Imaginary Participation in the Ukrainian War and the Vaccine Skeptics

Why the breakdowns in Sense-making is challenging the coalition building needed by institutions, including the Church

When the pandemic began I immediately saw that responding to "the pandemic" was a matter of the sense-making communities the people I knew were involved in.

Those who primarily did "sense-making" from mass media news sources quickly got on board with the isolate/vaccinate/mask regime. Those who didn't navigate life based on NPR, News Hour, Cable News (besides Fox) were much more hesitant.

Immigrants, homeless, black folk NOT in politics, those who pursued alternative medicine or alternative religions held back, some never joined the isolate/vax/mask regime. Conservatives (Fox types) mostly followed their sense-making leaders.

The ranks of the non-majority sense making grouping (not MSM, not FOX) is growing. Many of them simply never used media for sense making but navigated by non-screen-based experience.

Others had a rupture in their sense-making ecosystem. It might have been an illness the "regular" doctor couldn't resolve. It might have been a religious deconstruction (but not one into Blue church).

Their deconstruction was usually selective and inconsistent. The one consistency is that they no longer did sense-making through a more mainstream institution.

Outsourcing your sense-making is all about trust. Do you commit to the actions of the "voice" you are hearing through some institution. A lot of it is about imaginary participation. Are you cheering for player X or player Y in the drama on your screens.

The sense-making "non-aligned" is going to grow. That's going to make the sort of coalition-building necessary for institution-building increasingly challenging. This has everything to do with religious institutions and their crises today.