The Danger of Dichotomy

¹¹ On the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and roasted grain.  ¹² The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land, and the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year.

¹³ Once when Joshua was by Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing before him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you one of us or one of our adversaries?”  ¹⁴ He replied, “Neither, but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and he said to him, “What do you command your servant, my lord?”  ¹⁵ The commander of the army of the Lord said to Joshua, “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so. (Joshua 5:11-15)

I wonder if you have ever stumbled across a tendency within yourself or within humanity to see the world as only open to 2 possibilities. Have you witnessed a tendency to view the world in terms of “this” or “that”? As though there were always exactly 2 options in any given situation. As if the whole of creation is made up of binaries. Either--or.

Perhaps it starts innocently with sports rivalries, or ice cream flavors, Mac or PC, hamburgers or hotdogs. These are of course personal preferences, and no one gets hurt usually by choosing a side.

But soon this tendency to examine issues as if they only have two sides, this tendency takes on higher stakes. Our American political system is basically set up as a binary: Democrats or Republicans. Our understanding of sexuality is wrongly based on a binary: hetero or homo.

There are games that even force us into these dichotomies. Have you ever played “Would you rather?” I googled this question to get an example and found this rather dark one:
Would you rather no one show up to your wedding or your funeral?

Even when we know there are multiple possibilities, we still tend to classify along a binary: UCC or non-UCC (who ever heard of St. Matthews non-UCC Church?) Even when we know there are many world religions, we sometimes think about Christian and non-Christian.

Do you recognize this tendency? Do we see it in our life of faith?

It is a rather simplistic way of surveying the world, breaking each matter down into precisely 2 opposing sides. And of course, implicit and often explicit in this tendency is the need to label one side as good and the other as bad. We move beyond simple preferences to opposition. Therapists call it “black-and-white thinking” and label it a cognitive error. The tendency to view the world in extremes.

This tendency was on display in the news a few years ago when one of the men on the TV show Duck Dynasty was asked on a news program how to deal with ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. After quoting several bible verses, he finally concludes that we must convert them or kill them. Two options.  Now it seems our dichotomies have grown deadly.

This tendency to bifurcate life and faith into two opposing sides creates an Us-Them mentality.

We are no longer talking about plain or peanut M&Ms! Convert them or kill them.

Joshua 5 is a very brief story that actually does not move the book along in plot or in geography. The Israelites have just crossed the river Jordan in a Second Exodus event. Waters parted. Dry ground. Safe passage into the Promised Land. After all those years of wandering in the wilderness, they are safe in the Promised Land.

And they have just celebrated the Passover by eating of the land’s produce.

It seems they are making good progress as they head toward the first city they must conquer, Jericho. Jericho where they will fight the battle and, well, the walls come tumbling down. So they are in between the Jordan River and Jericho the city.

Joshua lifts up his eyes at one point on this journey and sees a person standing there with a sword in his hand. Here Joshua is, a newcomer to the area, anticipating what lies ahead in the city of Jericho, probably tired from the journey…. And here standing before him is an unfamiliar person with a sword.

In his fear and trepidation, Joshua asks a question:

In Hebrew, it says, “Are you to us or to our enemies?

The NRSV says, “Are you one of us or one of our adversaries?”

Seems like a legitimate question. Joshua fears for his personal safety and wants to know which side this person is on. Are you to us or are you to them?

Joshua, for whatever reason, has fallen into the binary trap, into dichotomous thinking. He’s dividing reality into us and them. There are only two ways of being according to Joshua---to us and to them. Are you one of us or not?

And in case you think I’m reading too much into Joshua’s question. And accusing Joshua unfairly when he is just simply asking a question. The answer to Joshua’s question shows us clearly that Joshua has asked the wrong type of question.

The text says that this unfamiliar person replies. Remember the question: Are you for us or for our enemies?
The person says, “NO”

Well, that’s not an answer to this type of question. When given a choice between “this” or “that,” you don’t say NO. You choose a side!  Mac or PC?  No!

Woodford Reserve or Angel’s Envy? No. It’s not the right answer------or is it?

The person’s reply immediately bursts open this binary way of thinking within Joshua. The answer Joshua receives forces him to stop thinking in Us-Them ways. The answer will not give in to Joshua’s assumption about us and them.  It’s not about Us vs. Them. It’s not about choosing This or That.

But the person continues. No, I am the captain of God’s hosts or armies. Now we learn that this is no ordinary person, this is a messenger from God, this one is someone from God.

Again, the answer highlights Joshua’s simplistic us-them thinking. There is another option. It is not just For us or Against Us, there is also “From God.” A third category, another option.

NO, I am not for you and NO I am not for your enemies. I am with God. And when you are with God, you don’t have time for this Us-Them mentality. There are other options. God is not interested at this moment in the story in choosing sides, in getting involved in our tendency to think Us-Them.

After the Captain refuses to follow along with the dichotomous thinking, Joshua responds by throwing himself on the ground as if he has met a true messenger of God. The captain tells Joshua to remove his sandals for he is standing on holy ground. It is a reference back to Moses and the burning bush in Exodus. Then, the narrative just ends abruptly and continues on with the Jericho story.

This is Joshua’s burning bush moment. A moment of discernment, a moment of calling. And Joshua got the question wrong. Joshua wanted to know whether it was this or that. Joshua thought there must be only two possible answers to his question. One right, one wrong.

And what Joshua learned while standing on holy ground is that other options exists.

Where might we have the courage to say NO, I am with God.

Some say we can either have JUSTICE or PEACE. Christians say no – both.

Some in our state insist that folks can be divided into men and women only. Christians say no, It’s more beautiful and complicated than that.

Some adopt an US vs. THEM mentality. God’s children say “We are all part of the family.

When we are given the false dichotomy of this or that, we are encouraged to adopt an US-THEM mentality, how might we answer the question with a No?

Once there was a wise old woman, a witch, who lived in a small village. The children of the village were puzzled by her--her wisdom, her gentleness, her strength, and her magic. One day several of the children decided to fool the old woman. They believed that no one could be as wise as everyone said she was, and they were determined to prove it. So the children found a baby bird and one of the little boys cupped it in his hands and said to his playmates, "We'll ask her whether the bird I have in my hands is dead or alive. If she says it's dead, I'll open my hands and let it fly away. If she says it's alive, I'll crush it in my hands and she'll see that it's dead."

And the children went to the old witch and presented her with this puzzle. "Old woman," the little boy asked, "This bird in my hands – is it dead or alive?" The old woman became very still, studied the boy's hands, and then looked carefully into his eyes, "It's in your hands," she said. (Carter Heyward, Touching Our Strength: The Erotic as Power and the Love of God, 73.)

A false dichotomy was presented to the wise woman. And she recognized it as such.

It’s in your hands.

A Benediction (Or Miscellaneous Thoughts)

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