Hating Others, Loving Self?
By Bruce T. Gourley,
Interim Dir., Center for Baptist Studies
Mercer University.
In 2002, Baylor University and Simpson University (CA) researchers conducted a study of the religious commitments of students. Eighty percent of students evaluated were members of a church. As a part of the study, students were asked how much more likely they were to adhere to the biblical commandment of “love your neighbor as yourself” as compared to their peers. On average, respondents claimed to be twice as likely to love their neighbors compared to others. An interesting correlation emerged from this study: the most religiously fundamentalist students claimed the greatest likelihood of loving others more than their peers.
Fast forward to May 2009, thirty years after the ascendancy of the Religious Right, and amidst the widely-recognized collapse of the American political party that many evangelical Christians considered to be the party of God. During a road trip, the down time between National Public Radio news and commentary led me to tune into what turned into three hours of self-described “conservative Christian” radio talk show programs over a two day period. All three hours focused on political issues and exhibited an air of panic. Discussing the looming Supreme Court vacancy, poverty, minorities, women, homosexuals, Muslims, pluralism and an eight-foot tall cross in the Mojave National Preserve, talking heads made it clear they were not concerned about issues of justice. Speaking to President Barack Obama’s desire to select a new Supreme Court Justice who will “decide cases on the basis of fairness and justice,” one commentator scoffed at the concept of Supreme Court justices’ seeking . . . justice. Condemning the traditional American ethos of “equality and justice for all,” and specifically referencing minorities, women, homosexuals, and persons of non-Christian faith, one talking head declared, “if you have empathy for everyone, you have empathy for no one.”
There is no small irony that the most ardent “America is a Christian Nation!” advocates are distraught and fearful of the prospect of America’s judicial system putting into practice . . . Jesus’ ethical and moral teachings. Conservative Christian radio is frantically telling listeners that Christians must assume a “defensive posture” to prevent the extension of mercy and justice to others, and warning that a government that pursues such an agenda “will not stop” until Christianity is illegal or driven underground.
The panic emanating over the radio waves from conservative Christian activists, following their spirited defense of torture under a poor American administration, is just the latest reminder that Jesus’ teachings frighten many people who lay claim to the name of Christ. While Jesus’ ethical and moral teachings permeate the Gospels, speak to civilizations across time and space, and are echoed in hundreds of religions and moral codes worldwide, some American Christians seemingly dislike Christ’s instructions and example.
Why the resistance? Perhaps because the ethics and morality of the Gospels harbors some similarities to a modern, Western political “liberalism” that at its best insists that the basic human rights of others are no less important than that of one’s self. Indeed, far beyond the narrow context of today’s “conservative” and “liberal” labels, Jesus has historically been most resisted by entrenched power structures and most readily embraced by the powerless and oppressed. Listen closely to today’s self-proclaimed conservative Christian radio talk shows, and you too will hear the timeless tug of war between the powerful and powerless.
