A "Vox Blogoli" Response to Jonathan Rauch and the Atlantic Monthly
His Royal Blogness, Hugh Hewitt, has decreed a new "Vox Blogoli" in response to a selected paragraph from a new article in the Atlantic Monthly magazine written by Jonathan Rauch. I have taken the liberty of cutting and pasting the excerpt from Hugh's site to mine. Here it is:
Clearly I have more in common with my Evangelical friends than I do with my liberal Christian friends (who have now claimed the title, "Progressive Christians" in place of the old term, "liberal"). Even so, I consider members of both groups to be my friends...and more than that, my brothers and sisters in Christ!
Having said this, I am puzzled to see Mr. Rauch parallel "religious conservatives" with "insurgents and provocateurs" who "bomb abortion clinics" and are, to the right, what Michael Moore is to the left. In point of fact, I have always identified more with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jrs. of the world than with the "fierce activists" I am associated with in this article.
Of course, being merely mortal and vain, there are times when I dream of actually "provoking" my congregation on a Sunday morning! Generally speaking, however, I am more than content when I am able to keep them from dozing off during our 9:00 am worship! And never, ever have I planted an IED beneath their chairs to regain their attention! An insurgent I am not. In fact I am not ashamed or embarrassed to say that I have never bombed a single abortion clinic in my life. And, of the hundreds and even thousands of evangelical and conservative Christian leaders and believers that I have met and known, I cannot think of a single one who would consider such behavior to be a logical outgrowth of their faith.
I can only wonder if Jonathan Rauch has any friends who consider themselves to be "conservative Christians?" I can only wonder if he has ever met or ever even spoken with a "conservative Christian?" And I wonder if he has ever attended a worship service at a "conservative Christian" church?
From where I sit, "conservative Christians" are the foundational center of American culture and its citizenry. Where Mr. Rauch appears to consider himself to be a moderate Democrat in contrast to the extreme left wingers, most evangelical and conservative Christians would similarly, more often than not, consider themselves to be moderate Republicans in contrast to the extreme right wingers!
Michael Moore clearly represents a marginalized fringe of the Democratic party (taken as as a whole) whereas conservative Christians are the moral center of the Republican party. Those who push the limits of propriety and grace in the Republican party, such as a David Duke or a Patrick Buchanan, usually find themselves shuffled out of the party into the realms of political purgatory until, repenting of their sin, they can be forgiven and restored.
The right wing equivalent of a Michael Moore would be shunned by the Republican party. The vast majority of party members would be embarrassed by the presence of such excess, such bitterness, such dripping vitriol and egotistical self-promotion.
That is not to say that Republicans do not have their share of loonies running around. Each political party lives in a big tent that is filled with a wide range of diverse characters. Loony constituencies in both parties elect loony politicos to City, County, State and Federal offices and the parties have to live with them and, insofar as it might be necessary, work with them.
But such nut-cases are not cheered, praised and encouraged by the "religious conservatives" in the Republican party. Most certainly they are not given the seat of honor next to a former Republican President during a nationally televised national convention.
In short, there is no real parallel between the Democratic and Republican parties at all, except for the fact that both are political parties!
The culture of the Democrats and their widely diverse and conflicting Constituencies bear little or no structural resemblance to the culture of the Republicans. Whereas the Democrats consist of a fragmented constellation of special interest groups each seeking to promote their particular agenda, the Republicans, "religious conservatives" included, consist of individuals and groups who share a common consensus as regards their core moral, ethical and cultural values.
The consequence of all this is that, at its heart, the Democrats tend to focus on political programs while the Republicans tend to focus on political principles.
As someone who once, in my teens, supported the presidential candidacies of Bobby Kennedy and "'>Clean Gene" McCarthy, I have the perspective of having been on both sides of the political divide. I wonder if Jonathan Rauch has ever been a Republican? or a "religious conservative?"
