Bear Left, Then My Place Is On Your Right--You Can't Miss It

Here's how roads were laid out where I grew up
as a young child.

When our family moved to the Shenandoah Valley from eastern Kansas in the 40's we had to get used to people giving us directions in terms of 'going left' or 'turning right' rather than referring to points north, south, east or west. The latter made sense in parts of the Midwest where rural roads are laid out like city blocks of a square mile each, but for finding one's way among winding roads in the Virginia countryside, not so much.

When it comes to locating each other's ideological and faith positions, we need to avoid creating caricatures of people as being located simply as a part of "the left" or "the right". As someone has wisely noted, that all depends on who we are standing beside.

As believers, we need to think instead of "above" or "below", and to discern together what is in line with God's will and what, by contrast, represents short sighted and near sighted earth-based wisdom. In other words, what does it mean for us to sincerely pray that "[God's] will to be done on earth as it is in heaven"?

God's people seek to orient themselves by having a common compass set to their pole star, then seeking the best means possible toward their desired ends--as as in "doing justice, loving mercy and walking humbly with our God." 

But to polarize, stigmatize and stereotype others because they may not all use the same language or apply their faith in exactly the same ways as we, then lump one group (the left) with Hamas and the other (the right) with Hitler is just not rational or helpful.