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Sunday, September 3, 2023

NY Times Op-Ed: Political Christianity Has Claws

New York Times Op-Ed:  Political Christianity Has Claws, by David French (Author, Divided We Fall: America’s Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation (2020)):

French (2024)America is increasingly beset by a version of cultural and political Christianity that bears little resemblance to the faith as described in the Bible. It seems as if there’s an almost mathematical equation at work — when you combine theology and ideology but subtract virtue, you’ve created a formula for viciousness and strife. Raise the stakes to an existential or eternal level, remove the restraints of kindness and self-control, and watch the worst of humanity emerge.

One of the most fascinating aspects of the Christian faith is the way Scripture treats both theology and virtue. The Bible is of course a complex theological book. But when it comes to identifying whether a person is in the grip of the “flesh” (i.e., worldly sinfulness) or exhibiting the influence of the Holy Spirit, it doesn’t emphasize theology but rather something much more simple: virtue and vice. In other words, even the most impeccable theological understandings are meaningless if they don’t result in Christian character.

The key verses come from the Apostle Paul, in the book of Galatians. He describes how “the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh.” What does “the flesh” desire? Here Paul condemns sexual immorality and idolatry, but also other sins, including “hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions” and “envy.”

And what of the spirit, what is the evidence that God is at work in your life? Paul’s list does not include a single statement of theological belief, but rather a series of simple virtues, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” In other words, when you encounter another person — regardless of what they say about their religious beliefs — you can discern their true character by such traits. Joy and gentleness should earn our attention and respect; hatred and jealousy are red flags, even in those who can quote every line of scripture.

This is a constant theme in the Bible. As Jesus said, “every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit.” The conclusion is simple — beware the hateful, the people drawn to strife; embrace those who are kind and peaceful. Of course none of us are perfect, but those who follow Jesus should be marked by those virtues.

Which leads me to ask discouraging questions: Do those virtues mark the most prominent political Christians today? Do those virtues characterize political Christianity in the age of Trump? The answers are self-evident.

At a time of extraordinary partisan polarization, a Christian message should demand that we love our enemies. (And what is love? Among other things, as we learn in Corinthians, “Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs.”) Moments of political conflict such as this one should cause the church to blaze forth with countercultural radiance — a soothing balm in a sea of strife. But the dominant tone of contemporary American political Christianity is close to the opposite. It’s angry. It’s punitive. In many ways it positively delights in strife. ...

When I was a younger Christian, I used to love theological debates and devour theological books. But now I’m much less interested in theology, and I’m far more interested in virtue. If theology minus virtue can equal violence, then perhaps theology plus virtue can enable justice.

Look again at the fruit of the spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control are incompatible with oppression. And while exhibiting that fruit does not guarantee that others will love or respect you, it does help us obey one of our highest calls: to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

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Other op-eds by David French:

https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2023/09/politics-culture-theology-ideology-christianity-faith-virtue.html

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