We cannot afford to segregate ourselves inside silos. Let’s talk about the grandkids

I remember the years I served at a congregation in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, which is about three hours south of Chicago. The university there, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is world class, built amid farm fields and the midwestern prairie from land grants from over 150 years ago. One can see the farms surrounding the university with their silos filled with corn, towering over the flat terrain of the prairie.

Silo is a word now used in a political context. It no longer refers only to large containers of grain but now points to the idea that we are all isolated in our views of the world, like silos.

Whether referring to religion or politics, the world of silos speaks to current culture, where people don’t speak to each other unless they have the same opinion or silo. Silos symbolize the disengagement from different perspectives.

We need to drain the silos and start talking again, learn how to speak in a civil tone with those we disagree with —and those we have never given a chance to discuss life and the world we live in.

Silos center on identity politics

Silos today are centered on race, religion and politics and many other issues that are typically called identity politics. Isn’t it in our interests to engage with those we disagree with? How do we keep our cool when people say things that hurt or inflame?

Part of it is to resist the temptation to always disparage those who live in a different silo. Admittedly, that strategy often perpetuates a lack of knowledge, which ends up fueling our prejudices, but we must learn to speak with people in our community who do not always think like we do.

Clergy have fundamentally different ideas and theology. Often, our perspectives conflict. Sometimes we just can’t speak about those issues we disagree with, but there are ways to get around those barriers.

We can speak about our families, especially children and grandchildren. Suddenly, a conversation begins and we find that despite our different faith traditions, we are people struggling with the same issues — economics, family joys and problems — which opens a door of mutual understanding outside the silos of religion.

Those commonalities can give us hope: Not to solve the world’s problems but the chance to feel a different presence about a person we might have stereotyped.

Religion can be a silo

Religion is about fulfilling ancient teachings and finding the truth of life. When religions focus only on the internal workings of a house of worship, or only on prayer, or only on fulfilling the rituals of the faith, then we miss out on how religion can connect us with others. Does that have to diminish us? Can a religion become a silo? The answer is yes.

My experience living in Hilton Head is that many people like to learn about other people’s faiths. Because we live in the same community, the same neighborhoods, and send our children to the same schools, we can encounter each other in a more personal and informal way. This allows us to learn and listen, as well as explain our faith’s teachings. Those conversations get us out of the silos.

Ecumenical dialogue aims to tone down the tensions and help us to understand different perspectives, even when we hold opposing viewpoints. We can see the person not as an adversary but simply as a human being with differing opinions.

Can’t we live with the idea that life is not about conformity but about making diversity work for the betterment of our society? Call it tolerance or acceptance of differences. The objective is to eliminate the hate, the suspicion and lack of trust in our world.

Too much is at stake these days. We cannot afford to segregate ourselves inside silos. We have work to do on climate change, race relations, religious pluralism and social media run amok, just to name a few core issues. Religious institutions have a duty to address these issues and to find bridges to discuss not only our differences but how to transcend them. Let’s work together before our emotions get the better of us.