The Moral Challenge of Homophily in the Light of Fratelli Tutti By Pope Francis

Abstract

Friendship is examined as an interpersonal relationship between individuals or groups. Social Scientists have used the concept of homophily bias to suggest that people have a natural tendency to associate with similar others along lines of race, religion, gender, socioeconomic status, etc. This phenomenon meets the saying that “birds of a feather flock together,” or “like attracts like.” Does it mean that homophily is a destiny or a principle to be necessarily followed in forming social bonds? To what extent does this phenomenon influence forging social friendships that promote peace, justice, and prosperity in human society? It is our common experience that human society suffers from different forms of social ills, including conflicts, racial discrimination, injustice, poverty, and corruption. All these social ills threaten peaceful coexistence, prosperity, and fulfilment. Heather Devere, a social ethicist, considers that friendship can be an effective means of resolving social problems in society because it is vital for the promotion of social justice and peacebuilding. Whereas Devere speaks of friendship mostly in politics, Pope Francis, in his encyclical Fratelli Tutti, speaks of social friendship in all-embracing contexts of human encounter as a more effective means to overcoming social problems. While research has shown that friendship is instrumental to building a sustainable society, we may ask: what is the nature or kind of friendship that can effectively promote a desirable human society of peace, justice, solidarity, and prosperity?

To investigate the question, this paper makes use of the thoughts of Pope Francis in Fratelli Tutti to critique the concept of homophily bias as well as highlight the relevance of social friendship as an effective tool for a just, peaceful, prosperous, and inclusive human community. This approach is a promotion of the message of Fratelli Tutti, which upholds that interpersonal friendship should be forged based on the dignity of the person and not predetermined by factors of exclusions, inequality, discrimination, and utilitarianism.