As I have involved myself recently in a couple of blogs which purport to be hunting for the better post-modern template for Christianity, it has become clear to me that the organized Christian church in all its denominations and current permutations is the latest type of "evil Other" which now bedevils us.
If you need proof, just read the latest trilogy from Frank Schaeffer. Frank is the son of Edith and the late Dr. Francis Schaeffer (founder of the L'Abri Fellowship in Switzerland and one of the leading Evangelical Christian apologists of the second half of the last century).
Apparently Frank is now chagrined that (to his mind) he and his late father, along with some conservative politicians, created the Religious Right back in the early 1980's, and then unleashed it to become the monster that it is today. Whether anyone can prove, as he contends, that it was they who led us down the path to the current culture wars is debatable, and anyway not the subject of this post. Besides, to even suggest that there might actually be people who consider themselves social conservatives without the least bit of guidance from the Religious Right is, apparently, too abstract a concept for some minds.
The point is that Schaeffer, along with a host of other Boomers, myself included, "left the fold". And it is obvious from his three latest books what he thinks of the evangelical Christian church and its adherents. So.....Frank joined the Orthodox Church about 10 or 15 years ago, and now is quite content to worship there. That's great, especially for those who take comfort and meaning from liturgy and ritual.
I have noticed several blogs which emphasize the fact that the evangelical church has become ossified and out-of-touch. For further proof I recommend anyone who cares to look at my profile page and click on some of the blogs which I follow. There you will find the church being accused of leading the faithful astray. As a human organization with a hierarchy and such, it was bound from the beginning to become one of the "principalities and powers". Odd, as I find these blogs a continuation of the same pattern and mind-set. It's as if humans were trying to teach fish to breathe air while fish were trying to teach humans how to breathe underwater. It might be interesting to watch, but both groups are going to end up dead either way.
With regards to irony, while many seem more than ready to engage in this post-modern church bashing, very few completely abandon their church, and most remain a part of some liturgical tradition. The solace of community, I suppose. A place to be married and buried.
The trouble is, many traditionalists are confused, perplexed, and even angered at this apparent assault on their spiritual home and customs. And I don't see how they could ever have imagined that their way of interpreting the Scriptures would become hopelessly entangled with politics. I see them as blameless in this regard, and though I am not one of them, they indeed have my sympathy. Their religion has been co-opted right out from under them.
My own experiences in the church as a child and teen were certainly both good and bad, but I can look back now and see that (especially those awful times) were generally the result of one minister, or one counselor or teacher. There were many good times en masse, especially when focused on music or recreation. And it was not until I became old enough to think for myself that I began to deeply question what I had been taught. It was at that point that I became a "backslider" and lost my church family and home.
Is this a harangue in favor of the current institutionalized church? Hardly. As an adult non church-goer, I have no horse in this race. However, it seems to me further proof of the both the lack of reason and the need for scapegoating (demonization) in the minds of people who profess to both know and understand the teachings of the Bible. I continue, as I always have, to see evidence of subjective and unreasonable assumptions on the part of these who would now make the decision that devout evangelical Christians are the post-modern equivalent of the Flat Earth Society.
We went to visit friends recently who wanted us to go to church with them. So we went. It was sorta like going back in time, to when we were "in" but looking at it through a glass, like at animals in a zoo, or rather those in a sequestered frame of mind. I can't say much to our friends as to where I am with it all, as it would bring about a frenzy of "concern." When we first left church, I was fearful of a wrathful God's retaliation. But that was churchianity's influence, not God's, in my life. I think the reasons for the scapegoating and haranguing, though, in such books as Schaeffer's and blogs, come about as to give voice to the casualties of churchianity, who find themselves demonized and ostracized for leaving.
ReplyDeleteYes, and I agree that those people need a voice and their concerns are completely justified and valid (heck, I'm one of them for Pete's sake).
ReplyDeleteI guess what is currently frustrating me is the neo-theology which sets itself up as "more enlightened". I mean, is not that (in part) the attitude that made we "backsliders" leave the organization to begin with?
I see this in the rift between the mainstream "middle class" in the USA vs. the "OWS" group. It is just so much deja vu to me. I saw all this during the late 1960's. "Make love, not war". Some in my own family fought and then came home and got spit on as "baby killers". The war was bad, but so were Charles Manson and his "family" -- the logical end-result of the hippie subculture.
I know I will never return to organized religion, but that also means I don't put much stock in all these people shouting now about how bad it (was) is. They hold NO alternative, and to me are just like that which they criticism, without the liturgy. If that ritual means something to someone, then that's fine with me, so long as they don't try to shove it down my throat.
It's the church children who should be afraid, and it is they whom I worry about the most, when I do give it any thought.
The way I see it is that the books and blogs are just working it out as they go. Kinda like the way I may be on a different page tomorrow on something, because I'm working things out in my mind all night long. But no one sees the process, and I just get accused of flip-flopping.
ReplyDeleteAs for OWS, I just see a lot of people angry at circumstances beyond their control. And honestly I'm there too. My husband's employer just declared bankruptcy. CEO retires with his 20 mill package after running the company into the ground, after years without so much as a cost of living adjustment for the rank and file, while the big guys necessarily get their multi mill yearly bonuses. The little guy simply has no voice, and better not speak up if he wants to keep his job.
I know I have gone back & forth in my own mind about God in the past five years. My latest idea is that it's all imaginary (yet again). ET helped some with this. But who knows how I may change tomorrow?
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime, I am much more settled about things (at the moment). And that is helping in my real-world relationships.