Review
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Title: No Division Among You: Creating Unity in a Diverse Church
Author: Richard Eyre, (editor)
Publisher: Deseret Book
Genre: Religious nonfiction
Year Published: 2023
Number of Pages: 142
Binding: Paperback, ebook
ISBN: 978-1-63993-183-5
Price: $11.99-17.99
Reviewed by Ryan Ward for the Association of Mormon Letters
Looking around the world today, we are struck by the widespread and stark division. Things seem to be getting ever more polarized. The COVID-19 pandemic, along with the political issues highlighted and made more visible during the last 7 years, have brought things to a breaking point in the United States. Unfortunately, discord and division have become widespread among members of the Church. Many professed disciples of Christ find themselves at loggerheads with others in their church congregations, not to mention neighborhoods, cities, states, nations, and the world. As the opening line of this timely collection of essays states, “Church members, we have a problem” (ix). What can be done? How is unity to be achieved under such conditions?
No Division Among You doesn’t provide a definitive answer to this question. In fact, it states from the outset that it has no intention of even attempting to do so. What the book wants to do, more than anything else, is invite the reader to sit with the many faces of the problem, a pervasive one where “the division, discord, and tribalism, and the judging that comes with it, is inbred and systemic” (xi), and to begin to glimpse a better way made possible through the gospel of Jesus Christ. In this modest yet important goal, it succeeds.
The book is a collection of 14 essays written by members of the Church from different personal and professional backgrounds. Each essay tackles the problem of division from a different viewpoint. There are thoughtful Discussion Questions included after each essay to aid in book clubs or other forums. Thus, the book positions itself as a catalyst for self and group exploration and discovery. I can see it being used successfully to frame and guide family home evenings, firesides, youth meetings, Sunday School, Relief Society and Elder’s Quorum lessons, Ward and Stake Councils, and other discussions. If there is a unifying theme present throughout this diverse collection of essays, it is that “the things that unite us in the Church, particularly the wonderfully rarified doctrines of the Restoration–are vastly more beautiful and binding than the things that divide us” (xvi).
The essays offer a variety of practical, conceptual, and even theological musings on the topic of division and unity. Each essay has its own gems to unearth and many reward careful and repeat readings. As will be the case with any reader, I found myself drawn to some essays more than others. Kimberly Teitter’s thoughtful exploration of why diversity is not just a quirk but a necessity if we are to achieve our full divine and Zion potential, framed through a gardening metaphor based on her own experience trying to nourish and care for plants in the dry, inhospitable Utah climate, was particularly insightful. Ben Schilaty’s heartfelt request that members of the Church actually make an effort to spend time with and get to know the life circumstances of others who are different from them, while seemingly obvious, resonated strongly as being the simple yet profound answer to the lack of love and empathy that is so prevalent among our ranks. Bill Turnbull’s expansive view on the ultimate oneness of creation and how the Restoration points the way toward a reconciliation of fractured humanity and creation spoke deeply to me. Finally, Ronell Hugh’s incisive critique of how religion (including the positions of the Church) has been used far too often to sow racial division and hatred rather than foster unity and communion was a much-needed perspective that members would do well to sit with and contemplate.
No Division Among You will make most readers a bit uncomfortable in its juxtaposition of clearly, although not explicitly stated, differences in political identification and ideology. This is by design. And so, we have a quote from Neal A. Maxwell that centers a criticism of abortion and same-sex marriage sitting alongside a personal story about how to work towards consensus on policy regarding transgender issues. An agreement with a Black Lives Matter position on social and collective family arrangements and supports (in supposed, though not actual, opposition to the Church-endorsed nuclear family) sits next to an essay that fawns over the divinity of the US Constitution and approvingly references conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia quoting Oliver Cromwell. These and other somewhat jarring juxtapositions clearly illustrate the fact that a wide array of opinions and positions sit in uneasy tension with one another among our members.
As a jumping-off point for more discussion around these issues, the book is a resounding success. If there is a criticism to be made, it is with the fact that No Division Among You, as the most current position taken by the Church’s official publishing arm, reflects the sadly preliminary stage of this discussion in the Church. Those looking for a challenging dissection of these issues won’t find it here. It may be offputting or discouraging to some readers who feel deeply about social justice issues and the real hurt experienced by marginalized groups as a result of hateful ideologies, that the summary message from a large number of these essays is that “diversity is okay” (the book’s collaborators realized the word was so triggering to some prospective readers they nearly abandoned its use). In a world where the widespread embrace of conspiracy theories and harmful ideologies is literally killing people and fracturing society and community, is the real problem merely intolerance of different political opinions, or is it the fact that so many of our sisters and brothers in the Church support political and ideological positions that foment hatred and cause massive human suffering? Can we hope to attain unity as the body of Christ if we aren’t unified around issues of basic humanity? Does our initial covenant to bear one another’s burdens, mentioned in many of these essays, have a political dimension? How can we begin to truly envision and embrace a diverse and culturally vibrant international church?
These are more difficult, yet crucial discussions that need to take place at the individual, ward, and institutional levels. With its careful and considered broaching of the topic, No Division Among You could be part of a critical inflection point in regard to these difficult issues for the Church and its membership. I hope it serves as a catalyst for more in-depth explorations and discussions in the future.