Dear friends, your unconscious bias is showing.
Everyone has unconscious bias.
You.
Me.
Them.
An orange whip to anyone who immediately recognized the movie reference there.
I don’t call myself a feminist. I consider myself a proud member of the vast right wing conspiracy, after all. But I do know a little somethin’ somethin’ about women in leadership. I have experienced my share of (mostly) unconscious bias. Speaking in generalities, women are told they lack confidence, but when acting assertively and making their voice heard (qualities encouraged and admired in men) … often they are viewed as angry … well, you know the B word. Consequences ensue.
Seriously. Change my mind.
We would all do well to pause and consider our own unconscious biases now and then.
In sitting down to write this post, I started to wonder whether I was thinking more of confirmation bias than the unconscious variety. A quick Google search indicates confirmation bias can be considered a type of unconscious bias. I’d draw a Venn diagram, but I have other priorities today.
So yeah.
I continue to see friends shrieking about their viewpoint of the moment. Whether the subject is vaccination, mask wearing, diagnosis and death numbers, freedom of assembly (religious and otherwise), or other civil liberties related to the economy … everyone is just so sure they know what’s what.
Sure, it’s important to consider what someone has to gain from a situation. More federal money available to hospitals for a corona case versus regular? Sure, that might incentivize a skewing of diagnosis and death numbers. How skewed is it? What can be done to get a more transparent set of data to analyze? Is the influence minor, huge, or somewhere in between?
Just because big pharma is involved in something doesn’t make it inherently evil or untrustworthy. Sure, pharmaceutical companies seek to make a profit – that’s how the economy works – so an appropriate level of oversight is warranted. But discounting everything they do?
And that video everyone is shrieking about this week. I watched it this afternoon and had to laugh. I’m not going to spend time fact-checking every assertion made (good grief, I already lost twenty-five minutes watching), but did you catch that the point appears to be promotion of a book and I think training courses? Maybe you missed it while being distracted by the dramatic music in the background.
Speaking specifically to followers of Christ, please consider whether the fruit of the spirit is evident in your words, actions, and social media posts.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ~Galatians 5:22-23 (NASB)
I’m not sure I’d word things quite the same regarding disease numbers and reporting in this (warning, long) article shared by a friend today . However, the author makes many great theological points. Namely, “Christian, walking in holiness to the glory of God is far more important than making sure your constitutional rights are preserved.”
I have no idea whether the shrieking woman in this video (from a protest not far from me this past week) claims to be a Christian, but … well … this is not the fruit of the spirit. This kind of behavior makes me sad and makes me cringe.
Shrieking that the pandemic is a hoax designed to deny us of our rights … and refusing to respect others’ right to protect themselves … this is not the fruit of the spirit. It may also make you (and all Christians in the view of unbelievers) look like a wingnut.
Being willing to sacrifice the elderly and those with complicating health conditions … this is not the fruit of the spirit. Per one estimate from a public health official recently, elderly + health conditions equals about fifty percent of the population at high risk. (Sorry, haven’t chased all the numbers down myself.) We can talk about who should continue to shelter in place, etc., but consider whether your words sound like you don’t care if Grandma dies a premature death. Or your coworker with a health issue.
Sigh.
Interesting things from the interwebs this week …
Dave Ramsey (Christian financial advice guru) is having a big sale. Note these resources for teaching kids about money.
For those who have gone down the rabbit hole of the enneagram (all the rage in spiritual formation these days) … a friend shared videos of Father Richard Rohr teaching on the subject. Several hours worth. Here’s the intro. There are three videos that follow – type 1-4, type 5-9, and conclusion.
If you’re still looking for a cloth mask (or some spare ones) … this one says “Be Kind”. For local friends, masks are available for purchase at the Granville Farmers Market on Saturday mornings in the high school parking lot (you might find a cousin or two of mine at the booth). No, I don’t enjoy wearing a mask – my skin seems to be particularly angered by it (or by allergies or stress or all of the above, who knows) – but I’ll do it in order to Be Kind.
Fruit of the spirit, my people. Fruit of the spirit.
You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. ~Isaiah 55:12 (NIV)
