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we can’t afford to be in a culture war right now
It’s as simple as that. We can’t afford to put so much of our energy into the culture war. We’re in a global economic meltdown. People are losing their jobs. We’re in this thing together with our neighbors around the world. Oh yes, they are our neighbors, inasmuch as our fortunes are linked. We can’t afford the polemics that culture wars generate. We can’t afford to believe the worst about our neighbors. We have to look for common ground in order to serve the common good, or else we’re going to pay a heavy price.
I was listening to culture war radio the other day. The talk show host was saying something like, “I’m going to help you combat the liberals in your families….” He was making an excellent point. The culture war affects families. It inflames family tensions at family gatherings. Enough of that for now, because families need each other more than ever.
I don’t know if you noticed, but everyone’s anxiety levels are higher now than they were a few months ago. They don’t need to spend three hours a day listening to someone believing the worst about others and the best about themselves. They don’t need to listen to passion stokers–they are already riled up inside enough.
I grew up with the “good war” mentality. My father fought in the good war. There was no doubt about which side was better in the cold war. Vietnam shook that up, but by the time it arrived, the generational pattern was set. We can fight (or protest) our way out of anything. Not anymore.
I sat in on a discussion recently between some real high rollers–people whose names you’d recognize instantly–talking about the energy crisis. One of the boomers stood up and said, “We need people marching in the streets over this issue! Where’s the passion?” The young guy in his thirties said, “Actually, I take issue with that statement. We don’t need people marching in the streets, we need engineers working on this problem to come up with some solutions.” Everyone knew the young guy was right.
Love makes us smarter. Anger makes us dumber.
We need the Golden Rule to build each other up, not the Golden Ruler to slap each other down.
Tags: common good, culture war, family gatherings, global economic crisis, good war, protests, talk radio, vietnam
December 10th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
…what i see clearly is that most of the culture war rhetoric and message is a message of condemnation, not a clear, grace-filled articulation of the truth in Love…to speak and demonstrate and embody the kind of reconciliation that Jesus brings, that Jesus tells us to bring to all that we do in His Name.
December 12th, 2008 at 11:15 am
ken, what do you think of President George W Bush’s comments from ABC’s Nightline this past Monday?
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Asked about creation and evolution, Bush said: “I think you can have both. I think evolution can – you’re getting me way out of my lane here. I’m just a simple president. But it’s, I think that God created the earth, created the world; I think the creation of the world is so mysterious it requires something as large as an almighty and I don’t think it’s incompatible with the scientific proof that there is evolution.”
He added, “I happen to believe that evolution doesn’t fully explain the mystery of life.”
Interviewer Cynthia McFadden asked Bush if the Bible was literally true.
“You know. Probably not. . No, I’m not a literalist, but I think you can learn a lot from it, but I do think that the New Testament for example is . has got . You know, the important lesson is ‘God sent a son,’” Bush said.
“It is hard for me to justify or prove the mystery of the Almighty in my life,” he said. “All I can just tell you is that I got back into religion and I quit drinking shortly thereafter and I asked for help. . I was a one-step program guy.”
The president also said that he prays to the same God as those with different religious beliefs.
“I do believe there is an almighty that is broad and big enough and loving enough that can encompass a lot of people,” Bush said.
December 12th, 2008 at 11:27 am
Passion belongs in the bedroom not about issues. I am tired of the we vs them mentality. Its getting real old. Furthermore, I do not see anywhere in the new testament where Jesus did a we vs them. Jesus wanted them to repent and come over to his side with all their complaints and hypercritical comments.
December 12th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
steven-
those comments by Bush are real interesting, I think if Obama had said them, talk radio would be blasting him for beliving in a universal God and combining evolution and creationsism. I have always felt that Evolution and creationsism can be combined, specifically in questioning whether the creation of the Earth was 7 literal days. Did God create the earthly day before creating the earth? Or could it be that a “day” lasted much longer. Growing up amoungst glaciers and erosion in the Sierra Nevadas it is easy to see that the natural processes that God used to create are still being used today. Those processes are slow!
I think it’s good to hear a Conservative like Bush question the literal translation of the Bible, at least good for conservatives to hear. Sadly I think they have already rejected Bush as one of their own.
Ken, does the rejection of Bush as a “conservative” say anything about the conservative ideal? Sorry if this sounds like a loaded question
December 12th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Ken, I think a lot of people are feeling personally attacked and undermined by people in the financial industry, in the Federal Government, and now by the automotive industry. All of this quite dramatically affects our finances and our job prospects. Yes, we’re all riled up, in part because it looks like a lot of people have let us down. Right now, in my world, there’s a lot less of a culture war mentality and much more of an economic-well-being/job anxiety mentality.
