Aristotle is credited with saying, "Change in all things is sweet." And perhaps no change of late is as sweet as that among young Christians in the public square. While the last several decades of Christian engagement have often been marked by partisan tactics and a polemical tone, a new generation is changing its political tune. These individuals aren't leaving the public square altogether, but they are looking for less divisive and less partisan ways to engage. They want to follow Jesus without fighting the culture wars.
Here are seven reasons why this new political approach is a good thing:
1. Nobody likes a whiner.
Two-thirds of Americans believe we have a major problem with civility. And yet during the past several decades, many non-believing Americans' only glimpse of Christians has been picketing masses, condemnatory street preachers and shouting pastors on cable news shows. While many Christians believed their participation in the culture wars was important, crucial even, some failed to realize its tragic side effects. As New York Times columnist Ross Douthat has pointed out, culture-warring Christians express themselves "almost exclusively in the language of loss, disappointment, anger, antipathy, resentment, and desire for conquest."
2. The "culture wars" divide unnecessarily.
The culture wars, like all wars, seek to divide. They pronounce our differences rather than celebrate them. They highlight disagreement instead of common ground. As we rush angrily into the public square to fight off our perceived enemies, we're increasingly fragmenting not just society but the Christian Church itself. The culture wars force us to see brothers and sisters as enemies rather than friends with whom we may disagree. Jesus prayed in the Gospel of John, "Holy Father, protect them by the power of Your name, the name You gave Me, so that they may be one as we are one." Wherever Christians fight the culture wars, unity is almost always absent and Jesus' prayer is ignored.
3. It's killing us.
The exodus of young people from the Church has been widely reported, but their stories leave us with the lingering question: "Why are they leaving?" According to sociologists Robert Putnam and David Campbell in their recent article in Foreign Affairs, our overt political partisanship is partly to blame. Looking over the data, they conclude, "In effect, Americans (especially young Americans) who might otherwise attend religious services are saying, 'Well, if religion is just about conservative politics, then I'm outta here.'"
4. The Church is cheapened.
When the Church becomes involved in partisan politics, it allows the community of believers to be reduced to a voting bloc. We're like a teacher's union or senior citizens -- a constituency that must be pandered to and pleased during campaign speeches so it'll cast its votes for a particular party. Can you hear the refrain? "Politicians and inside-the-beltway hucksters, come one, come all. The Christians are yours to be had."
5. We're getting used.
American Christians are a cheap date. We allow politicians to court us with a few empty promises only to spend their time in office apologizing for not keeping any of them. When speculating on the question in electoral politics of "who is using whom," James Davison Hunter writes, "The obvious answer is to say that it is the candidates who cynically use the symbols of the culture war and thus one constituency or the other in the service of their own political ambitions."
6. Our approach isn't working anyway.
The strategy of the religious right has been largely a failure. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent, and countless man hours have been invested -- yet there has been little to no progress on most culture war issues. Abortion is still legal, gay marriage is still being debated, and the size of government continues to grow. But switching teams and joining the religious left isn't the answer either. They employ the same partisan approach as the right, except on opposing sides of the issues. As one philosopher has observed, "the emerging Religious Left is just a funhouse mirror of the Religious Right."
7. The Gospel suffers.
While preachers are qualified to speak on morality, they don't have the expertise to speak as authorities on the particulars of complex public policy. Often, however, religious leaders push well outside of their core competencies on everything from economic and tax issues to foreign policy. When people hear Christians speaking foolishly about political realities, should we not expect them to tune us out when we speak about the Gospel? If they see the irrationality of Christian partisanship, how can they expect anyone to believe other incredible claims about God and Jesus?
For the reasons listed here and more, the Christian Church should -- and is beginning to -- change its political tune. For the sake of our faith and the sake of the Gospel, the Church needs such a shift -- and we need it now.
Jonathan Merritt is author of 'A Faith of Our Own: Following Jesus Beyond the Culture Wars.' He has published more than 300 articles in outlets such as USA Today, The Washington Post and CNN.com. Follow him on twitter @jonathanmerritt.
Editor's Note: This article was first published by Relevant Magazine<.
Follow Jonathan Merritt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jonathanmerritt
Jesus gave out:
Free food,
free wine,
free education,
free health care,
and told his follower to do the same,
without fanfare and self aggrandizement.
Jesus told us to take care of the poor, and told the rich they had almost no chance at heaven.
That's at least 7 reasons.
