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This Is Going to Hurt: Following Jesus in a Divided America
“If you see me at a party and I’m speaking, you need to come rescue the person I’m talking to, because they are not having a good time. Or better yet, I would like to invite you, the reader, into the corner with me to talk about the story I write over and over People are suffering.”
In her career as a journalist, Bekah McNeel has encountered (and written about) a lot of suffering. After all, the most polarizing topics in US politics all revolve around suffering. But when confronted with these stories of suffering, many people respond not with action, but by offering counterstories that justify their lack of compassion.
This set Bekah Whose suffering do we try to alleviate? Whose do we ignore? And how should our faith guide how we approach these debates?
In This Is Going to Hurt, Bekah analyzes the narratives surrounding six hot-button issues—immigration, COVID, abortion, critical race theory, gun violence, and climate change. For each topic, she exposes how “us versus them” thinking leads us to turn a blind eye to injustice. She also offers an alternative perspective on each issue, based on a sensitive reading of the gospel.
Amid culture wars that goad us to take up arms, Bekah reminds us that Christ calls us to take up our cross. Humorous and insightful, This Is Going to Hurt offers a breath of fresh air for readers seeking a nuanced and authentically Christian mode of political engagement.
In her career as a journalist, Bekah McNeel has encountered (and written about) a lot of suffering. After all, the most polarizing topics in US politics all revolve around suffering. But when confronted with these stories of suffering, many people respond not with action, but by offering counterstories that justify their lack of compassion.
This set Bekah Whose suffering do we try to alleviate? Whose do we ignore? And how should our faith guide how we approach these debates?
In This Is Going to Hurt, Bekah analyzes the narratives surrounding six hot-button issues—immigration, COVID, abortion, critical race theory, gun violence, and climate change. For each topic, she exposes how “us versus them” thinking leads us to turn a blind eye to injustice. She also offers an alternative perspective on each issue, based on a sensitive reading of the gospel.
Amid culture wars that goad us to take up arms, Bekah reminds us that Christ calls us to take up our cross. Humorous and insightful, This Is Going to Hurt offers a breath of fresh air for readers seeking a nuanced and authentically Christian mode of political engagement.
- GenresReligion
281 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 16, 2024
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December 2, 2024
Residents of the United States live in a very divided nation. The recent Presidential election bears witness to that reality. Giver or take a few points, about 50% of Americans voted for Donald Trump and slightly less for Kamala Harris. Not only is the nation divided politically, but the church is divided by the same politics. In other words, we tend to bring our politics into the church. We find it difficult to understand how our family, friends, and neighbors could vote for the other party and then sit down in the same pews. Yet, this is our reality. So, how do we move forward?
Had I read Bekah McNeel's "This Is Going to Hurt" before the election my response might have been different, but I read it after the election of Donald Trump to a second, non-consecutive term. So, the divisions that existed before the election will continue on and only get magnified at least for a few years. Bekah McNeel writes this powerful book from the perspective of being a Christian who grew up Southern Baptist and as a journalist who reports from her home state of Texas. For most of her journalistic career, she has written about education, one of those places where America's divisions show themselves most clearly. She has also written and reported on immigration issues. Again, one of the key issues of our time. So as she notes in her introduction, she's no fun at parties. When asked what she writes about, her "sparkling banter in recent years has included why we should pay more for fruit, fetal abnormalities, the mechanics of the GOP stranglehold on Texas, the failure of the humanitarian parole process for Afghans, and three reasons a school bus first aid kit should include a chest seal" (p. 1). And as we discover as we move forward, that's not all she writes about.
This is a book about suffering and about healing. At the end of the book McNeel confesses that she is not attracted to theodicies, that is defenses of God in the presence of evil. I agree with her on that! Her point here in this book is not explaining how a loving God can permit suffering and evil, but how we might respond to suffering. That seems to be a better option. So, we have a book about suffering that speaks to the forms of suffering that people experience. One of the important elements of this book is her recognition that the causes of suffering and the possible responses are complicated. She points out that careerwise, she has pursued what is known as "solutions journalism>" This form of journalism seeks answers to problems, along with solutions. We see that perspective present here in the book, though she acknowledges that there are limitations to the possible solutions to our many problems. Part of the problem is that when it comes to suffering, we have a high tolerance for certain forms of suffering. We see this illustrated in the topics she lifts up in the book.
The first two chapters focus on how we tell stories of suffering and the elements that are found in them. She writes in the first chapter about judgments, contexts, and trade-offs. Then in the second chapter, she focuses on the different dividing lines that create the "Us vs. Them" approaches to suffering. These chapters are foundational to what gets reported in the subsequent chapters. She focuses on the hottest of hot topics including immigration, school curriculum, abortion, climate change, COVID-19, and mass shootings. What she reveals here is that the way we tell suffering stories determines where we stand on these topics. That is, how we tell the stories influences how much suffering we will tolerate. The way we tell the stories differs from topic to topic. She lays out each subject in two chapters. She first tells the story of suffering, explaining the issues at hand, and then in the second chapter tries to help us tell a better story. She brings the Gospels into play with these topics, helping us view the subjects through that lens.
Central to the responses to the stories of suffering is compassion. She writes that "Compassion erases the false line between loving thy neighbor and loving thyself" (p. 8). As I read her book I could see how the stories of suffering that she had reported on had affected her, but rather than leading to cynicism, it called forth a sense of compassion and understanding. To give an example here, when she discusses COVID, which has divided our nation, and often lead to vitue-sharing on both sides, she lifted up the effects on children and their schooling. It's good to remember that children were caught in the middle of battles and they suffered greatly, in a variety of ways that we're still seeing revealed. In creating an alternative mythology of COVID, she notes that there isn't much to be said about the federal response to the pandemic, which was a mess. So, she invites to consider how to tell a better story that is rooted in compassion and draws us together rather than separate us, which is the reality we face at this moment. That involves letting go of the politicized responses and following compassion to places where politics can't go. That is the heart of the matter here. Politics tends to get in the way of actually responding to suffering.
