before<\/a> time and time again, the role of a peacemaker is not to convert one side to the convictions of their opposite; rather, it is to focus on how to \u2018peacefully and productively shift the medium of engagement between the two, by intentionally partnering with both and bringing them together.\u2019<\/p>\nActivists and extremists on both sides, of course, lump this peacemaking position into some sort of secret allegiance and hidden agenda in alignment with whatever worldview is diametrically opposed to their own preferred perspective. With every ounce of stored up visceral hatred, \u2018the Other\u2019 (and the bridge builder along with them) is consistently demonized as simple-minded accusations, false generalizations and fear tactics fly in the face of reality and reason.<\/p>\n
This process paralyzes peaceful and productive conversation.<\/strong><\/p>\nAs each side further digs into their polarizing, back and forth, us\/them language , it becomes increasingly apparent that there will be no compromise and therefore no conversion. When that\u2019s the unfortunate end-goal of your message, the logical conclusion is therefore to give up any hope of engaging in conversation.<\/p>\n
\u2018What is there to talk about? They\u2019re wrong \u2013 I\u2019m right. And they won\u2019t change their minds.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\nYet none of us benefit from ignorance and intolerance.<\/p>\n
We desperately need relationship.<\/p>\n
Many of the extremist voices I\u2019ve personally encountered have absolutely no level of positive engagement with any representative from \u2018the Other\u2019 side. No wonder then, when the stereotypes and name-calling begins from one side<\/em>, that the other side<\/em> follows suit.<\/p>\nThis senseless cycle needs to stop.<\/strong><\/p>\nWe are desperate for intelligent cultural engagement from high-profile leaders within these conversations. As opportunity for a volcanic eruption of emotional outbursts rounds the corner toward the straightaway of the SCOTUS decisions on gay marriage, it is imperative we reach hands across the divide and begin the work of reconciliation.<\/p>\n
Regardless of our theological convictions, the way in which the church has traditionally approached conversations with the LGBT community has not been helpful. Rather than proving our insanity to the world by repeating the same behavior while expecting different results, I wonder how many leading voices within evangelicalism will take seriously the charge of Jesus to be known by our love \u2013 not love for God, or love for \u2018Truth\u2019 or \u2018love for morality\u2019 or \u2018love for theocratic ideals\u2019 \u2026 but love for one another?<\/em><\/p>\nWe need real relationships, with real people, in real time. We need fidelity in friendship. We need a commitment to community. We need to sit at the same table as those with whom we disagree, engaging one another in respectful language and tone, with the promise of solidarity and listening in humility.<\/p>\n
We need to commit anew to a message of reconciliation grounded in relationship.<\/p>\n
Perhaps it would behoove us to re-orient ourselves around LOVE for one another -regardless of theological, political or cultural conviction. May we enter difficult discussion and dialogue \u2013 even debate \u2013 with the conviction and commitment not to destroy one another\u2019s reputations, but to instead converse with maturity and grace in an effort to demonstrate to the watching world that we really do<\/em> love one another.<\/p>\n\u2018it is by this that all people may know you are My disciples \u2014 if you have love, for one another.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\nMuch love.<\/p>\n
www.themarinfoundation.org<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This post is written by Michael Kimpan, The Marin Foundation\u2019s new Associate Director. We will be properly introducing Michael very soon, but for now, you can read his thought provoking blog, hit him up on Facebook, and follow him on Twitter. THE TRUTH ABOUT PEACEMAKING A few days ago I wrote a post on my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1306,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[125,126,127],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bridging-opposing-worldviews","category-guest-posts","category-lgbt"],"yoast_head":"\n
The Truth about Peacemaking<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This post is written by Michael Kimpan, The Marin Foundation's new Associate Director. We will be properly introducing Michael very soon, but for now, you\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/2013\/01\/the-truth-about-peacemaking\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Truth about Peacemaking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This post is written by Michael Kimpan, The Marin Foundation's new Associate Director. We will be properly introducing Michael very soon, but for now, you\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/2013\/01\/the-truth-about-peacemaking\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Love is an Orientation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-01-18T15:00:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-01-18T04:21:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/files\/2013\/01\/IMG_0117-225x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andrew Marin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Andrew Marin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/2013\/01\/the-truth-about-peacemaking\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/2013\/01\/the-truth-about-peacemaking\/\",\"name\":\"The Truth about Peacemaking\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-18T15:00:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-01-18T04:21:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/#\/schema\/person\/f0ea2c5dcf314688ae571cb498de383f\"},\"description\":\"This