Should Leaders Pay Attention to Religion?

Being a nomadic leader is to learn to encounter and manage the many worlds that make up our human-ness.  One of those worlds is religious faith.  We are currently entering a season that acknowledges/celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ who is worshipped as the divine Saviour by billions on this planet.  Soon enough whether determined by the calendar or a political event, another reminder of our religious diversity (and division) will occur.

Religion is polarizing.  More accurately, our reactions to religion are what is polarizing.  At this intersection where humanity meets we are both intrigued at our diversity and repelled by our  differences. Can we be civil?  Can we be respectful?  Can we honour one another?  Despite each of our claims to truth we still must find a way to live together in a society that provides the freedom of conscience and practice for our belief (or non-belief if that’s the case).

Travel the world, read the news, tune into the conversations, follow the public mood and you know that if we are ever to live alongside one another in peace there is a need for respect & civil discourse in our human relations.  In this world that is both secular and religious we need to rediscover how to engage each other in public (and private) discourse without the lazy polarization that usually characterizes such discussions.

 

For the record we all stand on some particular ‘truth’.  The secularist who wants to somehow rid the  world of the need for religion or a particular philosophy still has a point-of-view, a ‘truth’ on which they stand that is as clear to them as a religious persons’ ‘truth’. Therefore let’s not be so naive to think that somehow we can all attain to a utopian reality based on no absolute truth or no religion. "Imagine there's no heaven, and no religion too..." is a great piece of music, but John Lennon had it wrong. The innate human striving for meaning will always ensure the pursuit of and disagreement over truth.

From my personal Christian perspective there is an ultimate Truth and Truth-Giver.  I believe that Jesus Christ rewards those who diligently seek Him. While I want the freedom to communicate and practice that Truth I must then afford those of other faiths and no faith the freedom to proclaim and practice theirs.  If I can assume those of other faith positions feel similarly, we then must create the space where dignified discourse and personal respect rule our human interactions. This cannot be accomplished through state-sanctioned religion OR the state sanctioning against religious expression.  Neither can it be attained at other levels of society by just ignoring it and hoping it works itself out.

To my fellow nomadic leaders - you can be part of creating a movement toward practicing civil discourse among our diverse worlds:

• Don’t be afraid of allowing for discourse, discussion and even disagreement in your organizations' work-spaces over essential matters of life.  The people who work for you are not just workers.  They are people with histories, allegiances and more often than not despite thier differences, share more mutual values and concerns than you think.  By freeing space for open discussion, we can get in touch with what makes us human and perhaps begin to respect each other for who we are rather than for how we perceive each other.  And for those leaders who need a financial bottom-line rationale - mutual respect will go a long way toward leaning in on a job vs. expecting a team/group to produce who hold deep distrust or prejudices toward each other. 
• Do establish protocols for conversations that ensure mutual respect.  Here are some suggestions:
• Determine that no one may call another person 'wrong'
• Encourage a liberal use of questions and curiosity when asking others about thier belief or point of view. This helps divert judgement.
• Establish up front that mutual respect allows for disagreement, but not a devaluing of the others' point of view
• Though disagreement is inevitable on some issues, regularly seek the answer to this question: "What do we share together"?

Be part of creating a movement of civility across cultural, religious, political and other borders.  It begins in the lunchroom, the workspace, the kitchen and the classroom before it makes it to the global public square.

Harv Matchullis

 

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