I seldom blog about explicitly religious subjects, as it seems like the one topic of conversation guaranteed to alienate at least some of my friends and students. But the last election has me thinking about the relationship between Christianity and the mainstream political culture of the U.S.
Given the defeat of Republicans at the polls and, especially, the gains made by proponents of same-sex marriage, some Evangelical Christians have concluded that the nation has decisively turned away from Christian values.
I have two (very different) objections to this way of thinking. First, I think and believe that an open-minded reading (if such an endeavor is possible) of the New Testament suggests that Jesus and the early church were much more interested in people showing love and care for each other than in such subjects as abortion and same-sex relations--not to mention that the very definitions terms like "homosexual" are historically plastic and indeterminate. And where is the chorus of outrage from conservative Christian commentators over drone attacks that kill innocent children or the deaths of several thousand children each day from lack of food and simple medicines? Second, should we really expect the Christianity of the New Testament to become the basis of popular culture in any deep and meaningful way? It seems to me that the crux of Christianity is God becoming human and offering himself as a sacrifice to humanity even as they--literally--crucify him. Jesus washes the feet of his disciples even as he tells them that they will betray and abandon him on the cross. He urges people to confess their sins, their need for forgiveness, and to lay down their lives in humble service to God and humanity. Does this sound like the Republican Party or mainstream America?
Christians haven't lost America. They never had it.
Good words for thought! I guess your final statement depends on how one defines "Christian".
ReplyDeleteThanks--and good point, Karyn! My indignation over Christian presumptions of controlling mainstream American culture is certainly based on my own understanding of Christianity. I've just started reading a book by intellectual historian Mark Lilla that the point that the New Testament (unlike the Old Testament or the Koran) is not designed to govern a nation. It seems to me that the Gospels, especially, describe a faith of radical love and forgiveness in which humans are almost certainly to fall short. What hope, then, do nations have of approximating the New Testament? As Chesterton puts it, this sort of Christianity has not been tried and found wanting, but rather found too demanding and not tried. My personal view, not that anyone asked, is that Christians should put more energy into personal transformation and "low-hanging" acts of love that don't require raising millions of dollars for attack ads. We might start with the tens of thousands of children across the globe who die every day from lack of food and simple medicines.
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