As Americans we are fiercely independent. We like to be recognized as individuals and valued for our uniqueness. We avoid any kind prejudice or profiling. We want to be evaluated on individual merit. We want to make sure that we each get what we earn. The funny thing about this is that individualism is taught and then reinforced by our American culture, which is by definition, a group culture, though we are conditioned from early childhood to be team players.
Majority rules, safety in numbers, and faith in the reliability of the popular vote are central tenets of our common culture. What is wrong with this? The major dificulty with this dichotomy between the individual and the group is that we often fail to recognize our reponsibiluty as a group. We distance ourselves from responsibility for the suffering caused by the group because we are just individuals. Any suffering is unfair to the individual. We fail to realize that suffering, as well as benefits, come to each of us because of being part of the group. When the US drops bombs on innocents we blame the tragedy on our leaders or the incompetence of the military. If poor children on our country are going hungry it is the other political party’s fault. If our economy takes a nose dive, we can blame special interest groups. Of course, it is totally unfair that internationally, all countries make categorical judgements about each other. What we need to realize in this country is that we are all on the same ship. We will keep it afloat, or go down with it together. We are individuals who have a group destiny.
Lets try and row together.
Life in the Word 
Reblogged this on danssestraces and commented:
Whether good or bad, this dichotomy is very American. Originally, our country was purposely designed to reflect such a principle. Federalism was where the States operated nearly autonomous of the Federal (National) Government; each with their own spheres of responsibilities, and yes sovereign authorities. There were times when these spheres overlapped, but rarely. After the Civil War (Southern War for Independence) this distinction began to fade, giving the weight of the authority increasingly to the National government, till currently the States seem to be little more than district lines on a map, and conformity to the national program impressed. Such is the life of a nation I guess, and whether the original plan or the current direction is better is open for debate.
Ecclesiastically, such independent spirit or factionalism is counter to the early Church, and clearly contrary to the Scripture. The Holy Spirit, speaking through the Apostles makes it clear that the Church is composed of yes individuals, diversely gifted, and diverse in race, gender, age, social class, etc., but are by designed to be so interdependent as to become one whole (1 Corinthians 12-14; Romans 12; Ephesians 4). For Christians to so focus their individualism spiritually is to harm the whole. I am not talking about us being religious drones, but using the biblical analogy of parts of a body (1 Corinthians 12). When one part is injured or missing it affects to some degree the body as a whole. When the parts of the body are each doing their part (large or small, visible or behind the scenes) the body is healthy, balanced, and productive.
LikeLike