“Groupthink”

Steve Corley

 

Given as sermon in Kingsport February 9, 2019

Shortened version given as split sermon in Houston June 29, 2019

Full-length version given in Knoxville and London/Corbin July 10, 2021

Full-length version given in Roanoke December 17, 2022

 

 

At some universities in recent years there have been separate, special freshman orientations (and also graduation ceremonies) for members of various so-called “disadvantaged” minority groups.  More recently, we have been seeing a resurgence of populism in the political spectrum – both of the right-wing variety (with the “enemy” being immigrants) and of the left-wing form (with the “enemy” being the wealthy).  Hitler told the German people that they were the “master race” and stoked their hatred of foreigners (and of German Jews whom he alleged to be in league with the foreigners whom he charged were crippling Germany).  Marx and Lenin preached “class struggle” of the oppressed workers whom they called the “proletariat” against the hated factory owners, the “bourgeoisie.”   The Klan inflamed southern whites to commit violence against blacks whom they perceived as a threat. 

 

What do all of these phenomena have in common?  They are examples of “groupthink” (to use what sounds like an Orwellian Newspeak term) or “identity politics.”  This is the practice which encourages people to think of themselves primarily as members of groups rather than as individuals.  This practice has historically been promoted by political leaders who have advocated that their people focus on other groups as enemies – a sense of “us” versus “them.’ (Currently, the practice tends to be fostered particularly by much of the left, especially as part of the “woke” culture – although some of the political right practices it too – and by certain members of the academic community who directly target it at young people.)  This attitude tends to reopen old wounds, to promote disaffection among people who think of themselves primarily as members of different groups rather than as individuals – and, when applied to nationalism, has been the root of much war throughout history.  Such is true especially when people identify themselves as members of a victimized group (as Hitler told the Germans they had been victimized by other nations).  “Groupthink” is bad – or, to use another Orwellian term, ungood.  In this sermon I would like to examine “groupthink” in history, in modern society and in the Bible – to look at what God thinks of “groupthink” and to help us see how we must guard against the tendency toward it in our own lives – except in the case of what group actually is the only group that matters.  We can title the sermon simply “Groupthink.”

 

In history, Hitler was a master of inspiring people to groupthink (Germans versus foreigners and also versus German Jews whom he alleged to be in league with the foreigners).  So were Marx and Lenin (proletariat versus bourgeoisie), Stalin (his followers versus the foreign bourgeoisie and “enemies of the people” – which was actually the term applied to anyone Stalin did not like), radical Islamists (Muslims versus “infidels”), the Klan (whites versus blacks, especially blacks who were successful in lifting themselves out of poverty), the Know-Nothings (people born in this country versus immigrants), and many others throughout history.  Radical feminist groups have promoted an ideology of women versus men (and note some of the vulgar signs displayed by marchers in the “Women’s March” which occurred in 2016 after the Trump inauguration).  Some groups (and I have heard in the past that this may have even become a requirement at some universities) have even insisted on changing the spelling of “women” to “womyn” to get rid of the hated word “men” contained in “women.”  Even labor unions (which have done much good for workers throughout their history) have sometimes crossed the line when they have demonized the managements of companies and promoted an “us versus them” mentality.

 

And we see this “us versus them” principle dramatically demonstrated by the current “woke” movement (related to the academic concept of “critical race theory”).  Adherents typically demand not racial equality – equality of opportunity – but what they call “equity” – which basically means equality of outcomes.  They advocate that the basic remedy for past discrimination should be present – and future – reverse discrimination.  In their minds, the opportunity of persons of some races and ethnicities will have to be forcibly limited relative to others in order to ensure equality of outcomes – that one racial group will have the same average wealth levels as another, for instance.  Such is “groupthink” at its core.  (Remember that the U.S. Constitution – at least as I read it – gives no specific rights to any group, with the exception of the “group” composed of the residents of a particular state.  Laws, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, prohibit discrimination against individuals because they are members of a particular group – but the legal rights are still those of the individuals, not those of the group as a whole.  The so-called “woke” proposals would change such laws.)

