Peacemaking Amidst Culture Wars

Well, it has begun again.  You've heard it I'm sure.  The trumpets are blasting.  The infantry and calvary have taken their strategic positions.  The trenches have been dug, and the canons are loaded.  "Culture wars," is the cry.  In the wake of the Chick-Fil-A saga and in the throws of vitriolic political campaigns, I've overheard numerous people on both sides of the issues express their fury at those who would undermine our society and values.  I've read articles from religious leaders about the pungent dangers of Christians disarming and retreating.  Underneath the conversations and the articles, however, is a worldview that contributes to and exhaserbates the problem rather than solves it. 

Think about the term- "culture wars."  We are now using militaristic language to describe the struggle we find ourselves in.  This particular lens is precisely what is fueling the conflicts before us.  The problem isn't in what we see as much as it is in how we see.  Let me explain:

If we believe we are in an idealogical warfare, then we begin in a defensive posture, cultivating fear and spreading paranoia.  We are more apt to shoot the other (whoever the other happens to be) than we are to share a meal with them because we began with the assumption that they are a threat.  Furthermore, since the enemy is "attacking," it becomes so very easy to dehumanize them (to treat them as something other than a beloved creature created in the image of God).  How can we love what we are deathly afraid of?  Perfect love casts out fear; it doesn't perpetuate it.     

Warfare implies trenches.  The enemy is dug in, and we are no less.  The enemy is faceless and abstract, and they are the source of the problem (which is how we justify ALL wars of all types).  This is no time for introspection, personal confession, or humility.  No, the enemy has a monopoly on the evil in our midst and must be removed.  Meeting in the middle is nothing short of appeasement, and the time for dialogue has come and gone.  The guns are already loaded.  This is why there has been so much talk (from both sides) about claiming their "freedom of speech," but no one is talking about a Christian obligation to listen and respect (even if we disagree).  Trenches make it impossible to move toward the other, and so everyone stands entrenched and paralyzed with no progress in sight.  For many people, their entrenchment is less a conscious choice than a simple result of blind partisanship, static views of truth, and uncritical absorption of whatever the media labels as news.  It is so easy for all of us to fall into a trench without even realizing it, which should give all of us pause for reflection and deliberation.

Trenches, in their very essence, are exlusive.  Trenches are meant to keep "us" in and "them" out.  We would rather protect ourselves from each other than give ourselves to each other.  Those who would dare step out of their trenches and defy the conflict are viewed as suicidal headcases, fit for nothing but crucifixion.  Yet, how can we proclaim a kingdom in which all are welcome when we are crouching in our trenches?  Who could even hear us from such a stooped posture and remote distance?

In warfare (even ideological warfare), victory is achieved through power.  We must kill in order to live and conquer in order to win.  Thus, the goal is success (be it elections, record days of sales- whether high or low records, policies, voter turnout...).  The hope is in the power of control.  Even if we have to sacrifice some of our integrity, some of our truthtelling, or some of our graciousness to win, then so be it.  On the other hand, Jesus seemed to believe in the power of love, rather than the power of control.  He was willing to face personal suffering and asked his followers to do the same.  In this way, the cross is our standard of truth; not public opinion or sales receipts.      

In short, the Jesus I believe in would summon us to put down our idealogical guns and pick up our crosses and towels.  The Jesus I believe in would have us claim our responsibility to listen before we claim our freedoms to speak, so that when we do speak we might speak truthfully and lovingly to people who might respect us enough to actually care what we are saying.  The Jesus I believe in would call us to follow him- which means coming out of our safe trenches and risking the vulnerability of love.  The Jesus I believe in would call us to be peacemakers rather than rigid idealogues.  The Jesus I believe in is reconciling ALL things to himself, which makes our trenches seem rather arbitrary.  The Jesus I believe in didn't just bring into question the piety of the trenches, but the necessity of the war altogether.  The Jesus I believe in made the news for eating WITH sinners rather than making the news for eating AGAINST them.  The Jesus I believe in cared a lot more about people than issues of piety (e.g. the Sabbath controversies in Mark).

So my plea for Christians is to put this talk of "culture wars" behind us.  It is not faithful language, and it lends itself to alientation.  My plea is not to pick the right trench, but to question the war.  My plea is to be known by our love- not just to love- but to be KNOWN by our love.  My plea is to see the world through another lens- maybe the lens of reconciliation and peacemaking.  Wouldn't it be something if peacemaking was the news we were actually making?