Chapters 6 & 7

Chapter 6 –

The reality that Cleveland hits on within this book continues to dig deeper and it is a scary thought some of the things that not only others do but I do as well. It is difficult and even shameful to admit the truths she covers and the fact that I can unfortunately say I have done every piece she discusses. Cleveland covers self-biases and how we partake in activities which make us shine. She isn’t wrong here. I know for a fact that more times than not I am much more willing to get others to do activities with me that I perform well at. While these tend to be activities that I enjoy or love, looking back I know that this has been a self-esteem boost for me when others don’t do as well as I can. Yet, that is where the bias comes in. We perceive ourselves as being better many times and if we fail we find something wrong with another that brings us right back up. So, we are either great or the another is terrible. It’s a win, win situation that we deal with in all walks of life unfortunately. How do we overcome this, putting others down to bring ourselves up? Cleveland mentions simply affirming ourselves. No matter if it is unrelated to whatever is being threatened and bringing you down, this still results in a self-esteem boost. I believe it is even more important as we grow and mature that we find other ways to boost our self-esteem. We are all one in Jesus Christ and no matter our biases, it is important to find that unity amongst each other and not drag others down for our own benefit.

Chapter 7 –

Shifting over from self-esteem and self-biases over to a group setting, Cleveland uses some great examples to prove that something such as football or a kid’s camp can turn into something very different rather quickly. While the two football teams had football between them and the kid’s at camp didn’t even know each other, both scenarios started as “groups who have no history of negative interaction” and transformed into “antagonistic when the goals became important enough.” These situations are noticeable in many aspects not only here at college but also growing up, elementary through high school. It is especially noticeable in athletics, however, in many competitions it has been apparent to me. We lose sight of what really matters and start doing whatever we can to bring the opposing group down simply because “we are better”. This is true in the Church just the same. Coming to a Reformed school and growing up Lutheran, I have noticed a considerable amount of flack being pushed towards me. Just the same, I have noticed that the minorities here whether that be Lutheran, Baptist, Catholic, Non-Denominational and so on have pushed right back. We are all one in Christ! Yet, we hold ourselves, our groups, or in this case, our denomination above the others. We make it out as though we are the golden standard and others are wrong or below us. Cleveland asks the question, “what now?” Well, how do we define “we”? Why do “we” limit ourselves and categorize ourselves? This brings us back to her first few chapters, it is difficult to overcome but integration and diversifying “our” groups is a step that should be taken. This will further allow us to bring about an inclusive identity and understand that other groups can help us. We must first allow ourselves to open up and receive critical information and change ourselves, creating a common membership in Christ.