In his sermon at the Feast of Beginnings, the first worship service of the 2021-2022 school year, on August 25, Dean Craig Hill focused on the polarized atmosphere in the U.S. today. Surveys show that liberals and conservatives are increasingly segregating themselves. The division of opinion and narrowing of discourse fosters the development of extreme ideologies that demonize others and so justify violence, he noted. When our differences are magnified, that creates a climate in which those who see only differences are emboldened. If those who share common ideals, beliefs, and aspirations cannot see what unites us, that gives power to those whose very purpose is disunity and division.
“I know that’s challenging and that we all fall short, but let us realize how much our own defensiveness entraps us; our lack of self-knowledge misleads us; and our self-justifications corrupt us,” he said.
Read the sermon here.