 

Some groups have indeed been pushed into “groupthink” because of a history of discrimination against them – for example blacks, Native American tribes and certain other groups in this country, Romany gypsies in certain European countries, “untouchable” castes in India, minority tribes in various African countries, etc.  It might be difficult for a black person whose grandfather was lynched by the Klan not to be suspicious of all whites.  A Holocaust survivor might understand intellectually that there were many Germans who were opposed to the Nazis and were horrified at what they were doing, but it might be hard for him emotionally not to feel a degree of antipathy toward anyone who is a German.  An Ibo in Nigeria whose relatives starved to death during the terrible Biafran war in the late 1960’s might retain a jaundiced eye toward members of the other tribes who had fought against the Ibos.  And it might be hard for a Tutsi whose family members were massacred during the Interahamwe genocide in Rwanda in 1994 not to have lingering resentment toward all Hutus.  But – as I will get into later – these are feelings we must strive to rise above.

 

Intellectuals are the persons who are supposed to be the most independent-minded of all – the ones who one would think should be the least susceptible to “groupthink.”  However, so often they themselves have been the practitioners of very foolish “groupthink.”  Yes, I will give the intellectual community credit for recognizing the evils of Hitler and his gang – it is indeed true that the Nazis had almost no intellectual respectability in the world outside their own circle of German intellectuals.  (But even the Nazis had some of their own intellectual collaborators – Heidegger, possibly Sartre, etc.)  But at the same time that they recognized the evils of the Nazi regime, much of the intellectual community was virtually worshiping Stalin – while he was murdering millions of people.  The intellectual community has been described by (I believe) Daniel Rosenberg (as quoted by Paul Johnson) as a “herd of independent minds.”

 

An example here might be to contrast W.E.B. DuBois with other black leaders of the mid-1900’s such as Martin Luther King.  DuBois – the most “intellectual” of the group – was the only one who “went off the deep end.”  Much saner – though less “intellectual” – men such as Dr. King, Whitney Young and A. Philip Randolph would have nothing to do with communism.  But DuBois, almost at the end of his life, took the dramatic defiant – and foolish – step of joining the Communist Party.

 

So much for secular history.  What does the Bible tell us about “groupthink?”  Let’s turn first to the promises to Abraham in Genesis 12.  Let’s note verse 3 – “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  No “identity politics” or “us versus them” here!

 

Let’s turn to Isaiah 19:21-25.  God will bless Egypt and Assyria (apparently symbolic of all nations) together with Israel.

 

Why did then God tell Israel to drive out the Canaanites?  Wasn’t that promotion of groupthink?  But here there was a valid reason.  The Canaanites were not in any way inferior.  The problem was that the Canaanites were pagans and God knew that if the Canaanites were allowed to remain in the land, Israel would come to adopt their pagan practices (which indeed actually happened).  In the first covenant God was starting His plan for the world by working first with one physical nation.  He did not want that nation to become contaminated with paganism.  The Canaanites at that time were outside the only group which matters – the group of people who are following God.  Note that the expulsion of the Canaanites did not extend to those who indeed wanted to follow the God of Israel – Rahab and her household did not die with the rest of the people of Jericho (Joshua 2 and 6:17,25; Heb. 11:31, James 2:25) but (if the same Rahab is meant – the historical time is the same) she subsequently married Salmon of Judah and became the great-great-grandmother of King David and thereby an ancestor of Jesus Christ (Matt. 1:5).

 

King Saul – not known for his zeal in obeying God – was pointed out as a practitioner of “groupthink.”  In his mind he replaced a zeal for God with a zeal for the people and nation of Israel.  That misplaced zeal led him to break a treaty with the Gibeonites (2 Sam. 21:1-2).  Remember that Joshua and the elders with him had been deceived by the Amorite Gibeonites and as a result made a treaty with them, allowing them to continue to live in the land, without asking counsel of God first (Joshua 9, particularly verses 14-15).  Although the making of the treaty was probably not according to God’s will, once it was made it was to be honored and God would hold Israel to the terms of the treaty.  Saul thought the treaty apparently was an old scrap of paper which was harmful to Israel and hence could be ignored.  David later had to make restitution for Saul’s arrogant behavior with the resultant death of seven men (2 Sam. 21:6-9).

