thank you science” has the same tone and fervour as “thank you Jesus”.
The left and the right share more in common than they have differences; the only reason parties solely focus on their differences is because it keeps the citizens angry, divided, and dependent. It gives us the illusion of choice; getting to vote every four years means that we’re in control, right? Having the option between two parties who are both so powerful that no third party ever stands a chance, and who both continue to change and affect policy whether they’re in office or not; that’s democracy, right? Those binaries couldn’t possibly be two arms of the same system, right?
We have more in common than we have difference. All of us. But we have been fed so many lies about how we are divided, that even good, discerning people have come to believe it. I have one request, and one request only: learn from recent history, and resist divide and conquer narratives. They are unfolding before our eyes, and they will only get worse from here if we don’t turn the tide. Unity and respect of difference; THAT is the power of the people. That is what can neither be legislated, nor be taken away if we don’t allow it.