By Peter Christensen

Op-Ed Commentary

Change came quickly to isolated communities in Alberta as oil resources were developed. A steady drive toward urban living began. Electrical service and phones followed road improvements. It may be difficult to imagine 60 years ago in what is now an interconnected cosmopolitan district 60 or so pilgrim families worshipped together every Sunday in Danish.

In my home community there was a lively debate as to whether or not church services should be held in English? Some of the older folks did not speak English and wondered aloud if prayers said in English would be understood? For a while two church services were held each Sunday, one in Danish and the other in English.

Electrical power brought ‘conveniences’ that eased house-hold chores and party-line phones lessoned isolation, however with eight to 10 families sharing a party-line this meant individuals could listen to other people’s phone conversations. Word got around that a woman of long-standing in the community had begun ‘speaking in tongues’ with her friend on a party-line.

Speaking in tongues is a practice where people utter speech-like sounds that some believe to be a divine language. It was not long before knowledge of her practice became generally known among the congregation.

One Sunday during the Pastor’s sermon the woman stood up and uttered unknown syllables interrupting his sermon. Speaking in tongues was controversial. Some parishioners thought the practice was the work of the devil and were afraid, others thought the woman was a bit crazy and laughed at her while others simply did not know what to think? However, it did unfold that everyone thought something had to be done about it.

Eventually the woman and by extension her family were excommunicated from the Church. Excommunication is serious business, it officially excludes persons from participating in the sacraments and services of the Christian church. By extension it meant the family was shunned by the community and eventually they sold their farm and moved away. My father was friends with this family and I know it troubled him deeply that the congregation did not find a more compassionate path through their dilemmas.

The women was, as likely as not, mentally challenged as a consequence of isolation. It seems the ways of small communities are no less unforgiving than those of nations.

Perhaps there is no inclusive answer as to whether or not it is right to ask someone to leave a community? People can be overtly cruel and some individuals and gangs are simply criminals and a danger to others and must be forced to leave for the safety of others.

Criminal activity aside, passion for or against issues can be bitter and entrenched. When we identify with ideas that are corrected or questioned our first response is to accuse those who represent alternate personal visions of being stupid. And while it is true that aggressive debate may be useful in politics, it is unlikely to transform hearts and minds.

Aggressive language hardens positions and opponents simply repeat their positions with greater venom. Not wanting to understand other people’s point of view comes from an entrenched frame of mind that responds to alternate ideas with insinuation and contempt rather than arguing directly with proposed ideas or someone’s personal vision.

Flags with “F..k Trudeau” or  Facebook posts that say, “too bad he missed” or that imply that God organizes assassination and war are indicators that civilization is a thin veneer overshadowing chaos and barbarism.

Promotors of cancel culture, often aided by social media, support coarse personal descriptions and shun individuals and organizations regarding them as having socially unacceptable beliefs. Rather than seeking a middle ground and doing the work to identify issues that can be discredited by evidence, angry posts and flags symbolic of lazy belligerence are made and circulated to slander individuals.

Barbarism is always waiting in the wings.

It takes constant work to preserve our thin layer of civilization based on moderation grown out of long experience and empirical data. Debate that identifies and argues issues using accumulated cultural knowledge offers resolution or a least recognition of differing points of view. Constant effort to remain civilized based on actual experience offers solutions while proposals for action based on ‘exciting’ theories, the power of one’s will and ideology lead inward toward hard positions.

“History shows that to attack any fundamentalist movement, either militarily, politically or in the media, is counter productive because the assault convinces the adherents that their enemies are bent on their destruction…. aggression, righteous condemnation and insult only make matter worse.” Karen Armstrong.

Tom Robbins, the writer, said as words of caution, “If it is committed in the name of God or country, there is no crime so heinous that the public will not forgive it.”

Peter Christensen is a Columbia Valley-based writer and poet

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