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MODERN TRIBALISM
by John T. Crestwell, Jr.
With assistance from Dave Phillips
11/28/04

 In 1776 when America went to war with England to claim their freedom as a country, there were roughly some 10-20 million Native Americans who had been in the land for more than 20,000 years…  The Natives, through their migration from the east, had settled in various lands in America and broken themselves into small and large tribes like the Sioux, Iroquois, Cheyenne, and Pawnee, to name a few.  They never formed a nation-state though, rather stayed in isolated groups and warred with one another over varying issues of property, space, resources (what humans fight over).

The new colonialists, by the time they settled in America, had grown in population from a few hundred in Jamestown to now over 2-million by the middle of the 1800’s.  The early Americans also fought with Native tribes over resources.  A combination of disease and gunpowder pretty much did the indigenous to the land in.  But there was one more thing that attributed greatly to the Native American demise; a demise that studies show us has had long term ramifications in that community.  Today’s Native American population is around 1.8-million (down from 10-20 million).  The first thought that comes to mind is that they were basically annihilated, and you are correct in that assessment, but what also must be said is that for a group of people to be annihilated, there are not just external forces at work; there are internal forces in motion as well.  These are the same internal functions that allowed Africans who were captured in Civil Wars and sold to Europeans during the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, to be dominated.    What am I talking about?  I am talking about tribalism when it supercedes the ultimate loyalty humans must have with one another—the loyalty for the universal brotherhood & sisterhood of all creation.

Dave and I looked at tribalism for about a total of six hours together and both concluded that there is no way a unified nation can be overtaken by another foreign power if they are together.  Now, we understood that in the Native American psychology the concept of unrestrained domination of land and resources did not exist, and left them subject to their tribalism when colonialists began aggressive expansion.  But, if you think about it, if at some point the indigenous peoples could have come together as a nation there is no way some 10 to 20-million Natives could be overpowered.  The fact is the Native Americans and African tribes very much fractionalized by their long years of tribalism and it left them disjointed and vulnerable to a very powerful manifest destiny mentality.

I’m reminded of the famous Native American women SAGAJAWEA who helped Lewis and Clark find a passage way to the Pacific Ocean.  She was sold into slavery by a rival tribe to a French-Canadian explorer who was hired by Lewis and Clark to find the ocean.  Now, Lewis and Clark were working for President Thomas Jefferson and moving beyond the “Louisiana Purchase” territory to distant lands only known by Natives.  And the irony in the story is that SAGAJAWEA helped them weave through the Colorado Mountains to find an ocean that was already found.  Worst of all, her leadership led to more conquest and Western expansion which of course did not help the American Indian any.  But the rival tribe that sold her did not see the big picture and the long-term repercussions for selling her, or any of their other rivals to early settlers.  The tribe was loyal to its members only.  Tribalism, when it does not live at the level of the universal brotherhood & sisterhood of all creation, gets stuck in the civil war or family feud and does little to promote the inherent worth and dignity of all people.

Gandhi in the 1930’s worked tirelessly to move the British out of India.  They eventually left and the Muslims and Hindus got together and decided it would be best to separate India into Pakistan and India (we are culturally different they said—really it was a power struggle.  If you have two countries you have to have two governments, two presidents you see).  Anyhow, Gandhi vehemently opposed the idea and said we are all God’s children we are all brothers and sisters.  But he was out-voted and no sooner than the split the two countries broke out in civil war.  The family feud was on!

Tribalism as Dave defined it this morning is a strong loyalty to ones own tribe, party or group.  Our thought is that the problem is when there is TOO-STRONG a loyalty to a party or group. And your loyalty is so obsessively strong that you sacrifice your human right to think and analyze and rationalize.  The herd mentality takes over.  You get caught up because you are afraid of being outside the tribe.  This happens whether we are voting for a candidate or supporting a religion.  It happens in our families, it happens to kids in school.  It happens in gangs.  It is a peer pressure that never goes away unless we become the master of it indeed!   My thought is that we must never surrender our conscience to the passions of the tribe, and this is my first point today.  You see the passions of the tribe or group or party can cause you/us to sacrifice our humanity if we aren’t careful.  This happens on the job too when we do what we have to do to protect our job and our reputation, even if it means sacrificing another on the altar of principle.   We are all self-preservation creatures but we have something above that our conscience that calls us to strive for the greater good.

Regarding Native Americans and Africans and all others, we know conquering and destroying people outside of self-defense is almost always wrong and we should never succumb to the belief that it is good or moral.  If we do, we are succumbing to the abusive tribal structure and letting go of our humanity.

The universal brotherhood and sisterhood supersedes all.  This is the idea behind Davies when he said, “Here we are—all of us—all upon this plane, bound together in a common destiny…”  Or David Eaton who said, “All people, those we love and those we know not of, are united and share the same destiny.”  We are all children of the universe and must look beyond the tribe, beyond the exclusive, particular and tribal “we” toward the inclusive, universal “we”!

