THE FORCES OF NUANCE ARE ADVANCING.
That’s the title I had in mind for this post before I settled on “Nuance Is Our Only Hope.” I believe nuance is our only hope. But I do not always believe in my heart that the forces of nuance are advancing. I find it easier to believe they are when I read or talk to the man in the above photo. His name is Bob Smietana.
Bob is something of a legend when it comes to telling difficult stories with dignity. Tennessee, as you know, has a white supremacist terror problem which is also a misogyny problem which is also a spiritual abuse problem which is also a mental health problem which is also a political corruption problem. What do we speak of when we speak of religion? I believe we speak of all of the above.
There are many talkative people who don’t seem to understand that “religion” and “faith” and “spirituality” can’t be coherently cordoned off from whatever it is we think we’re looking at as we contemplate Dave Ramsey or Critical Race Theory or Senator Marsha Blackburn’s decision to lock arms with Ben Shapiro to publicly target Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. Bob Smietana isn’t one of those people. Bob gets it. And reading him on whatever events or people or pressure points he’s covering restores the senses. I spoke with Bob on Bob’s book.
But since then, Bob’s kept doing what Bob does best. I speak again of nuance. Bob is a respecter of people, but he doesn’t tip the scale in favor of famous persons. There are those who defer to “pastor-warlords” (Molly Worthen’s phrase) but not Bob. Via Twitter, I’ve become familiar with women like Christa Brown and Tiffany Thigpen who speak with authority because they speak from experience on the subject of sexual abuse in churches. Bob rightly boosts their signal.
“We are always going to have this network of powerful men who can do whatever they want and think they can get away with it. And they are right.”
That’s Tiffany Thigpen speaking. Here’s Bob with the story.
And…that’s about it from me. Except…while I have your attention, if you or someone you know is within driving or walking distance of campus tomorrow morning, please consider attending the final event of our FYS Ambassador Series. We have the honor of welcoming Jace Wilder as our guest. It will be lovely. The forces of nuance are advancing.
I grew up driving between my home state of Mississippi, Alabama, and Gulf of Mexico beaches. Still do. As I drove to a beautiful, non-touristy peninsula on the Gulf a few days ago, I saw the Spanish moss hanging and I reminisced about my blessed and privileged youth and adulthood - feeling like I was driving "home." Today, a man in a pick up truck drove in front of me with 10 - 12 inch, black capital letters on the back of his truck, that said: "TRUMP WON." Luckily, he turned off the road after bringing me way back down to this earth. I enjoy all of your posts, David, and whoever made the statement below speaks the truth. (“We are always going to have this network of powerful men who can do whatever they want and think they can get away with it. And they are right.”) Here is my addition to this truth.: This has always been so, and we need to join together to change that age-old fact. Some women have even joined them! It matters how each of us makes changes, hopefully healing our own violent tendencies and using nonviolent activism methods. I also just watched a Prime Video TV series for the second time and it strikes me in the gut each time I see it: "The English." Fabulous portrayal of 1890's America and today. Tragic, sweet, violent, complex and complicated. And, Love does win.
My people perish for lack of nuance. It's utterly heartbreaking. Finding hope in your work.
I do wonder if the fraught words "religion," "faith" and "spirituality" can at least begin to be good words in our time through purposeful engagement in (good) multi-faith dialogue...spaces where we don't control the questions. I've found such spaces to be profoundly hopeful as they are training grounds for nuance.