Stuff I Should Write and then Delete

(I wrote this last week as a sort of spiritual cousin to another thought I once had. So it is not directly about events over the week-end, but it certainly relates. And, I do realize that if I am right about what I am saying here, people are not going to understand what this is trying to say. Bring on the misguided accusations?!?)

I like to tell myself that there was a time in America, before all this tribalism, when reason and truth—often biblical truth—were the standard for public discourse. You used to be able to call out those on your own “side” of an issue. You could question, debate, and disagree without being accused of abandoning a position. In fact, positions worth taking held up to such analysis, and if they didn’t, they were exposed and corrected.

Today, conservatism is becoming unrecognizable. A hallmark of conservative thinking used to be character, integrity. You could not claim to hold certain values dear while flaunting those same ideals in action. That sort of intellectual inconsistency was not tolerated. Whereas the substance of a person used to be of paramount importance, today tribal buzz words are all that matter. And, if you question a public figure for not being consistent, or even qualifying to represent a position, you are seen as attacking the tribe. You are accused of abandoning the very ideals that you are trying to defend. Not because such an argument makes sense; but because you have broken the rules of tribalism. Don’t think, just follow!

An extreme example of this was seen on Independence Day this year. When a news organization posted the Declaration of Independence online following an annual tradition of theirs, many “conservatives” took offense that their values were being attacked. The Declaration of Independence was being accused of being anti-American!

The saddest part of all this is that it is impacting the church. Biblical Christianity is being laid aside in favor of a dogma that holds group-think most dear. To quote one of my favorite thinkers:

“This…is a belief: a firm, even prosaic belief that our nation (or tribe), in sober fact, has long been and still is markedly superior to all others. I once ventured to say to an old clergyman who was voicing this sort of patriotism, ‘But, sir, aren’t we told that every nation thinks its own men the bravest and its own women the fairest in the world?’ He replied with total gravity—he could not have been graver if he had been saying the creed at the altar—‘Yes, but in England it’s true.’ To be sure, this conviction had not made my friend (God rest his soul) a villain; only an extremely lovable ass. It can, however, produce asses that kick and bite. On the lunatic fringe, it may shade off into that popular racialism which Christianity and science equally forbid.”

When we no longer hold to the demanding, must-be-wrestled-with, ethics of the Kingdom that ask us to sacrifice our own comfort and safety for God’s ideals and commands, we are no longer following biblical Christianity. We are following instead just another tribal religion that holds our comforts and needs as gods that supersede the gods of other tribes. What we see today is an embrace of a pragmatic, self-serving, dogma that often goes against the example of Christ; an embrace of antichrist.

And do not be fooled. The antichrist zeitgeist never starts out with mustache-twirling evil. It does good. It serves creature-comforts. It works. It makes people feel safe. In fact, as long as you embrace it and never speak out against it, it won’t hurt you. Holding fast to the commands and ideals of Christ, on the other hand, does hurt. It is not easy. It involves sacrifice and placing others first. The zeitgeist hates those who follow Christ. Because our role is to question the powers that be, not to kowtow to them for favor.

The Bible warns that most will not resist. Most will be taken in, even, if possible, the elect.

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