Obama and "Otherization"

For the past several years, I have encountered people who have helped me onward in my spiritual journey, often in specific ways. Tich Nat Hanh's writings taught me about mindfulness and anger. Hafiz has taught me to celebrate and glory at our creation. Emerson has taught me about the individual journey, and Ghandi and King the communal journey. All have acted as a spiritual guide to me for the past few years, through times of joy and pain. For the past few months, Barack Obama has been such a figure.

A few years ago, before he announced his candidacy for president, I read Obama's "Dreams from My Father" a memoir he wrote about identity and place. I was impressed with his ability to integrate the lessons from his life into practice. I was more impressed with his ability to empathize, to step into people's shoes. He seemed to really try to step into other people's shoes, to understand their views and their stories. He listened.

Obama demonstrated this quality during the campaign in even stronger measure than in his book. He constantly reached out to those who rejected him, who "otherized" him. He refused to do so in kind. He refused to dehumanize his opponents or their beliefs. He spoke to the good in others even when he disagreed with them. Of course, he criticed Republican policies and even the abilities of Republican leaders. He made some mistakes, but for the most part, he treated his opponents and their supporters with dignity and respect, with grace, even when that grace was not reciprocated.

It is a lesson I am still trying to learn. Many people I know and admire, including some of my closest friends, have not yet learned this lesson. To them, George Bush is a bogeyman who can do no right and Republicans are either evil money-grubbers who want to make the world a worse place or crazy religious nuts who want to take away our civil liberties. That is not a productive place to start dialogue.

While I believe the Bush Administration has done signifigant damage to the United States' international reputation, I also believe that the administration has been agressive tackling the African AIDS crises, far more so than Clinton's was. I don't think I could have made that statement 6 months ago. I don't think I would have made that statement without listening closely to Barack Obama.

The "otherization" of people is, and always has been, one of the great dangers in the world, and in my mind, the greatest. If there is evil in this world (another topic for another day), it's heart is in the "otherization" of our fellow men and women. It has caused wars, slavery, prositution, and terorism. Although sitting around a coffee shop talking about how much Bush and Cheney "suck" may be a relatively benign example of "otherization", it is still a point on a continuum that has an only negative direction.

The trick is, how do I keep my voice loud and strong, for improved education, for marriage equality, for peace and social justice, without "otherizing" those who would stop me? I don't know the answer to that, but I believe it might start with a beer, a handshake, and some listening.