Inviting Your Ideological Opponent to Become Your Enemy

The logic of divisions and deconstruction

Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash

Over the last 15 years or so of observing the evangelical landscape, I’ve seen many individuals and groups drift, change sides, leave evangelicalism, deconstruct, get removed from spiritual offices, canceled, deplatformed, radicalized, or fired. These stories of division matter to me because they involve real people going through experiences of suffering, alienation, and sometimes deconversion. They also matter to me because many of them could be avoided or ameliorated if we chose to invite our ideological opponents to remain among us rather than inviting them to become our enemies.

Time after time I have see the same basic dynamic play out. Someone challenges the views of their group, the group over-reacts in panic, an out group rallies to the individual’s defense, and then the individual leaves rather than stay in an unwelcoming group.