The Pharisee Is The Pope Of Tribalism

Some who are concerned about our national unity identify tribalism as a threat. There are several working definitions of tribalism depending on the context in which the term is used. One such definition is based on a post-Cold War observation. What was observed was that a very strong loyalty could extend to any kind of group such that right and wrong depended on what served the welfare of the group. Such a loyalty allows for only moral relativity where what is right and wrong depends more and more on who does what to whom. Such loyalty acts as an inhibitor on people being able to judge their own groups.

For those concerned about our national unity, they are worried about the different groups within the nation where very strong loyalty is evident. They are worried that some groups based on ideology, religion, language, ethnicity, economic class and national identity have too many members who are more loyal to their groups than they are to the nation. Please note that some of these groups that are receiving such loyalty might not be located in our nation. That was the concern of Joe McCarthy and the red scare in the 1950s where those who identified with any kind of Communist ties were then received workplace sanctions.

Here we should note that those who are concerned about our national unity do not regard nationalism as a form of tribalism because nationalism is suppose to be acting as the pie in which different groups of American become its pieces. But all we have to do to show that nationalism can act as a form of tribalism is to change the overall context to something larger than the nation, such as the world. When the pie is globalism and some nations have garnered a great loyalty from enough people, then those people may not care if their actions hurt the world at large, they are only concerned with what is "best" for their nation at the present time.

Of course, we don't need globalism to show how nationalism can act as a form of tribalism. Those who believe in absolute moral values, whether their beliefs have a secular or religious basis, see nationalism act as a form of tribalism. In the context of absolute moral values, tribalism occurs when loyalty to any group, including the nation, trumps commitment to principles and morals. When this occurs, we end up with the rule of force and an ends justify the means ethic.

That ethic was clearly seen in the actions of former Vice President Dick Cheney as he was portrayed in the movie Vice. In that movie, Cheney did not care about what he did to others or whom he hurt if he saw that it protected the people of the United States. In other words, Cheney did not allow any moral standards stand in the way of what he saw was needed to protect America. His loyalty to the United States was so great that he recognized no absolute moral values if they interfered with how he thought things should be done.

We see the same tribalism in the form of nationalism in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The siren song of the tribalism trap seduces people to pick a side so that they easily point the finger at the atrocities committed by the other side while whitewashing the atrocities committed by their own side. Regardless of whether we have embraced Israeli or Palestinian nationalism, we end up being willing to do anything to win without recognizing any moral limits for our actions.

Because of the moral relativity that comes from strong loyalty to a group, another way to picture tribalism is to see it as a kind of group authoritarianism where the group becomes the ultimate authority over all. And when one looks at the traits of an authoritarian personality type, it is easy to see the connection. Some of those traits include (click here for the source)

• Respect for submission to acknowledged authority
• Belief in aggression toward those who do not subscribe to conventional thinking, or who are different
• A negative view of people in general - i.e. the belief that people would all lie, cheat or steal if given the opportunity
• A need for strong leadership which displays uncompromising power
• A belief in simple answers and polemics - i.e. The media controls us all or The source of all our problems is the loss of morals these days.
• Resistance to creative, dangerous ideas. A black and white worldview.
• A tendency to project one's own feelings of inadequacy, rage and fear onto a scapegoated group  

It should be easy to see authoritarian personality type characteristics on display in internet discussions. As for nationalism serving as an example of tribalism and thus displaying traits of an authoritarian personality type, we simply insert one's nation and its traditional values as the source of acknowledged authority and we should not have much difficulty in seeing how a nationally based tribalism displays authoritarianism. That tribalism demands that others submit to our nation's authority. Why? It is because a fear-driven aggression and hostility over challenges to an acknowledged authority is a summary definition of an authoritarian personality type. And that's what happens when we see a nation or group of nations bully other nations or following double standards?

Now where does the phariseeism come into play here? It is present in tribalism's moral relativity where what is right and wrong depends on who does what to whom. With that comes a sense of superiority that says what others do against us is wrong but what we do to others for our own good is never wrong.  Here, it would be helpful to look at the parable of the two men praying (click here for the source):

 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

 As the Pharisee exalted himself and looked down at the tax collector as being below him. And so those who have embraced tribalism exalt their own groups and look down at other groups and assume that their own group is an authority over other groups. And as the Pharisee considered the tax collector his inferior, so too we see with tribalism how those from other groups are considered to be inferior to those who embrace tribalism.

It is the Phariseeism lodged in the authoritarian personality type traits from tribalism that have currently seized the day. These traits play a major role in why we are so divided and so uncivil with fellow citizens let alone the world. And it is not until we see ourselves as fellow sinners regardless of whom we compare ourselves with that things will change. And it isn't until we seek to share power rather than to seek to control others out of fear that we really coexist peacefully. Yes, we have real enemies out there. But to act toward others as if we are superior to them and are entitled to control them and their resources that we can actually start living in peace.