 

What situation do we see in the New Testament?  Jews and Gentiles looked down on each other.  Both practiced “groupthink.”  Jews thought themselves superior to Gentiles because God had made the covenant with Israel at Sinai, forgetting that another covenant was prophesied to supersede it (Jer. 31:31-34).  They forgot that God had made the Sinai covenant with Israel because of the obedience of their ancestor Abraham, not because of the obedience of Israel as a whole.  And some Jewish Christians had trouble accepting the fact that Gentiles could become part of the second covenant without first becoming physically circumcised and becoming part of the Sinai covenant.  Conversely, many of the Greek Gentiles were proud of their intellectual history – especially with regard to their famous philosophers (cf. Acts 17:18) and looked down upon Jews as intellectually inferior.  But Paul slammed the pride of both groups – both the Jews and the Gentile Greco-Roman world (Romans 1, 2).  For what did he criticize the Gentiles?  For their flagrant disobedience to God (Rom. 1:18-32).  For what did he criticize the Jews?  For committing many of the same sins as the Gentiles, even though they (unlike most of the Gentiles) knew that the Law forbade these practices (Rom. 2:1-3, 17-24).  And here Paul was leading to the point that there is only one “group” in which membership really matters – the group of people – from any nation, any ethnicity, any background – who are sincerely trying to follow and obey God.  That is indeed the only group that matters – and is the group of which we are striving to be and remain members.

 

Verses 26-29 of Romans 2 tell us that whether a person is physically a Jew or Gentile is not important – but whether he keeps God’s Law is very important.  This principle is brought out even more succinctly and directly in 1 Cor. 7:19 – not to mention much earlier in Eccl. 12:13.

 

The only “group” of which we need to be concerned about being a member is the “group” of people who are following God.  That is the only group that matters!  Whatever is our ethnicity, race, nation, background or gender is not important (Romans 2:6-11, Gal. 3:28, Col. 3:11).  Galatians 3:28, in particular, tells us that if we are in the only group that matters we are all one in Christ Jesus – regardless of our physical differences.  We are told that, of two people together – by all physical appearances very similar – “one will be taken and the other left” (Matt. 24:40).  With respect to the only group that matters there is a distinction and separation made even within that closest human physical “group” – the family.  The son is not to suffer for the sins of the father (Jer. 31:29-30, Ezekiel 18) and furthermore families themselves will be divided over willingness to follow Christ (Matt. 10:34).

 

We have seen what we call “groupthink” condemned in the New Testament in multiple passages.  However, one might ask, what about Jesus’ attacks on the scribes and Pharisees in passages such as Matthew 23 – isn’t this itself an example of groupthink – “us versus them” with the scribes and Pharisees being “them?”  If we look at Matthew 23 closely, however, we see that what Jesus was condemning was what the scribes and Pharisees did – the many ways in which they were violating God’s Law.  He was not attacking them for being scribes and Pharisees.  Just as Rahab and her household were exempted from what happened to the rest of the people of Jericho, Pharisees such as Nicodemus – who had become followers of Jesus and were not practicing the flagrant violations of God’s Law engaged in by the other Pharisees – were exempt from Jesus’ general attack.  They, unlike the other Pharisees, were indeed members of the only group that matters.

 

Similarly, one might ask – is James 5:1-6 a blanket condemnation of the wealthy – “us” versus “them?”  Let’s read it.  Note that those who are being sharply attacked are those who have accumulated their wealth by violating God’s Law – through fraud (verse 4) and in some cases involving condemning and murdering the just (verse 6).  (A modern example of such might be a fabulously wealthy corrupt dictator of some Third World country!)  But those wealthy persons who are honest, generous toward others and sincerely trying to obey God are not condemned for being wealthy (1 Timothy 6:17-19).  Again, they are members of the only group that matters.

 

We have seen that “groupthink” – the “us” versus “them” mentality – is shown to be wrong multiple times in both the Old and New Testaments, and has no place within God’s Church.  Again (with a nod to Orwell), groupthink is ungood!  Rather, what we do need to be concerned about is whether we, as individuals, are members of the only group that matters – and that is the group of people, out of all nations, races and backgrounds, who are sincerely trying to follow and obey God.  God wants everyone eventually to become a member of that group (1 Tim. 2:3-4, 2 Peter 3:9) and He will give everyone the opportunity, each in his time.  When we look out over the world, we gaze upon a sea of people of all nations who are not yet members of God’s Church – but they all will eventually be given the opportunity to be part of the only group that matters (cf. Rev. 22:17).  Some few will be called in this life but the vast majority will get their calling in the second resurrection which we celebrated in the Last Great Day following the Feast.  Let us now follow God’s command in 2 Peter 1:10 to make our calling and election sure – so that when the rest of mankind rises out of the grave, that we may be there to help them also to become part of what is, indeed, the only group that matters.