A Peaceable Faith

Part 6, Cultural Humility

Last post in this series.

The goal of this series was to track my intellectual and spiritual development in how I think religious belief can avoid the pernicious outcomes described by Ernest Becker in his two books, The Denial of Death and Escape from Evil, what Terror Management theorists call worldview defense. 

As I've shared, I found my early conclusions in The Authenticity of Faith, embracing doubt and deconstruction to stand in a more hospitable posture toward others, to be unsatisfactory. To be sure, the moral benefits of what eventually was described as Trade-Off Theory are wonderful. But a faith rooted in doubt isn't much of a faith. And it's hard to build a church around a bunch of angsty doubters. 

Of course, among progressive, ex-evangelical types, Trade-Off Theory may really be the only way they can remain a Christian. But for my part, after many years of deconstruction, I wanted to make a turn toward reconstruction. But when you do that, you're back to facing Ernest Becker's concerns about worldview defense. If your convictions start to (re)grow during a season of reconstruction, won't you be tempted back into worldview defense? 

So, after many years, I (re)faced the question that had set the agenda for my early research and spiritual searching: With convictions back on the table, how to make a reconstructed and vibrant faith a peaceable faith? How can religious conviction escape worldview defense?

I shared over the last three posts the answer I came up with in The Slavery of Death, embracing eccentricity rather than doubt. You're free to evaluate that argument however you'd like. But for this final post I want to share another approach toward worldview defense that I encountered after the publication of The Slavery of Death.

In 2014, I got a very kind email from Sheldon Solomon, one of the pioneers of Terror Management Theory, who had read and enjoyed The Slavery of Death. In our email exchange, Dr. Solomon shared with me a recently published study by Pelin Kesebir entitled "A Quiet Ego Quiets Death Anxiety: Humility as an Existential Anxiety Buffer" in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Summarizing Kesebir's research, humility was observed to attenuate worldview defense in her participants.

Kesebir's research put humility on my radar screen as a possible answer to the threat of worldview defense. Since 2014, the empirical research about humility has exploded. Much of this research has shown that humility functions as a regulating virtue upon which many other virtues depend. Especially relevant, given our focus on how we treat difference, has been the research on what is called "cultural humility."

To see this, we need to define humility. As studied by psychologists, humility is a suite of intrapersonal (having to do with our egos) and interpersonal (how we relate to others) characteristics and capacities. An influential list comes from June Tangney. Humility involves the following:

• Possessing an accurate assessment of yourself

• A willingness to acknowledge your mistakes and limitations

• An openness to the viewpoints and ideas of others

• An ability to keep your accomplishments in perspective

• Low self-focus

• Appreciating the value other people

Again, notice the mix of ego-focused (e.g., accurate assessment of yourself, low self-focus) and relationship-focused (e.g., openness to the viewpoints of others, appreciating the value of other people) characteristics. The two are related. The size and configuration of your ego affects how you see and treat others. Crucially, for our conversation about worldview defense, is how humility places us in an open and generous posture toward others, especially those who are different. Given this, you can see why Kesebir found in her research that humility protected her participants from worldview defense. 

In light of the relational benefits of humility, researchers have looked at what is called "cultural humility" in how we can engage cultural difference. Facets of cultural humility include:

• Legitimate interest in and curiosity about cultural others

• Teachable, open, and willing learn from cultural others

• Empathy and ability for perspective-taking (seeing the world through the eyes of cultural others)

• Critical self-awareness about your cultural perspectives and biases

• Kindness and generosity toward cultural others

• Valuing the intrinsic dignity and worth of cultural others

Looking over this list, it should be clear how humility helps us overcome worldview defense when faced with cultural differences. I don't need to doubt my values and beliefs. I can, rather, practice cultural humility when I encounter differences. 

Stepping back and summarizing the journey of this series, there are a variety of ways we can practice a peaceable faith. Some of us might choose to hold their beliefs tentatively and provisionally to reap the moral trade-offs of doubt and deconstruction. Some of us might practice eccentricity in kenotic gratitude and cultivating the prophetic imagination. And hopefully all of us work to practice cultural humility. 

In short, the are multiple ways to practice a peaceable faith.