It's been so long since I've been in a crudely conservative context that self-righteous people seemed almost a conjuration, a mental construct, a straw-man or phantom from my past that I could use as a foil to gauge my own ideological development. But I forgot that someone, somewhere is listening to Rush Limbaugh right now and nodding and clapping vociferously like an autistic child singing the alphabet. Legalism and being pharisaical is so consciously avoided by those I know, Christian and non-Christian, that I have forgotten how appalling they can be. I do not think much about right and left, but obviously, someone does. I had entirely forgotten what "brow beating" looked like. Just about everything on this web site smacks of those clothed in religious certitude, the stagnant Pharisees whose religious constructs were stifling Christ's movement, his love, his transformative intention, his shalom. I know I am in a daily "den of iniquity" in this foul blue state with its liberal whackos with their political correctness. I wish some of the conservatives would simply interact more with people who aren't like them. Here in LA (often considered "not really America") or in any urban center for that matter, diversity is a fact and interaction with people of different stripes is unavoidable. How would people be changed through this exposure, I wonder? Would their definitions of certainty, truth, love, compassion, essentials of faith, would these things change? I am tempted to draw things in simple terms, to assume none of the people who write on such web sites have gone to college, something striking like that, so there's an excuse for the lack of compassion in their tone, for the lack of critical thought and strong sense of judgment for others. But the truth is, they probably have gone to colleges, but have been trained to think in fearful, exclusivistic ways theologically and psychologically. That which does not fit their narrow, rigid, reductionistic mind set has to be an attack from Satan on this edifice called "truth." I don't hate conservatives, but I am somewhat ashamed of them, if I can even say "them." How often do I tend toward discriminating others based on their views? Maybe the real enemy is not conservatives (who are trying to conserve what they hold to be essential, and largely attacked views), nor liberals, but polarization. And still, I wonder where the fear and hatred come from. Is it from having adopted a metanarrative from a small, persecuted people from ancient mesopotamia? How do we, as Americans, get the feeling that we are constantly being oppressed, that we are somehow under siege from the forces of Satan and immorality. By any standard, if anything, we are the Romans. We are the Babylonians, the Medes, the Persians, the superpower politically and economically. But to see ourselves as the Jews of the 1st century? Hardly. I suppose the shift takes place when you start to spiritualize the story. "Well, yes America is a power, but principalities and powers refers to spiritual reality." According to this thinking, we are constantly besieged by temptation and, as Christians, constitute an ethical monotheistic minority, clearly defined by following the letter of the law of God, Jesus, and Paul, whereas Hollywood, media, and other conjured phantoms represent the occupying force, trying at every turn to pry us loose from our "hard won" salvation. Again, in this view the Bible sort of plopped out of the sky in finished, divinely inspired form, and communicates its truth simply "for those with ears to hear" but will constitute "foolishness to the Greeks." What you are left with is a bitter tautology. "I'm right. God said it. I believe it. Anyone who disagrees just doesn't get it." This means whatever we think, no matter how colored by culture, language, or even misunderstood is by definition being "on God's side" and differing opinions are "of the devil." Interesting to think of God's metaphor for effectiveness: by fruits you will know them. The fruits of these writings are exclusivist, not inclusionist, they smack of hubris, certainty, and fear, not compassion, humility, grace, and shalom. So, to recap, how do you feel besieged and oppressed while living in one of the wealthiest and most powerful countries, not just in the world, but in all of freaking human history ? How do you manage that? First, adopt the story of a minority people from the ancient world as your own. Check. Second, spiritualize the story so it doesn't emphasize caring for the orphan and the widow, God's creation, preserving shalom, but rather on personal and collective religious piety. Check. Third, refuse to acknowledge the way in which our thoughts and biblical interpretations have been affected by the Enlightenment and individualism. Do we need to save Jesus from the petty tyrants and black friars who, in Blake's words "bind with briars my joys and desires?" What does it mean to have life and life abundantly? Does it mean turning into the Morality Brigade? Is that the sense we get from Luke? From any of the Gospels?
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