Dave and I came up with a hierarchal structure of how human loyalties play out. (look at the chart).  Our thought is that if the structure for life, from the bottom to the top, is stable then the nation and even the world can be stable, but if one of the levels is dysfunctional the system falters…  So, first, there is the individual who, as a child of God or human being must be valued as being worthy of dignity and respect.  Second, the individual is a part of a family that must teach and support the individual’s right to be valued and affirmed, but not over and against another group but as a part of the whole.  At this level respect for others must be taught, but often times this is where that breaks down and we fall into petty name calling, cultural prejudices and biases emerge, and tribal separations occur.   Third, all individuals and families are subject to the laws of the local and state government and from this level, politicians must also teach the “Golden rule”.   We all sign a social contract that we will submit to the laws and rule of the state, but the state must edify the common good or risk revolt.  It is a delicate balance that must be managed.   Then our schools must also educate our children with an eclectic education that broadens the mind and expands narrow viewpoints building upon the vision of universal mutuality.  Then there are race and gender loyalties, church and political party loyalties, social clubs, and private society loyalties we must answer to. These modern tribes must also teach the concept of respect for the inherent worth and dignity of all.  These have far too often gotten stuck in dogma and anger and self-interest.  Moving up the next level, our nation (America) must project this message and legislate accordingly to make sure we are building a people-oriented society not a thing oriented society.  And the hope then is that if we model this perhaps the world would ultimately project this peaceful reality.  AM I OPTIMISTIC AND IDEALISTIC?  You bet I am!  CAN WE DO IT? – I’m not sure about that, ask me in four years J. 

But if we are ever to create a literal Beloved Community and get rid of “these strange and foolish walls that separate us”, we will have to restructure our loyalties from the ground up.  I want to hear what you have to say on this in a moment, but let me bring this message home so I can hear from you…

Modern Tribalism…  When you look at America based on the Electoral College, you see a map of red and blue states and the media would have us believe that this means there is a clear dividing line in the country that is mostly north and south, with a few red Midwest and western states, as if we are living in the Civil War era again.  But I believe this is not true, rather a few large tribal kings in this country are creating this reality.  What I mean is I think there are a wealthy few in power, in various political and religious modern tribes, at the national and local level, that are promulgating propaganda to keep America separate and unequal. They are attempting to keep our country living in a free and slave state mentality, metaphorically speaking, when 20% make all the money while 80% fight over the scraps. These spin masters with endless bank accounts tell us that the world is being run by Evangelical Fundamentalist Christians and Republicans only, which is not true.  It is quite exaggerated and I think it is being done to keep everyday folk like us fighting with each other of the bits and pieces while they get richer and richer.   They would have us believe that our President has a “mandate” or an authoritative order, because of the election, to continue war.  And we are also being fed the lie that one party is right and moral and the other one is wrong and immoral.  We are being forced in a way to “choose this day whom we shall serve” America or the enemy. And this is wrong!  I want to say to you in the spirit of King, Fahs, Eaton, Davies, Channing, Parker, Emerson, Jefferson, and Murray, I choose something above societies and clubs and racial loyalties, and political parties and religious institutions, and governments.  I choose to edify the goodness and virtue of humanity and to work toward creating a world of love and peace.  I choose the universal brotherhood and sisterhood that calls me to listen to my conscience not my tribe if the compromises the universal truth of love and respect for all.  That is my measuring stick.  If something you ask of me does not promote a peaceful mutuality and the common good, I’m not for it!  This one modern religious tribe claims to be PRO LIFE AND YET SUPPORT WAR and the destruction of people in a distant land.  This is hypocrisy!   America, I want to be the first to say in this church, your plan will not work, it will backfire.  And will implode from the inside out.  History is not on your side!  Ask Egypt; ask Babylon, ask Persia, ask Greece, ask Rome, ask France, ask Spain; you might as well ask England too.  History is not on your side.  Eventually enough people in your own country will see through your words to your real intentions.  They’ll get tired of the bloodshed.  They will see profiteering and business deals not the edification of the human spirit.  And your bright light will go out.  When the loyalties are broken and the tribe is dis-united (like Native American Tribes and African Tribes) the structure collapses from the inside out and another power arises…  And America knows this and that’s why our leaders are so ready to launch preemptive strikes.  Remember what I said weeks ago.  Hate crushed to earth rises again.  That hate will not disappear until we transcend a tribalism that is too strong and too loyal.  We’ve got to reinvest in the individual in America, in the family, in our churches, in our country; and ask at all of these levels that we reinvest in what is important— building the spirit of humanity, not the spirit of hate.   Reinvest in creating the best school system in the world that teaches the true American ideal of peace, liberty and justice for all.  Yes, reinvest in people not in things.  We must believe in love not hate. Sophia Fahs’s words come to mind as I close:  (poem read)

“Some beliefs are like walled gardens. They encourage exclusiveness, and the feeling of being especially privileged.  Other beliefs are expansive and lead the way into wider and deeper sympathies.  Some beliefs are like shadows, clouding children’s days with fears of unknown calamities.  Other beliefs are like sunshine, blessing children with the warmth of happiness.”  

It matters what we believe.  Amen.

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