When Everybody Thinks The Other Side Is Crazy
Mind, conflict, and refusing to be played
If you feel like the whole country is having one long, loud nervous breakdown, you’re not wrong. Politics, religion, race, gender, vaccines, climate, immigration. It’s like everything became a loyalty test and everyone’s exhausted and mad.
So let’s just say it out loud.
America is not just “divided.” We are addicted to being against each other.
And that’s exactly where this week’s Christian Science Bible Lesson on Mind walks in and quietly goes, “Yeah, no. You’re bigger than this.”
The real battle is not Left vs Right
At the human level, it looks like the problem is “those people.”
You know. The ones who vote wrong, post wrong, parent wrong, interpret the Bible wrong, handle COVID wrong, think about race wrong.
But notice what all of that has in common.
It’s outside-in thinking:
“My peace depends on you changing.”
“My safety depends on us winning.”
“My identity depends on my tribe being right.”
That is pure matter-based consciousness in political drag.
It says power is in numbers, laws, guns, money, platforms, and who shouts loudest.
The Lesson on Mind is basically saying: that whole framework is a lie.
David didn’t beat Goliath by being a slightly better giant.
Jeremiah didn’t suddenly become “qualified” by learning rhetorical tricks.
Jesus didn’t say, “Blessed are the algorithm warriors.”
Over and over, the Bible shows people waking up to a different operating system.
Mind, not mob. Principle, not panic.
The battle “is the Lord’s,” which in practical terms means: the real conflict is always between two states of thought. Fear vs Love. Matter-based vs Spirit-based.
The American fight is not ultimately red vs blue.
It’s hypnotized thinking vs clear seeing.
How we’re being played
Let me be blunt. A lot of what passes for “engagement” right now is just monetized rage.
Outrage is profitable.
Fear keeps people scrolling.
Division is great for fundraising, campaigns, ratings, and clicks.
So we’re encouraged to see each other, not as “children of God,” but as threats, idiots, sheep, or enemies. That’s not accidental. It’s an entire economy built on keeping consciousness stuck in fight-or-flight.
And here’s where Mind comes in swinging.
Christian Science is fiercely clear that there is one Mind, not competing minds with competing realities.
If there’s one Mind, then:
No one is your real enemy consciousness is.
No one is your real savior politics are not.
No one is your real source the state, the market, your tribe, are not.
The moment we buy the story “those people are the problem,” we’ve already lost the real battle. We’re obeying fear instead of Mind.
What “one Mind” actually asks of you
This is where it stops being cozy.
If there is one infinite Mind, then every single person in this drama actually has access to wisdom, love, and sanity. Even the ones you cannot stand. Especially them. That’s the claim.
So if I’m seeing my fellow Americans as:
Hopelessly stupid
Permanently racist / sexist / evil
Beyond redemption
Not worth listening to
I’m not describing them. I’m exposing what I’m currently believing about Mind.
I’m basically saying, “Divine intelligence fails in that direction.”
Which is… awkward, if I claim to believe in infinite Mind.
This doesn’t mean pretending harmful behavior is fine. It means I refuse to agree that anyone’s true identity is their worst thought, their angriest post, or their loudest fear. That’s a huge distinction.
“Let this Mind be in you.” Not this algorithm. Not this party line. Not this generational trauma. Mind.
So how do we live this in the middle of the mess?
Let’s get practical. Because otherwise this is just pretty language floating above a train wreck.
1. Catch where you’re obeying the crowd
When you feel that hot “I cannot believe they said that” surge, pause and ask:
What story am I believing about this person?
Does that story come from Mind, or from my tribe, my trauma, my favorite commentator?
Not “what should a good Christian think” but “what does actual divine intelligence know right now?”
That question alone can short-circuit a whole spiral.
2. Translate the conflict into thought, not personalities
Instead of, “My uncle is a bigot” or “My daughter is brainwashed,” try:
“Here’s a belief I’m seeing: safety comes from control / sameness / dominance / purity.”
“Here’s another belief: if my side loses, I’m doomed.”
Now the enemy isn’t your uncle or your kid.