I have long since been inoculated against feelings of disgust when I see myself and millions of other Americans being unfairly and predjudicially caricatured as over-the-top, gun-waving, freedom stifling, ignorant, narrow-minded, bigoted Red-necked, White-skinned and Blue-nosed crazies simply because we go to church on Sundays and believe the Good News of God's saving love in Jesus Christ.
Jonathan Rauch's radical mis-read on "conservative Christians" reminds of a man who once served as Campus Pastor at Whitworth College in Eastern Washington. One day, he said, a student came into his office expressing his disgust and his determination not to believe in a God who takes pleasure in letting babies be born deformed, who causes planes to fall out of the sky, who sends earthquakes and floods to destroy entire cities, who calls his chosen few together and sends everyone else to hell and requires his followers to believe and do irrational and illogical things in order to be "saved."
"What do you have to say to that!" the student demanded.
The ("religiously conservative") Chaplain quietly replied, "I agree with you completely! I don't believe in a God like that either! If you have a few minutes I'd be happy to tell you about the God I do believe in!"
I would truly enjoy the opportunity of having Mr. Rauch join my Central Oahu congregation for worship on a Sunday morning. I have no doubt that, if his eyes and ears are closed to the reality of the experience, he will find it dull, boring and a waste of an otherwise perfectly good Sunday morning. I doubt very much that he would find myself or my congregation to be in any way a threat to his liberty or in any way reminiscent of Michael Moore.
If, on the other hand, Mr. Rauch's eyes and ears are open to the reality of the experience, I strongly suspect that his heart might just soften a little bit and maybe, perhaps, potentially, theoretically, discover that "religious conservatives" can be more normal than he might have first believed.
And, I would add, if he was open enough for God's Holy Spirit to get inside him even for a moment, he might find that he had a few spare minutes to let someone explain to him what they really do believe!
I like to think of myself as a "religious conservative" of the mainline Christian denominational variety. I do not consider Democrats to be particularly evil and sometimes I even vote for them! My congregation, while probably having more flavors of Republicans, is diverse enough politically to force us to depend more on Jesus Christ for our unity than our political viewpoints.“On balance it is probably healthier if religious conservatives are inside the political system than if they operate as insurgents and provocateurs on the outside. Better they should write anti-abortion planks into the Republican platform than bomb abortion clinics. The same is true of the left. The clashes over civil rights and Vietnam turned into street warfare partly because activists were locked out of their own party establishments and had to fight, literally, to be heard. When Michael Moore receives a hero’s welcome at the
Democratic National Convention, we moderates grumble; but if the parties engage fierce activists while marginalizing tame centrists, that is probably better for the social peace than the other way around.”
Clearly I have more in common with my Evangelical friends than I do with my liberal Christian friends (who have now claimed the title, "Progressive Christians" in place of the old term, "liberal"). Even so, I consider members of both groups to be my friends...and more than that, my brothers and sisters in Christ!
Having said this, I am puzzled to see Mr. Rauch parallel "religious conservatives" with "insurgents and provocateurs" who "bomb abortion clinics" and are, to the right, what Michael Moore is to the left. In point of fact, I have always identified more with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jrs. of the world than with the "fierce activists" I am associated with in this article.
Of course, being merely mortal and vain, there are times when I dream of actually "provoking" my congregation on a Sunday morning! Generally speaking, however, I am more than content when I am able to keep them from dozing off during our 9:00 am worship! And never, ever have I planted an IED beneath their chairs to regain their attention! An insurgent I am not. In fact I am not ashamed or embarrassed to say that I have never bombed a single abortion clinic in my life. And, of the hundreds and even thousands of evangelical and conservative Christian leaders and believers that I have met and known, I cannot think of a single one who would consider such behavior to be a logical outgrowth of their faith.
I can only wonder if Jonathan Rauch has any friends who consider themselves to be "conservative Christians?" I can only wonder if he has ever met or ever even spoken with a "conservative Christian?" And I wonder if he has ever attended a worship service at a "conservative Christian" church?
