Does Intimidation Work?
YOU MUST DECIDE RIGHT NOW! (just kidding)
What Just Happened?
I glance back at a recent event and relay some thoughts.
Above is an Instagram post from a first-time Forum participant, Nate, who moved into Lancaster City a few weeks ago. He says,
The picture from the Mere Orthodoxy site is of (Justin Hawkin’s) younger sister who sat in front of me Friday night. In both the lecture and the essay he shared a letter she wrote that I absolutely loved.
Everyone in the room loved that letter! It drew out tears as we heard Jenna’s voice speak with childlike clarity of her inherent dignity and love of life.
Nate wasn’t the only one touched deeply by Dr. Justin Hawkin’s substantial, winsome, and personal testimony of not only researching disability in The Academy but more importantly, having lived with a sister with Down Syndrome.
His Forum talk was only 40 minutes long (the sweet spot), and the discussion time ran for another 30 minutes followed by ample face time with him over coffee and Stroopies.
Here’s a comment from a friend that sums up I how I also felt about Friday’s Forum:
Hi Tom! Jeremy and I thought Dr. Hawkins was absolutely the best. Maybe our favorite Row House event ever? We were challenged, encouraged, inspired, and came away from the event with real hope (not just the sentimentality that can surround discussions on disability). Thanks for curating the evening!
Becca
I was heartened that on two occasions Justin commented that “people just don’t this sort of thing.”
He was referring to public discourse in a live setting that’s substantial and kind. I placed those gems in my Burger King crown of curating.
He’s right, you know. Especially in these days of intimidating social media blasts, intentionally-generated political terrors, and A.I.-created deep fakes, it’s rare but awfully nice to sit with people and talk. And listen.
It was a long evening…and a rich one. It started with a dozen of our Row House Members eating pizza in a circle with Justin and ended on the sidewalk outside The Trust with dwindling numbers of guests.
This is where I met Nate of the Instagram post. He, myself, and our board President Samuel stepped over to the Dispensing Company for a quiet after party of our own.
My heart swelled with gratitude for having been part of something so meaningful for such a diverse group of people.
Seth, a 20something and new Row House Member who also attended a Saturday workshop with Justin, gets the last word:
I loved how he connected everything in his talks (from human dignity to vocation to virtue ethics) to a message of hope and the idea that each of us can make individual positive change in our own ways.
Tomsées
In which I share a short take on Christ and culture.*
About Intimidation (Since I brought it up)
In 1991 when I was a campus minister at Bucknell University a small group of students declared a “Jeans Day” for their entire campus. Wearing jeans meant you supported homosexuality. There was nothing subtle or nuanced about their declaration.
I recall the deep struggles some Christian students shared at one of our noon prayer meetings. On one hand they loved their friends who were same-sex attracted, yet on the other they believed gay behavior was not in tune with God’s best for people.
They also felt intimidated. They were put in a position to make a statement, one they didn’t feel great about making. The pick-a-side atmosphere the activists created was effective at stirring up emotions, but it wasn’t particularly persuasive at engendering change, kindness, or education on campus.
David French made a side comment on The Holy Post podcast that reminded me of that day.
He was talking about the summer of ‘20 at the height of the police brutality protests and COVID when many of us were made to feel evil by merely questioning some of the tactics of the “revolutionaries.”
Speaking as an imaginary American reflecting on those days French mused,
You intimidated me, and maybe I kept my mouth shut. But in the end you didn’t persuade me.
Except for a few duds lying under the dumpster, its seems the fury of Molotov cocktails that were hurled in 2020 dissipated almost as quickly as they exploded.
For instance the clarion call to “De-fund the Police” sounded ludicrous to me at the time. I wasn’t alone, but you had to be very careful who you voiced that in front of for fear of appearing to question the racial reckoning our country was experiencing.
Charles Barkley did call out the idea as foolish on TV. He got flack for it, but now it seems like the order of the day is to honor and support our men and women in uniform.
I watched the entire evening of the Democratic National Convention that concluded with Kamala Harris’s acceptance speech. She never mentioned something akin to shrinking security at home or abroad. She sounded downright hawkish.
Similarly, a few anarchists still believe the Jan. 6th rioters were true “patriots,” but their intimidation persuaded no one, statistically speaking. Thank God.
All these blow-ups make me wonder what really does persuade us to act or change our views. It doesn’t seem that intimidation gets much accomplished in the long run. Its sinister cousin, coercion, is more effective thanks to the teeth of the state. But even in the most repressive situations, over time, people tend to resist and are persuaded by a vision of freedom of conscience.
Tyrants are made to fall.
Recently I attended the Hourglass Forum at The Ware Center and heard tremendously inspiring stories about our growing Pennsylvania outdoor recreation economy.
Blue/red, Trump/Harris, GOP/Dem folk, I’m sure, were in the room.
I came out of there ever more persuaded of the common benefits of stewarding the natural resources of our shared land. There was no need to intimidate, scare, or threaten me. In fact, if I had sensed that vibe I would’ve found the exit and gotten back on my bike.
The hardest thing to accept about intimidation is the sense that you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. You’re immediately judged, sized up, or demonized. No questions, dissent, or nuance are allowed. All that’s acceptable is straight-edged obedience to the stated principle, principal person, or unquestioned ideal.
It seems to me a deeper revolution is not one that clears out like the morning mist; Rather, it’s one that hangs in the air for years and marches forward incrementally as more and more people are won over to its beauty.
This sounds like the kingdom of God that Jesus always talked about: A tiny seed that becomes a sheltering tree for the birds of the air. I definitely feel like one of the uncountable little birds squawking in that tree, persuaded by the faith, hope, and love of others, come down to us all through the centuries.
May The Row House and the church in general be effective at persuading people, perhaps by small steps, to “taste and see” the abundance of God’s kingdom.
*Tomsées is a nod to Pensées, an eclectic collection of writings by Blaise Pascal which were a work of apologetics for the Christian faith, published posthumously in 1670.
Let’s Talk About the Future
A few questions for you to consider ahead of our next event in downtown Lancaster, PA!
Yeah, it’s me this time, the first part of a series I’m calling “Learning Vincibility.” Part two comes in May.
Car Talk Talk-Back
Tell me what you think about cars!
You can get the conversation started and help me in the process of crafting a presentation that is engaging, relevant, and practical.
Pick a Question or Two:
Describe your relationship to your car and driving in general.
How much of your time is spent in a car on a weekly basis?
How would you describe an automobile to alien life form (using an interpreter, of course!)?
What are two of your favorite experiences in or with a car?
Why do you think about 30,000 people die each year in America from automotive crashes?
What’s your opinion of the shift to
Electric vehicles
Self-driving vehicles
Why should/shouldn’t we all have personal flying machines like the Jetsons?
Please leave your comments below, or email me.
And come hear me on October 11th in downtown Lancaster. It should be fun. I promise to show loads of photos!
Cheers,
Tom Becker, Founder & Curator of The Row House Forum
From reader Christian:
As for your car question… it’s wild to me that we want self-driving cars but not a robust public transport system. Cars are made to be driven and enjoyed. Once you’re not driving, you’re so much better off on a bus, a train, a taxi, or a tuk-tuk.
Hi Tom (or Alien, for purposes of this communique),
An automobile is a steer-able and stop-able motor propelled people-mover on wheels. People sometimes insist on additional style points and creature comforts unless for some reason they have no access to an automobile, in which case, almost any people-mover will do. Really smart people/aliens know the very best feature on an automobile is 'paid for'.
Happy day! Joy