The enemy is a belief system that says matter is god, fear is wisdom, and Love is naïve.
Those are the Goliaths. Not the people holding the signs.
3. Decide who gets to be your God
Every time you think:
“If this election goes wrong, my life is over.”
“If they gain power, I’m unsafe forever.”
“If the economy crashes, I have no source.”
Ask, gently but ruthlessly: who just got crowned God in that sentence?
Because Mind, as Christian Science describes it, is not a sentimental idea. It’s actual cause, actual law, actual government. If we only trust it when our side wins, we don’t trust it. We’re just baptizing our politics.
That doesn’t mean passivity. Show up. Vote. Organize. March. Testify.
But don’t confuse human tools with divine authority. Once we do that, we’ll justify almost anything “for the cause.” History has receipts.
Love is not the soft option
Talking about Love in this climate can sound like spiritual bubble wrap. “Let’s all just get along.”
No. Absolutely not.
Real Love, grounded in Mind, will make you:
Refuse to demonize an entire group
Refuse to excuse cruelty, even from “your side”
Refuse to sacrifice anyone’s humanity for a win
That is not weak. That is costly.
Sometimes Love will have you stand up publicly and say, “This policy dehumanizes.”
Sometimes Love will have you apologize for how you’ve used your own voice.
Sometimes Love will have you walk away from echo chambers that feed your outrage addiction.
Love doesn’t mean you stop being clear. It means your clarity isn’t fueled by hate.
What this Lesson is really daring you to do
Underneath all the Bible stories this week is one gutsy invitation:
Stop letting America tell you who you are and what to fear.
Start letting Mind tell you who you are and what to see.
Jeremiah was told, “Don’t say I’m only a child.”
Maybe Mind is telling you, “Don’t say I’m only one voter. Only one voice. Only one person in Utah scrolling the news in my pajamas.”
David didn’t match Goliath on Goliath’s terms.
Maybe you don’t have to match the country’s rage with a “better” version of rage.
Jesus put a child in the middle of the disciples’ status argument and basically said, “This. This receptivity, this humility, this un-armoredness. That’s how the kingdom shows up.”
That’s savage, honestly. Because it undercuts every ego game on every side.
Try this experiment this week
Pick one “trigger” topic that makes your blood pressure spike. Immigration, policing, elections, gender, whatever it is.
Then:
Notice the physical reaction when you think about “those people.” Tight chest, clenched jaw, heat in your face.
Ask: “What would I have to be believing for this to feel so dangerous?”
“They have all the power.”
“If they win, God loses.”
“If we lose control, there is no protection.”
Now quietly, stubbornly insist:
There is one Mind.
That Mind is not panicked.
That Mind includes them and me.
That Mind has ideas that no one’s pundit has said out loud yet.
You’re not excusing anything. You’re relocating where the real power sits.
Then ask: “Okay, Mind. What’s one way I can embody You in this conversation or situation?”
Not fix America. Just shift this one interaction out of fear and into clarity.
It might be:
Listening without pouncing
Refusing to share a dehumanizing meme
Praying for the other side’s safety and sanity as fiercely as your own
Writing to a representative from a place of principle instead of vengeance
Tiny, yes. But consciousness shifts first. Structures follow.
And now I’m going to push you a little
If your spirituality can’t touch what’s happening in America right now, it’s decoration.
This Lesson on Mind is not here so we can feel cozy about a cosmic intelligence while we keep hating each other more efficiently.
It’s here to say:
You are not a puppet of your party, your feed, your fear.
You are not obligated to hate who your tribe hates.
You are not required to see anyone as less than the image of Mind, even when you fight their ideas with everything you’ve got.
That’s the scandal of one Mind.
You don’t get to weaponize it for “your” side.
You either let it reframe how you see everyone, or you’re just doing spiritual branding on top of tribal thinking.
So here’s my question for you, friend:
Where, in all this American chaos, are you secretly more loyal to your outrage than to Mind?
And are you willing, even just as an experiment, to let divine intelligence have the final say instead of your favorite narrative?
Because if even a handful of us did that honestly, consistently, we’d be a bigger problem for the conflict machine than any election ever could be.
