Survey researchers portray Americans as polarized in our attitudes on key issues. We are deeply divided about how much power the federal government should have, immigration policy, gun control, global warming, abortion laws, the health-care system and protecting the environment.
While history tells us that we have survived rifts in the past, today's divide seems deeper. In order to go beyond the numbers, I looked into two of the many aspects of everyday life that divide us: humor and patriotism.
My wife and I recently took trips that provided us a close-up look at differences in how we live and entertain ourselves in America. First, we visited Branson during what the Branson folks called Veterans Week. Then, a few months later, we attended a seminar-type gathering of progressive folks for an event sponsored by The Nation magazine. There, journalists gave talks and discussed the issues of the day, and we were entertained by a nationally known comedian.
People just looked different at the two venues. A comedian at a Branson show quipped at the beginning of his routine, "Is it fat in here or is it just me?" and he might have added "and old." At the gathering of progressives, while still "old," people were less so, and seemingly less overweight. In Branson, reminders of patriotism and religiosity are omnipresent.
I received veteran discounts at all the shows we attended and stood to be honored for my service as a stateside draftee company clerk during the Vietnam war. Flags lined the Branson streets. The parade consisted of veterans riding on trailers, a few military vehicles and antique and novel cars. Patriotic billboards were plentiful along Route 76, and there were permanent exhibits devoted to soldiers and religion ("Jesus" was playing at the Sight and Sound theater, and there's a permanent Veterans Memorial Museum).
From the shows we attended in Branson, we got the impression that themes of humor there seem to center around old age: "When you're old, your organs stop working and the ones that still work leak."; self-deprecation: "Took my kids to Six Flags, costs $40 apiece--that's a total of, uh ..."; rural folkways: The comedian tells the story of his young daughter who visited him in South Carolina. He tells a joke about gizzards. His daughter asks, "Can humans have gizzard cancer?" Then came jokes about problems with conventional institutions: "Divorce starts when you find all your stuff on the front lawn and ends when the judge orders you to give it all back."
Humor at The Nation event dealt with religion and politics. Comedian John Fugelsang's routine included religious and political jokes. "I feel about Jesus the way I do about Elvis: I love the guy, hate his fan club," and his characterization of Jesus as a Republican candidate for president with all the attributes that Republicans dislike, such as inclusiveness and social justice.
The punch line for his joke about Jesus dressed in sandals and wearing a beard was, "That guy couldn't get a job at McDonald's." The contrast between humor at the two ends of the divide show that what's funny in one context could be heresy and blasphemy, even traitorous, in the other.
At The Nation seminar meeting, Veterans Day was months in the past, and patriotism was far less jingoistic, and more about the meaning of nationalism and its consequences. Several speakers exclaimed their love of country, but within a context of accepting the complete history, both positive and negative.
In Branson on one billboard we saw the following: "We kneel for the cross and stand for the flag." At The Nation, we heard David Zarin talk about his book "The Kaepernick Effect," in which he offers compelling and detailed analysis of the consequences of Colin Kaepernick first sitting during the national anthem at a preseason NFL game in 2016 and later "taking a knee."
He described both the success of the movement and the sometimes violent reaction to it. He argued that Kaepernick's kneeling became a symbol of resistance and hope for minority high school, college and professional athletes. In Branson, it means disrespect and disloyalty.
Can the divide in our country be so great that shared humor and pride are highly improbable? If unity means agreement about what's funny and what's patriotic, then it is surely out of reach.
Yet we have friends and family with whom we do not share beliefs and values. Sometimes maintaining those relationships is more important than politics or religion. It might be enough to confine humor to knock-knock and chickens-crossing-the-road jokes, and to politely ignore references to religious beliefs. We avoided confrontations at Branson and kept our vacation to Branson out of conversations at the The Nation event.
Arlie Hochschild in her book "Strangers in Their Own Land" discovered that understanding deeply rooted ways of living tell a more complete story of what divides us than attitudes and opinions. What people believe and say is a reflection of how they see themselves situated in society.
Whether conservative or progressive, we all need to laugh and be proud. Accommodating each other at the ends of the divide about humor and patriotism may be the challenge of our times.
Jeff Nash is a retired sociologist living in Fayetteville.