As a psychologist who probes the reaches of moral social philosophy, Jonathan Haidt stands heads and heels above most others. The only rival to that position I can think of is George Lakoff, a cognitive linguist. In fact, Haidt cites Lakoff in much of his work.
Haidt's brilliant book, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion (Pantheon, 2012) walks us down an enlightening path. His light shines on the characteristically different ways in which conservative and liberal minds identify and act on values. And values - implicit or explicit - often steer behavior as well as provide an opportunity for conflicting values.
Of course, most of us overlap in these characteristic fields of thought, neither embracing all of one or all of the other. But people generally fall out toward one side of the continuum or the other. Lack of a balanced middle ground - both personally and politically - has become the bane of our national life.
I have been contemplating, discerning, and pondering how we could intentionally gather together those who are scattered across this spectrum to explore these ideas, discuss how we are the same and different, find some semblance of common ground, and at the same time, or perhaps as the first term, reaffirm our primary unity as a part of the Body of Christ. If the church cannot lead in this respect, cannot model how to do this, what hope is there?
One of the stunning observations Haidt makes is that though the dividing issues of basic rights involving race, gender and sexual orientation have preoccupied much of the national debate and change of the past fifty years, and although they are not revolved and will require more attention, perhaps the even more contentious divide we face and resolve in the next fifty years will be the polarization between those who politically view the world differently.
A good starting place is to watch a TedTalk with Jonathan Haidt that addresses this very thing. I challenge you: Pour yourself a cup of your favorite hot beverage, draw near to the monitor and listen carefully. Listen twice because you won't get it all the first time. Watch it with a friend and then discuss it:
https://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_haidt_can_a_divided_america_heal#t-5649
