Dogmatism and Exclusivism: A Dangerous Mixture
Watching the World Go By
A Dangerous Mixture
By Ralph Lynn
For more than one reason, it seems regrettable that the Pat Robertson-Ralph Reed "Christian" Coalition, building on Jerry Falwell`s "Moral" Majority, has thrust religious considerations into our political arena.
What may be the source of this movement which claims a righteousness superior to that of Christians who do not support it? Why is this movement a threat to the faith its members seek to defend?
What threat do these people pose to the nation`s interests? Is there a chance that this movement may, to the surprise of most observers, lead to a healthy change in both religion and politics?
Perhaps the ultimate source of this basically fundamentalist movement is the traditional Christian claim to a unique divine revelation which denies validity to all other religions. This claim to the sole authentic knowledge of the mind of God is, naturally, shared to some degree by all of the groups which bear the Christian label.
In two ways the Coalition is a threat to the faith it seeks to defend. First, the Coalition is the champion of not one small group but of multitudes of Christian people who are positive that they have the "true" interpretation of the sacred text. Together they make the Coalition one of the larger and sadder examples of the way the exclusive claim results in divisions of the "Body of Christ" which weaken the religion itself and embarrass thoughtful adherents.
Misguided Departure
Thus, the Coalition seems to be just another misguided departure from the ideal of the humble, gentle, thoughtful, sensitive, forgiving, loving Jesus of the Gospels.
Second, it is a threat to the faith because no political movement, whether it calls itself a political party or not, can avoid imitating its opponents in all their thoroughly un-Christian chicanery, subterfuges and skullduggery.
The cases of the Roman Catholic Center Party in the Germany of the pre-World War I period and of the Christian Democrats in contemporary Italy should be instructive.
In two ways the Coalition is a threat to our nation`s interests: First, if it should succeed in gaining control either by ______ its own strength in some future national crisis or by capturing an established political party, it would be compelled by its own fanatical logic to try to remold society in its image.
Second–and most happily–this sort of development is unlikely. But, the current strength of the Coalition has already injected into our political discussions an emotional element which makes our usual civilized, rational, pragmatic compromises more difficult to achieve. We may forget that politicians are really secular saints who make the sometimes sinful but civilizing compromises which keep the righteous from killing each other.
It is admittedly unreasonably optimistic to see a promise of a healthier Christianity and national life in this depressing situation. The slim chance that the Coalition phenomenon might be beneficial rests upon two assumptions.
First, the evident strength of the Coalition might alert both religious and political leaders to the dangers inherent in dogmatic exclusivism in religion.
Second, some latter day courageous prophets might emerge from the community of the scholarly, devout Christian leaders who might lead the masses to abandon the traditional exclusiveness for what could be a more accurate understanding of Jesus.
These scholarly, devout leaders would probably agree that we can never be honestly confident that the finite mind can ever plumb the depths of the infinite.
Perhaps all of us might recall with respect that gifted Scottish expository preacher, Alexander MacLaren, who observed long ago that "There is more light to break from the Old Book yet."
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