December 12th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Notbell, My point exactly. Events are overwhelming the culture war issues, at least some of them. Hard to get worked up about having to call Christmas “the holiday season” in public schools in the face of a global recession and economic meltdown. Especially where I sit in SE Michigan.
December 15th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
I would have to tend to agree with Steven on this one. What tends to propel these culture wars, unfortunately is religious groups, ie the same ones that call Obama a muslim and so on. I think in these times it is better to come together in what unites us rather than what divides. I think coming togeter in love is the only real solution, in the same breath I feel it is important to make a stand on what we believe is right and true by choosing our battles wisely.
December 16th, 2008 at 1:12 am
As I wrote at length in my blog entry awhile back, “The End Of The Christian Right,” I think society needs to hear something from Christians besides “abortion is murder, homosexuality is immoral, and evolution is evil.” That being said, I am concerned that some important issues will slip through Congress unnoticed during this time when everyone is focused on the economy. For example, Obama promised he would sign the Freedom Of Choice act first thing in office. (The Freedom Of Choice act would invalidate all laws in the nation that limit abortion in any way, such as parental notification/consent laws, waiting periods, etc.) He made that promise in 2007, so that may not be on the front burner now, but those who were promised that (Planned Parenthood) will likely try to slip it through and the media won’t pay a bit of attention. In other words, no, we don’t want keep the culture war issues out front as the Christian crusade, but on the other hand, there is a place for keeping alert about what’s going on in government and not letting things slip by.
December 16th, 2008 at 1:29 am
I’m also concerned about Hate Crimes laws passing. These are crimes against thought, and are unjust in that some victims’ lives or injuries are more valuable than others’. The person who was beat up because someone wanted his money sees his perpetrator get lighter punishment than the one who got beat up because the courts determined the motive was due to some prejudice; if both are injured equally, aren’t both suffering an equal amount of pain, and thus shouldn’t both of their perpetrators punished equally? Furthermore, the laws will not be applied fairly; they will only be applied for politically correct causes. Finally, it adds more cost and time to our law enforcement officials. They not only have to investigate was a crime actually done, but then they have to investigate the thoughts going on in the person’s head. I explained the problems with these latter two points in my blog entry, “Hate Crimes in San Francisco” (http://jlee.harshbarger.name/blog).
How this is a response to Ken’s posting: This is another example of the kinds of things that may get through Congress if we are focused on the economy and determine the culture war is over. Hate crimes laws are unjust; shouldn’t we work for justice? Previous attempts to pass the Hate Crimes legislation in Congress have failed only because of Republicans. Now there is no one to block them. If we don’t pay attention and rally people to contact their members of Congress, this will pass.
So I’m a bit torn here. I understand that people are tired of the culture war, and I also do not want the culture at large to view Christians as those people who are against everything. But on the other hand, somebody has to be a watchdog on Congress and alert voters to speak up. These tend to be groups from the Christian Right; even though they are not churches as such, they are seen as representing Christianity. But if they just shut up, what laws will we see ourselves having to deal with? Somehow we have to be able to separate social/political issues of importance to conservative Christians from association with Christianity and the church, without losing the political involvement of those people.
December 19th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
i keep copming back to this and wondering: what would Jesus think about this war on culture?
is He more interested in people than “culture wars to change laws?” i wonder if all-too-often our “Kingdom projects” are the Father’s “Kingdom projects”…
…and here is what has come to me: in the gospels we see the culture warriors (i.e., the Pharisees) often at odds with Jesus, but many followed Him around and invited Jesus into their homes, and although Jesus was terribly critical of them and frustrated with them, they eventually (as we wtiness in Acts) join His new Jesus Movement in droves. The best part about Acts 15 and the “Jerusalem Council” is that although they are still marching to a cultural war drum beating, they are in the community of followers of Jesus.
the thing perhaps to be said is that: ther’s room for the culture warriors in the community of God…but sould they lead or will we wait and pray and discern to eventually say with one accord: “…it seemed right to us and the Holy Spirit…”
December 19th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
steve, thanks for those comments on President Bush’s views. I think he is more moderate personally than we saw in his first term especially, when he was working hard to satisfy his base–the failure to satisfy the base being viewed as his father’s downfall politically. Remember when he spoke of the need for a “compassionate conservatism” and a foreign policy that stressed humility? That was George Bush, but his base wouldn’t let him go too far into that. Politics is nasty business–the exercise of power through cobbling together coalitions of “constituents.” “Christian Coalition” should have tipped us all off that the fundamental paradigm was politics, not the kingdom. Just as “Moral Majority” should have signaled an arrogance that is not in keeping with Jesus of Nazareth. Judgment begins with the household of God.