Written by Emma Weber
Here I am, writing my last article for my last print of The Bison during my last weeks on Harding’s campus as an undergraduate student. What I want to leave behind is a call to have hard conversations. Everyone has opinions, and — more often than not — people enter into discussions without any intent to listen to the other side’s perspective. We lose the opportunity for enlightenment when we don’t listen.
Over the last school year, I have brought up multiple topics that others have disagreed with. In each instance, I have put time and effort into making sure the complexity of each side was shown. I have not always done it right, but I still knew the value of speaking about it. As a community dedicated to inspired purpose —to truth — we should not be so afraid of disagreement that we simply push away hard topics. Peacekeeping is different from peacemaking. Peacekeeping silences disagreements in order for perceived unity, while peacemaking intentionally works through arguments and strives for a deeper kind of unity. It’s the second one that brings “peace beyond understanding.”
I imagine a Harding community that welcomes disagreement in the same manner I saw Cornel West and Robert George display. They showed how you don’t need to refute the other before you can love them. If we were so devoted to one another in love that political, theological or social differences had no effect, our campus would flourish. Even parts of the Bible seem to disagree — Proverbs says to pursue wisdom at all costs, but Ecclesiastes tells us to find joy in work over wisdom. In 2 Samuel it says that God incited David to take a census, but 1 Chronicles says it was Satan! Our holy scriptures confuse God with Satan or Satan with God! If the written word of God, with all its theological, political and cultural diversity can be a unified work of literature that accurately depicts God’s faithfulness, imagine the powerful testament of peacemaking a Harding that seeks the same unity could be.
It is exciting to know the power to make that a reality is already within every student, staff member and faculty member. We have the power to love beyond agreement. We are all capable of saying “Can you explain more?” instead of “Here is why you are wrong.” The problem is we very rarely want to do that.
A great example of this done well is shown in Matthew 9. Jesus and his disciples are eating dinner when “sinners” and tax collectors join. The men of the law question Jesus, asking him why he lets those people at the table. Jesus responds, “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’” Be honest with me for a second: When you put yourself in that story, do you ever consider yourself as the “sinner?” Well, why would you? You go to Harding! You haven’t gone over chapel skips! You make curfew every night! You wake up for church on Sunday! Everyone, everywhere, is wrong about something. We all commit the sin of self-righteousness. We all fail to listen to one another. We all tend to ignore facts or see only what we want.
A commitment to love means we accept our own limitations and allow others theirs without holding it as a pointed gun. A Harding where I can critique policy, professors and expectations without losing respect is a Harding where a dedication to truth is preserved. What is faith if not a commitment to unraveling the unknown?
In three weeks I graduate from Harding. I will pack up my little house, put what’s left of my life here into my car and drive home. Harding and the people she holds will stay. It is up to you to decide who she continues to be. Send emails to your next opinions editor, Helen, that hold her accountable while showing her grace. Find the strength to listen to those who you believe are wrong, and I’ll do the same. Look around at your table and live out what it means to love mercy. May the Spirit of God foster a community where everyone is welcome.
