I
have been called out, and I confess to avoiding the moral elephant in the room.
Given
the divisive nature of our national ethos, to take a stand on any issue is to accept the inevitable binary response—love/hate,
pro/con, right/wrong—and any attendant hostility directed at the person,
rather than the issue on the table. There is no middle ground—no effort,
intention, or desire to compromise or even to understand. It’s all about total
agreement and compliance, and few will accept the possibility of being wrong. Obstinacy
oozes from one end of the ideological spectrum to the other, but the bell curve
skews heavily to the right.
By
nature, calling, and training, I am a reconciler—a resolver of conflict. I
believe any conflict can be resolved if all parties truly want resolution, but
in our divisiveness the priority is “winning the fight,” not resolving the
conflict.
One
final disclaimer: I reject blanket generalizations. Individuals and groups
within any faction will vary in the degree to which they align with any
political, theological, or philosophical position. Human cognition is not an
on/off switch; it is a graduated scale; therefore, not everyone within the
categories I challenge will be culpable. If the shoe fits…
With
those caveats, I take my stand: there is within the American Evangelical
Right a faction[1]
that overlaps with a faction within the political right (including parts
of the Republican party[2])
and that overlap brews heresy. For 50 years that
faction of evangelicalism has voted for Republicans ONLY because of
their position on abortion. Nothing else seems to matter.
My
quarrel is not with their opposition to abortion. I oppose abortion, as do many
pro-choice advocates; but that’s material for another blog.
My
quarrel is that in their obsession with that singular issue they tolerate an
ideology that selectively dismisses virtually every teaching of Jesus regarding
human relationships and community. Heresy is not necessarily false; indeed, in
most cases heresy contains some truth—in this case, twisted by its selective omissions.
In
ultra-conservative Christianity Today, Ronald Sider wrote that our first
priority “must be internal integrity, not external (threat or influence). What
a tragedy for evangelicals to declare proudly that personal conversion and new
birth in Christ are at the center of their faith and then to defy biblical
moral standards by living almost as sinfully as their pagan neighbors.” Sider
continues:
“The findings in
numerous national polls conducted by highly respected pollsters like The Gallup
Organization and The Barna Group are simply shocking. ‘Gallup and Barna,’
laments evangelical theologian Michael Horton, ‘hand us survey after survey
demonstrating that evangelical Christians are as likely to embrace lifestyles
every bit as hedonistic, materialistic, self-centered, and sexually immoral as
the world in general.’ Divorce is more common among
"born-again" Christians than in the general American population. Only
6 percent of evangelicals tithe. White evangelicals are the most likely
people to object to neighbors of another race. Josh McDowell has pointed out
that the sexual promiscuity of evangelical youth is only a little less
outrageous than that of their nonevangelical peers.”[3]
For
over a century and a half, evangelicals have offered a “salvation only” approach
to Christianity tied to a rigidly described and passionately anticipated
after-life while ignoring any gospel mandate to shape just and compassionate
human community in this life. Such imbalance is heresy.
I’ve
had numerous conversations with evangelical acquaintances who run the gamut
from seminary-trained clergy to vaguely aware laity, and their common political
and social strategy is to wait until Jesus returns. He’ll take care of it.
The
evangelical focus is individual salvation, individual morality (primarily, if
not exclusively, sexual morality), and individual responsibility. There is
virtually no guideline for social responsibility or even how to live once the
individual is “saved,” other than don’t drink, smoke, dance, or have sex
outside of marriage.
I
affirm the idea of society based on a balance between personal and social
responsibility. Such a model reflects the kingdom ethos taught by Jesus. But in
the meantime, how do we affect justice and peace while we’re waiting for that
to happen? It’s been 2,000 years!
But
the passage of Roe v. Wade in 1973 activated the social consciousness of
evangelicals, leading many to split their energies between a salvation only rhetoric,
and an anti-abortion activism. The result is some of the most un-Christlike behavior
in human history, which is heresy.
Pollsters
George Gallup and George Barna reinforce Gandhi’s observation that professing
Christians are “so unlike your Christ”.
Even
Christianity Today acknowledges the disconnect—and takes a difficult
stand. In a 2018 issue, a blistering
op-ed described what moderate and progressive Christians (or anyone with even a
cursory understanding of the life and teachings of Jesus) have been saying
about our immediate past president. In part, it said,
“His Twitter feed
alone—with its habitual string of mischaracterizations, lies, and slanders—is a
near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused. … To the many evangelicals who continue to support Mr.
Trump in spite of his blackened moral record, we might say this: Remember who
you are and whom you serve. Consider how your justification of Mr. Trump
influences your witness to your Lord and Savior. Consider what an unbelieving
world will say if you continue to brush off Mr. Trump’s immoral words and
behavior in the cause of political expediency. If we don’t reverse course now,
will anyone take anything we say about justice and righteousness with any
seriousness for decades to come? Can we say with a straight face that abortion
is a great evil that cannot be tolerated and, with the same straight face, say
that the bent and broken character of our nation’s leader doesn’t really matter
in the end…”[4]
…as long as he appoints anti-abortion judges? [italics are my addition]
Richard
Rohr said, “The evangelical support of Trump will be an indictment against its
validity as a Christian movement for generations to come.”
It’s
a matter of priorities, values, and truth, and the end does not justify the
means. But the heresy imbedded in the religious right has infected a large portion
of those who occupy the right side of the legislative aisle.
Again,
heresy is not de facto false. It usually contains some element of truth,
albeit an element typically misleading by virtue more of what it excludes than
what it includes. Individual salvation and responsibility are valid concerns;
but Jesus framed his teachings, his ministry, and his life as a call to life in
a kingdom, and to deny kingdom responsibility is heresy.
That’s
how it looks through the Flawed Glass that is my world view.
Together in the Walk,
Jim
[1] In my observation, but with no
supporting data, the faction represents an overwhelming majority.
[2] Again, in my own limited
observation, it includes most of the Republican party.