From where I sit, "conservative Christians" are the foundational center of American culture and its citizenry. Where Mr. Rauch appears to consider himself to be a moderate Democrat in contrast to the extreme left wingers, most evangelical and conservative Christians would similarly, more often than not, consider themselves to be moderate Republicans in contrast to the extreme right wingers!
Michael Moore clearly represents a marginalized fringe of the Democratic party (taken as as a whole) whereas conservative Christians are the moral center of the Republican party. Those who push the limits of propriety and grace in the Republican party, such as a David Duke or a Patrick Buchanan, usually find themselves shuffled out of the party into the realms of political purgatory until, repenting of their sin, they can be forgiven and restored.
The right wing equivalent of a Michael Moore would be shunned by the Republican party. The vast majority of party members would be embarrassed by the presence of such excess, such bitterness, such dripping vitriol and egotistical self-promotion.
That is not to say that Republicans do not have their share of loonies running around. Each political party lives in a big tent that is filled with a wide range of diverse characters. Loony constituencies in both parties elect loony politicos to City, County, State and Federal offices and the parties have to live with them and, insofar as it might be necessary, work with them.
But such nut-cases are not cheered, praised and encouraged by the "religious conservatives" in the Republican party. Most certainly they are not given the seat of honor next to a former Republican President during a nationally televised national convention.
In short, there is no real parallel between the Democratic and Republican parties at all, except for the fact that both are political parties!
The culture of the Democrats and their widely diverse and conflicting Constituencies bear little or no structural resemblance to the culture of the Republicans. Whereas the Democrats consist of a fragmented constellation of special interest groups each seeking to promote their particular agenda, the Republicans, "religious conservatives" included, consist of individuals and groups who share a common consensus as regards their core moral, ethical and cultural values.
The consequence of all this is that, at its heart, the Democrats tend to focus on political programs while the Republicans tend to focus on political principles.
As someone who once, in my teens, supported the presidential candidacies of Bobby Kennedy and "'>Clean Gene" McCarthy, I have the perspective of having been on both sides of the political divide. I wonder if Jonathan Rauch has ever been a Republican? or a "religious conservative?"
I have long since been inoculated against feelings of disgust when I see myself and millions of other Americans being unfairly and predjudicially caricatured as over-the-top, gun-waving, freedom stifling, ignorant, narrow-minded, bigoted Red-necked, White-skinned and Blue-nosed crazies simply because we go to church on Sundays and believe the Good News of God's saving love in Jesus Christ.
Jonathan Rauch's radical mis-read on "conservative Christians" reminds of a man who once served as Campus Pastor at Whitworth College in Eastern Washington. One day, he said, a student came into his office expressing his disgust and his determination not to believe in a God who takes pleasure in letting babies be born deformed, who causes planes to fall out of the sky, who sends earthquakes and floods to destroy entire cities, who calls his chosen few together and sends everyone else to hell and requires his followers to believe and do irrational and illogical things in order to be "saved."
"What do you have to say to that!" the student demanded.
The ("religiously conservative") Chaplain quietly replied, "I agree with you completely! I don't believe in a God like that either! If you have a few minutes I'd be happy to tell you about the God I do believe in!"
I would truly enjoy the opportunity of having Mr. Rauch join my Central Oahu congregation for worship on a Sunday morning. I have no doubt that, if his eyes and ears are closed to the reality of the experience, he will find it dull, boring and a waste of an otherwise perfectly good Sunday morning. I doubt very much that he would find myself or my congregation to be in any way a threat to his liberty or in any way reminiscent of Michael Moore.
If, on the other hand, Mr. Rauch's eyes and ears are open to the reality of the experience, I strongly suspect that his heart might just soften a little bit and maybe, perhaps, potentially, theoretically, discover that "religious conservatives" can be more normal than he might have first believed.
And, I would add, if he was open enough for God's Holy Spirit to get inside him even for a moment, he might find that he had a few spare minutes to let someone explain to him what they really do believe!
posted by Bird of Paradise at 8:26 PM
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