It is National Public Health Week. On Monday, I went to a ‘Lunch and Learn’ discussion on Cultural Competency in health care. I came away with a lot of great things to think about.

For Christians in the Western tradition, Catholics and Protestants, next week is Holy Week. On Sunday, we will celebrate Palm Sunday and Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Episcopalians also call this The Sunday of the Passion. Not only do we celebrate Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, but we recall how the jubilant crowd, stirred up by the religious leaders, shout “crucify him” just days later and how this relates to our own lives.

Recently, the CEO of Mozilla stepped down after an online crowd shouted out about his political contribution to a group opposed to same sex marriage. Now, those who oppose same sex marriages are calling this a blow to free speech. Perhaps all of this is connected.

First, let’s talk about freedom of speech. The U.S. Supreme Court considers spending money on political campaigns speech, and believes that billionaires have the right to speak thousands or millions of times more loudly than average citizens. The Koch brothers are taking advantage of this to make sure that their views are widely heard, a privilege the rest of us don’t have. Democrats have responded by highlighting how the Koch brothers make their money and the impact it has had on communities where the Koch brothers are spreading their message. Like with the stepping down of the CEO of Mozilla, conservatives are saying this is an attack on Free Speech.

In other words, they imply that free speech applies to them when they present their viewpoints, but not to others who criticize their viewpoints. It gets to the basic issues of any of our freedoms. Where do our freedoms end and another’s begin? What sort of responsibility comes with our freedoms?

Brendan Eich used his freedom of speech in contributing to a group that opposed same sex marriage. Supporters of same sex marriage used their free speech in highlighting this and calling for Eich to step down. When Eich did step down, opponents of same sex marriage used their free speech to complain about this. It’s all good, right?

We see similar things playing out with Hobby Lobby which is trying to avoid having to provide women coverage for contraception on religious grounds, even though they invest their employees’ retirement funds in companies that make this contraception. Others are encouraging people to avoid shopping at Hobby Lobby.

In fact, whether we think about it or not, we are all engaged in daily interactions around our beliefs, freedoms and wellbeing. It is the social contract. Here, I’m using the idea more broadly than just the Jeffersonian argument that governments derive their power from the people. All institutions do, including corporations and to a certain extent, event religious institutions.

We all make choices based on what we believe is in our best interests, as we cling to our lives and liberties and pursue happiness. This is where cultural competency and connecting diversity comes in. There are some that seek ideological purity, trying to avoid contamination of ideas from the outside. It may be simply living in some sort of religious ghetto as immigrants did when first coming to the United States. It may be religious groups that cut themselves off from the outside world, like the Amish, or like some religious cults. It may be the avoidance of diversity by people with certain political beliefs who distrust immigrants, people of different racial, ethnic, or religious backgrounds. Such beliefs taken to the extreme can result in holocausts or genocides.

The social fabric of our lives are changing and challenge our thoughts about the social contracts we’ve formed. We now join social networks where we can connect with a much more diverse group or people, or build our filter bubble and only befriend those with similar beliefs. We can make our shopping decisions based on whether or not people share these beliefs. We can clamor for the head of an organization to step down or complain about others clamoring that way. Is it all good?

How does this relate to cultural competency and connecting to diversity? How does this relate to Holy Week? In various places in the New Testament, Christians are told they are the body of Christ and reminded to embrace the differences that different members or parts of the body bring.

On The Sunday of The Passion, we remember how the crowds clamored for the destruction of the body of Christ. Perhaps we are doing this still today as we build walls and disconnect from those with different beliefs and backgrounds.

Last Sunday, the lectionary had the lesson about the death of Lazarus. The priest at the church I attend spoke about how ugly death is, about the stench of death. In modern American funeral homes, we’ve hidden that ugliness behind flowers and platitudes. She spoke about how important it is to face the ugliness of death so that we can more fully appreciate the resurrection.

Perhaps there is something similar as we think about our social networks and the larger body of Christ. As we shout “crucify him” about people whose beliefs differ from our own, as we tear apart our social networks, damage our social contracts, and tear apart any sort of body of believers we are part of, let’s look for resurrection and the opportunity to reconnect with diversity.