We Need the Beloved Community Now More than Ever

THIS SUMMER, WHILE working on a forthcoming book, I spent a great deal of time thinking, praying, and wrestling with identifying a moral vision and narrative that would be capable of uniting our country and counteracting its perilous levels of polarization. When I look back over American history, “the beloved community” stands out as perhaps the most hopeful and transformational moral vision, one that I believe can be recast and reimagined to unite most Americans around a bigger story of us. The beloved community combines civic ideals with deep spiritual and religious values—that’s why it’s a vision that can resonate across religions and with those who check “none of the above” on religious-identification surveys.

The term was coined in the early days of the 20th century by the philosopher-theologian Josiah Royce. However, it was Martin Luther King Jr., as well as other leaders in the civil rights struggle, who popularized the term. Dr. King spoke about the beloved community in a 1956 speech he gave at a rally following the Supreme Court decision desegregating buses in Montgomery, Ala. King said, “the end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the beloved community. It is this type of spirit and this type of love that can transform opponents into friends. It is this type of goodwill that will transform the deep gloom of the old age into the exuberant gladness of the new age. It is this love which will bring about miracles in the hearts of [people].”

In contemporary terms, the key to realizing the “beloved community” is to build a nation in which neither punishment nor privilege is attached to one’s race, skin color, nationality, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other human difference. While this represents a very high bar, it must become a barometer by which we measure political leadership and every piece of public policy. In other words, not only would every person, all of whom are made in the image of God, be equally valued and respected, their inherent value and dignity would be affirmed.

“Beloved” signifies what we most value, love, and cherish. From a spiritual and religious perspective, beloved starts with an understanding and belief that we are beloved by God, that God knows everything about us—all of our vices, our shortcomings, and our contradictions—and still loves us anyway.

Beloved is also rooted in mutual regard and mutual concern. Beloved requires a commitment to empathy, which has been glaringly deficient in our body politic. Combining these, a beloved community is one in which radically inclusive love is operative and the norm. It is a community in which we are constantly seeking to build and restore right relationships. In beloved community the needs of the most vulnerable are recognized and prioritized, because the moral test of our society is how the most vulnerable people are faring, particularly children, the stranger, and the marginalized. I hope this vision resonates, and I can’t wait to share more about how we can practically and courageously work together to achieve it.