McNeel doesn't offer us a full set of answers, but she does point us in the right direction, one that seeks to overcome the polarized nature of our responses to suffering. She speaks in the book of the value of taking up our crosses, but she also understands that this has tradeoffs. She recognizes that suffering is inevitable in life, the question is how do we respond. When she speaks of the cross she understands it to be "a rebuke of power-hungry systems and those who maintain them." (p. 179).
There are books that explain the realities of life, and McNeel does that here. However, she does much more. She reveals pathways to healing. It won't be easy. There will be suffering and sacrifice involved. But, there is hope. It won't be found in the government. It will take something that involves our lives given to God and others, especially to those on the margins who suffer the most. Thus, she seeks to turn on its head Nietzche's belief that "What is injurious to me is injurious in itself." Rather than this perspective, she offers "What is injurious to you is injurious to me." (p. 185). Indeed.
Had I read Bekah McNeel's "This Is Going to Hurt" before the election my response might have been different, but I read it after the election of Donald Trump to a second, non-consecutive term. So, the divisions that existed before the election will continue on and only get magnified at least for a few years. Bekah McNeel writes this powerful book from the perspective of being a Christian who grew up Southern Baptist and as a journalist who reports from her home state of Texas. For most of her journalistic career, she has written about education, one of those places where America's divisions show themselves most clearly. She has also written and reported on immigration issues. Again, one of the key issues of our time. So as she notes in her introduction, she's no fun at parties. When asked what she writes about, her "sparkling banter in recent years has included why we should pay more for fruit, fetal abnormalities, the mechanics of the GOP stranglehold on Texas, the failure of the humanitarian parole process for Afghans, and three reasons a school bus first aid kit should include a chest seal" (p. 1). And as we discover as we move forward, that's not all she writes about.
This is a book about suffering and about healing. At the end of the book McNeel confesses that she is not attracted to theodicies, that is defenses of God in the presence of evil. I agree with her on that! Her point here in this book is not explaining how a loving God can permit suffering and evil, but how we might respond to suffering. That seems to be a better option. So, we have a book about suffering that speaks to the forms of suffering that people experience. One of the important elements of this book is her recognition that the causes of suffering and the possible responses are complicated. She points out that careerwise, she has pursued what is known as "solutions journalism>" This form of journalism seeks answers to problems, along with solutions. We see that perspective present here in the book, though she acknowledges that there are limitations to the possible solutions to our many problems. Part of the problem is that when it comes to suffering, we have a high tolerance for certain forms of suffering. We see this illustrated in the topics she lifts up in the book.
The first two chapters focus on how we tell stories of suffering and the elements that are found in them. She writes in the first chapter about judgments, contexts, and trade-offs. Then in the second chapter, she focuses on the different dividing lines that create the "Us vs. Them" approaches to suffering. These chapters are foundational to what gets reported in the subsequent chapters. She focuses on the hottest of hot topics including immigration, school curriculum, abortion, climate change, COVID-19, and mass shootings. What she reveals here is that the way we tell suffering stories determines where we stand on these topics. That is, how we tell the stories influences how much suffering we will tolerate. The way we tell the stories differs from topic to topic. She lays out each subject in two chapters. She first tells the story of suffering, explaining the issues at hand, and then in the second chapter tries to help us tell a better story. She brings the Gospels into play with these topics, helping us view the subjects through that lens.
Central to the responses to the stories of suffering is compassion. She writes that "Compassion erases the false line between loving thy neighbor and loving thyself" (p. 8). As I read her book I could see how the stories of suffering that she had reported on had affected her, but rather than leading to cynicism, it called forth a sense of compassion and understanding. To give an example here, when she discusses COVID, which has divided our nation, and often lead to vitue-sharing on both sides, she lifted up the effects on children and their schooling. It's good to remember that children were caught in the middle of battles and they suffered greatly, in a variety of ways that we're still seeing revealed. In creating an alternative mythology of COVID, she notes that there isn't much to be said about the federal response to the pandemic, which was a mess. So, she invites to consider how to tell a better story that is rooted in compassion and draws us together rather than separate us, which is the reality we face at this moment. That involves letting go of the politicized responses and following compassion to places where politics can't go. That is the heart of the matter here. Politics tends to get in the way of actually responding to suffering.
McNeel doesn't offer us a full set of answers, but she does point us in the right direction, one that seeks to overcome the polarized nature of our responses to suffering. She speaks in the book of the value of taking up our crosses, but she also understands that this has tradeoffs. She recognizes that suffering is inevitable in life, the question is how do we respond. When she speaks of the cross she understands it to be "a rebuke of power-hungry systems and those who maintain them." (p. 179).
There are books that explain the realities of life, and McNeel does that here. However, she does much more. She reveals pathways to healing. It won't be easy. There will be suffering and sacrifice involved. But, there is hope. It won't be found in the government. It will take something that involves our lives given to God and others, especially to those on the margins who suffer the most. Thus, she seeks to turn on its head Nietzche's belief that "What is injurious to me is injurious in itself." Rather than this perspective, she offers "What is injurious to you is injurious to me." (p. 185). Indeed.
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January 13, 2025I had an Advance Reading Copy, so I don’t feel like I can really rate this book fairly since I never saw the completed version.
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