{"id":6312,"date":"2009-11-23T00:10:04","date_gmt":"2009-11-23T05:10:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/jesuscreed\/2009\/11\/23\/going-tribal-are-you-into-tribes-should-you-be\/"},"modified":"2009-11-23T00:10:04","modified_gmt":"2009-11-23T05:10:04","slug":"going-tribal-are-you-into-tribes-should-you-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2009\/11\/23\/going-tribal-are-you-into-tribes-should-you-be\/","title":{"rendered":"Going Tribal? Are you into “Tribes”? Should you be?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Fox.jpg\"<\/span>I know many folks are into this new-fangled \u201cfind your tribe\u201d stuff, but it deeply concerns me. It is postmodern; it denies the \u201ccommunion of the saints\u201d and it\u2019s yet another one of those \u201cchurch growth\u201d theories that prevents genuine integration and creates potential racial, gender, and theological divisions \u2014 not to mention the economic division it creates.
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So, I\u2019m very pleased that, in their new book, Hidden Worldviews: Eight Cultural Stories That Shape Our Lives<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/strong><\/em>, Steve Wilkens and Mark Sanford address \u201cpostmodern tribalism.\u201d The influx of tribalism thinking in the Church must be challenged. (By the way, I spent some time with Steve Wilkens in New Orleans \u2014 great time and I look forward to more times with him.)<\/div>\n
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The authors bring out the terms connected to tribalism, and not all of them are positive: multiculturalism, affirmative action, postimperialism, ageism, balkanization, identity politics, \u2026 and others.<\/div>\n
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Where does our identity lie? Ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, American, human being, social underdog, etc..<\/div>\n
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Power structures are laced together with these sets of terms. Does tribalism threaten the Church or is it the only way forward?<\/b><\/div>\n

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Can the Christian surrender the universal claim and the universal community?<\/b><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


\nThe USA used to see itself as a melting plot, where many became one. At some point many feel they have abandoned their heritage when they are brewed in the melting pot.<\/p>\n

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Is it better to see the USA as a Mosaic<\/b> than a melting pot? Here cultural identity is maintained and sustained as a right.<\/div>\n
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Postmodernity contends, the authors argue, that all social structures are political and about power. This leads to the idea that even justice and truth have become political categories. Postmodernity has shattered not only the melting pot but also the mosaic.<\/div>\n
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Postmodernism props up tribalism. Modernity focused on universality; postmodernity focuses on particularity (tribes). Truth is socially constructed; one\u2019s happiness is not measured by a universal standard but by one\u2019s integration into a tribe; and this means the marginalized need to undermine the power structures.<\/div>\n
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There are advantages to be gained from postmodernity: empathy, new perceptions of power and the systemic nature of sin and that culture provides a way of ordering life.<\/div>\n
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But the authors find problems: tribalism can become deterministic, it relativizes \u201ctribes\u201d while absolutizing \u201cmy tribe\u201d and it can too often become just another power ploy. Furthermore, it can create a cult of victimhood.<\/div>\n
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<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I know many folks are into this new-fangled \u201cfind your tribe\u201d stuff, but it deeply concerns me. It is postmodern; it denies the \u201ccommunion of the saints\u201d and it\u2019s yet another one of those \u201cchurch growth\u201d theories that prevents genuine integration and creates potential racial, gender, and theological divisions \u2014 not to mention the economic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nGoing Tribal? Are you into "Tribes"? Should you be?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I know many folks are into this new-fangled "find your tribe" stuff, but it deeply concerns me. 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