Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
do the same with foreign policy. France and Germany still mix like wine and
sauerkraut, but they've learned that an eternity of agreeing to disagree beats
an eternity of violent conl ict.
Reach and preach beyond the choir. Don't hold back in places where pro-
gressive thinking may seem unwelcome. I was tempted to move to a church
downtown that welcomed progressive thinkers, but chose instead to keep
sharing a pew with a more conservative gang at my suburban church. Rather
than change churches, I've stayed and contributed: teaching poverty aware-
ness workshops, sharing my travels at special events, and—after learning that
many in our congregation are homophobic—even inviting the Seattle Men's
Chorus (America's largest gay chorus) to provide music one Sunday. While
conservatives and liberals may see things dif erently, they care equally. I've
found that, deep down, any thinking person wants to be challenged respect-
fully and thoughtfully. (h at's why, rather than install a new air-conditioning
system for our chapel, we built a well in a thirsty Nicaraguan village.)
Travel inside the United States to appreciate the full diversity of culture
and thought within our vast, multifaceted society. Tune in to both eth-
nic diversity and economic diversity.
Assume that subcultures—even scary
ones—provide basic human necessities.
At home and abroad, the vast major-
ity of people who look scary aren't.
I remember the first time I walked
through Seattle's Hempfest—a party
of 80,000 far-out people i lling a park.
A man named Vivian wearing a Utili-
kilt and dreadlocks yelled, “Give it up!”
for a band whose music sounded like
noise to me...and people went wild. It
was intimidating. h en I got to know
Vivian, who explained to me that this
is a subculture that once a year gets to
come together here on Seattle's waterfront. I walked through the crowd again,
with a dif erent attitude. I celebrated the freedom and tolerance that made
that tribal gathering possible. Last year I noticed I got strangely emotional
when talking with police who said they enjoy the Hempfest assignment as
a two-way celebration of respect and tolerance.
Promote multilateralism. Join your local
chapter of the UN. In the lead-up to the
Iraq War, I designed bumper stickers with
the blue-and-white UN fl ag that said sim-
ply “Think Multilaterally” so my neighbors
and I could fl y our fl ag without implying
we supported a unilateral foreign policy.
