Fission, divisiveness, contention
Leonard McMahon1, as a guest on the Faith & Imagination podcast2, had great thoughts and was a pleasure to hear. In particularly he uses the word “fission” to describe a great evil in the world. My understanding is that word “fission” could also be described as division, devisiveness, or, in the parlance of Latter-day Saints, “contention.” The term “fission” is richer, though, and really gives emphases the point. In general I am turned off by any discourse (especially religious discourse) which emphasizes difference, gate-keeping, or opposition instead of inclusion, invitation, and synthesis. Many religious conversations are full of an ethos of fission these days, though it has old roots. In scriptural times we see a general sense of “us against the world” that pervades both historical Jewish and historical Christian thought and sometimes continues even today. But CS Lewis pointed out God is the great unifier3, and division is the tool of the other side. McMahon’s thoughts definitely provide a valuable framework for helping us to seek conversations that disincorporate the concept of “enemies” and pave the way for progress and unity.
Footnotes
1 He is currently at the Graduate Theological Union here: https://www.gtu.edu/faculty/leonard-mcmahon
2 The recording is on their site here, https://humanitiescenter.byu.edu/podcast/opponents-not-enemies-trust-not-agreement-with-guest-leonard-mcmahon-pacific-school-of-religion/ also on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/show/4pzeOTjynq8e5ADF7xiqoi?si=035910be8b05426b
3 Search for “unifier” on these notes: https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/screwtape-letters/section9/