The Spirit of Tribalism Causing Division in America

When Tribes Rule, Truth Dies

The deep divisions in America today reveal something far more dangerous than partisan politics—they expose the rise of tribalism in the public square. The hostility we see is not mere disagreement; it is the reflex of one group rejoicing at the silencing of another.

I recognize this spirit. I grew up in the middle of Kampala, the capital of Uganda—a city where all 52 tribes of our nation converged. We were Baganda, and we were told we did not get along with the Acholi. As children, we didn’t understand the tension. We were expected to own it, respect it, observe it, and pass it on.

The Northerners were called “warrior tribes.” They had produced Idi Amin, who had brought our people pain, even deposing and murdering our king. So we hated them—not because of anything we had personally suffered, but because the script had already been written for us: “You do not get along with the Northerners.”

I remember the moment this became real to me. I had come to Christ as a boy, and one of my closest friends was Robert Okema, a Luo who lived just a few doors away. He was one of the kindest people I knew. I brought him home often, but the neighbors would whisper, “That Luo kid is bad for you. You cannot have him in your house.”

I would plead with them: Please, he’s my friend. I like him. But it did not matter. To them, he was of the wrong tribe—and that alone disqualified him.

That early wound—being told that someone’s tribe outweighed their character—etched itself into my memory. And when I look at America now, I see the same spirit resurfacing in new forms.

The Death of Dialogue

When a nation descends into tribalism, evidence no longer matters, dialogue no longer works, and reconciliation becomes impossible. The ultimate wish of one tribe is not coexistence but the elimination of the other.

The Bible warns of this very spirit: “If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other”(Galatians 5:15). America is walking that road. Executive actions pile up because tribes cannot agree, cannot trust, cannot yield. But governance by decree is not democracy—it is monarchy. And when a people refuse to reason together, they invite a king.

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