post is written by Michael Kimpan, The Marin Foundation's new Associate Director. We will be properly introducing Michael very soon, but for now, you\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/2013\/01\/the-truth-about-peacemaking\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/2013\/01\/the-truth-about-peacemaking\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/2013\/01\/the-truth-about-peacemaking\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Truth about Peacemaking\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/\",\"name\":\"Love is an Orientation\",\"description\":\"Exploring the active engagement of bridging opposing worldviews\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/#\/schema\/person\/f0ea2c5dcf314688ae571cb498de383f\",\"name\":\"Andrew Marin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fd31eb40136f158f531a79dad9c4ffd?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fd31eb40136f158f531a79dad9c4ffd?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Andrew Marin\"},\"description\":\"Andrew Marin is President and Founder of The Marin Foundation (www.themarinfoundation.org). He is the award winning author of two books and a DVD curriculum, and his new book Us Versus Us: The Untold Story of Religion & the LGBT Community, will release June 2016. Since 2010 Andrew has been asked by the United Nations to advise their various agencies on issues of bridging opposing worldviews, civic engagement, and Christian involvement in reconciliation. He is currently based St. Andrews, Scotland where he is researching and teaching at the University of St. Andrews, earning his PhD in Divinity. His research focuses on the theology and praxis of social reconciliation between victims and their perpetrators. Andrew is married to Brenda, and you can find him elsewhere on Twitter (@Andrew_Marin), Facebook (AndrewMarin01), and Instagram (@andrewmarin1).\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/author\/loveisanorientation\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Truth about Peacemaking","description":"This post is written by Michael Kimpan, The Marin Foundation's new Associate Director. We will be properly introducing Michael very soon, but for now, you","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/2013\/01\/the-truth-about-peacemaking\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Truth about Peacemaking","og_description":"This post is written by Michael Kimpan, The Marin Foundation's new Associate Director. We will be properly introducing Michael very soon, but for now, you","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/2013\/01\/the-truth-about-peacemaking\/","og_site_name":"Love is an Orientation","article_published_time":"2013-01-18T15:00:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-01-18T04:21:03+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/files\/2013\/01\/IMG_0117-225x300.jpg"}],"author":"Andrew Marin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Andrew Marin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/2013\/01\/the-truth-about-peacemaking\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/2013\/01\/the-truth-about-peacemaking\/","name":"The Truth about Peacemaking","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-01-18T15:00:19+00:00","dateModified":"2013-01-18T04:21:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/#\/schema\/person\/f0ea2c5dcf314688ae571cb498de383f"},"description":"This post is written by Michael Kimpan, The Marin Foundation's new Associate Director. We will be properly introducing Michael very soon, but for now, you","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/2013\/01\/the-truth-about-peacemaking\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/2013\/01\/the-truth-about-peacemaking\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/2013\/01\/the-truth-about-peacemaking\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Truth about Peacemaking"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/","name":"Love is an Orientation","description":"Exploring the active engagement of bridging opposing worldviews","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/#\/schema\/person\/f0ea2c5dcf314688ae571cb498de383f","name":"Andrew Marin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fd31eb40136f158f531a79dad9c4ffd?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fd31eb40136f158f531a79dad9c4ffd?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"Andrew Marin"},"description":"Andrew Marin is President and Founder of The Marin Foundation (www.themarinfoundation.org). He is the award winning author of two books and a DVD curriculum, and his new book Us Versus Us: The Untold Story of Religion & the LGBT Community, will release June 2016. Since 2010 Andrew has been asked by the United Nations to advise their various agencies on issues of bridging opposing worldviews, civic engagement, and Christian involvement in reconciliation. He is currently based St. Andrews, Scotland where he is researching and teaching at the University of St. Andrews, earning his PhD in Divinity. His research focuses on the theology and praxis of social reconciliation between victims and their perpetrators. Andrew is married to Brenda, and you can find him elsewhere on Twitter (@Andrew_Marin), Facebook (AndrewMarin01), and Instagram (@andrewmarin1).","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/author\/loveisanorientation\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1306"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5166\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/320\/2013\/01\/IMG_0117.jpg\" "\\"www.themarinfoundation.org\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n