Some Further Thoughts on Pride Month
Wisdom is not the same thing as cleverness. The former has to do with conforming the soul to reality; the latter unites keen perception with a quick wit, often at somebody else’s expense. For those of us who subscribe to a traditional sexual ethic, Pride Month offers the temptation to retreat to cleverness in an effort to show up the deficiencies of our cultural opponent’s views. It’s revealing that said cleverness rarely makes an appearance in our face-to-face interactions, but is instead reserved for our online personas. This behavior makes sense, of course. The online antics of Pride Month are filled with sharp takedowns and acerbic wit. The image of the serpent swallowing its tail suggests itself here. If we merely match said antics, will we ever speak to anyone we hope to persuade? Is persuasion even a goal here?
In his sadly under-read An Experiment in Criticism, C.S. Lewis admonishes readers of literature to “Look. Listen. Receive. Get yourself out of the way.” He goes on to point out that one of the main motivations behind our reading is to “see with other eyes, to imagine with other imaginations, to feel with other hearts, as well as with our own.” Yes, I’m suggesting that reading great stories can help us during Pride Month and beyond. If we want to speak to those who inhabit mindsets and lifestyles that are foreign to our experiences and beliefs, we need to strengthen our empathy muscles. I also want to second Alan Jacobs’ argument in his recent release, Breaking Bread with the Dead, and point to old books as a great place to start. Slip into a suit of armor; follow Virgil and Dante into hell; step into a drawing room with Miss Bennet. All are imaginative exercises that will require you to get out of the way in order to better appreciate the author’s vision and understand these strange characters.
Your neighbor in the biblical sense is often a strange character. She will require more than arguments and clever takedowns; she will need your love and understanding. Am I recommending that we downplay our convictions in order to persuade folks with whom we have serious disagreements? No. I am simply offering literature as, among other things, a delightful training ground for seeing our neighbors as human beings, rather than mere personifications of our disagreements.
Wanna speak across cultural dividing lines? Maybe start by reading Pride and Prejudice.