Merritt starts off with the assertion that Aristotle is credited with saying, "Change in all things is sweet.". That's sweet, but besides being irrelevant, it's unsourced. I studied Aristotle for years, have tremendous respect for him, and would like to know IF he even said that, and if so, WHERE.
More importantly,however, how can anybody be taken seriously when they put as much blame for their oppression on the victims who dare to fight for liberation from their oppression as they do on their oppressors? Merritt claims "The culture wars, like all wars, seek to divide. They pronounce our differences rather than celebrate them. They highlight disagreement instead of common ground. As we rush angrily into the public square to fight off our perceived enemies, we're increasingly fragmenting not just society but the Christian Church itself. The culture wars force us to see brothers and sisters as enemies rather than friends with whom we may disagree. "
[ continued in second post ...]
Merritt's kind argued at the time that it wasn't the white Christian slave-owners who were the "trouble-makers", but the African slaves and their agitator friends from the North who were responsible for "disturbing the peace".We didn't need to fight a civil war to liberate the slaves. Given several MORE centuries, "non-partisanship" would have resolved the problem.
And, if only those loud-mouth women hadn't don't all that agitating, then we wouldn't have a situation today when there are even MORE women voters than us male voters!
And why don't gays just shut up and let us fire them at will, and kick them out apartments we would rather rent to "normal" people like ourselves?
How can anybody be taken seriously when they want us to be impressed with nonsense because it has been spoken by "one philosopher"? The ONLY similarity between liberals and conservatives is that they are fighting for their positions, but there is little similarity between the positions nor the methods used to fight for them. In fact, as I show at http://liberalslikechrist.org/liberalvsconservativemartyrs.html , conservatives have a long-established record of violence, including assassination, against their liberal rivals, while liberals have been much more likely to use nothing more violent than WORDS - rather than SWORDS - against conservatives.
Rev. Ray Dubuque, founder of Liberals Like Jesus
Ever heard of sectarian wars? Every day. 24/7.
Thy carbohydrated-ness is renown throughout the land
For thy appendage has touched our humble Pastafarian flock
And in our praise to thee, do we thank thee for extending your noodley appendage.
For a life of dogma sure beats living in the real world!
To learn more: http://www.venganza.org/
The church is far from agreement on most issues today and can hardly be considered a "voting block" anymore. Although commentators usually attempt to "spin" us into the belieff that the Christian Right,Evangelicals, Catholics,Southern Baptists etc. all hold the same views,be assured that there are many opinions within the church and are hardly walking in "lock step."
Good post. PEACE
But switching teams and joining the religious left isn't the answer either. They employ the same partisan approach as the right, except on opposing sides of the issues. As one philosopher has observed, "the emerging Religious Left is just a funhouse mirror of the Religious Right."
Who is the religions left?
When I see them referred to in stories like this I seriously wonder who they are. I think it is pretty obvious who the Religious Right are, but who are the Religions Left? Even the quote isn't attributed to anyone. I'd like to know who the author is actually referring to.
2. "The culture wars divide unnecessarily." No. The culture "war" is the expression of pre-existing and deep differences in world views. For Christians, that difference is essential to faith. We can't be relativists---God speaks in clear absolutes.
3. "It's killing us." The exodus from the church began in earnest in the 60's with the rise of radical liberalism. Where churches return to traditional, faithful Christianity, membership is rising, seminaries have waiting lists, and religious orders are experiencing their first growth in five decades.
4. "The Church is cheapened." Really? I think far cheaper is the notion of being a cafeteria Christian, pandering to every "alternate" worldview, unfaithful and shallow. Real value stands for itself, without shame or apology.
5. "We're getting used." If a politician heeds the faithful for selfish reasons, the result is the same to me. Their motivations are between them and God.
6. "Our approach isn't working anyway." Reality check. See, for example, the latest polls that reflect, for the first time, a majority of Americans identifying as pro-life. We know who wins in the end, so we persevere.
7. "The Gospel suffers." A pastor needn't be well-versed in public policy to know that the HHS mandate is wrong, abortion is murder, gay people cannot marry, pornography is evil, etc. My pastor's application of the Gospel to current events is timely and needed.
A christian nation that has wars for corp profits and massive poverty for children and supported by the evangel movement in america. maybe the young are on to something leaving the church in droves. maybe not.
Jesus had the most problems with the religious zealots of his time. no different today if he came back for a rerun.