Afraid of All That Jesus Stuff
Instead of writing my usual opinionated essay, I'd like to take this opportunity to pose a question to Every Square Inch readers and contributors. Before I get to that question and its background, I’ll state upfront that the question is somewhat hard to frame without mentioning politics. However, I do not wish to initiate a political discussion, nor do I believe the heart of the issue is political. Additionally, though I’m not fond of the labels “conservative” and “liberal,” I will use them here because of the limits of the language. The generally accepted definitions of these words simply help to express my sentiments.
When my wife and I moved from Kansas to the East Coast, we learned rather quickly that our belief system was not as appreciated in the greater Philadelphia area as it was back home. In Kansas it was easier for us to find common ground with strangers. Mention the words “Christian” or “conservative” in a large group of Kansans, and you’re bound to make a new friend. The vast majority of people in Dorothy-land call themselves Conservatives, and most people are not embarrassed to call themselves Christians, whether they’re “practicing” Christians or not.
When it comes to these labels on the East Coast, however, my wife and I have noticed a somewhat perplexing phenomenon. Brooke and I have quite a few non-churchgoing friends who insist they are “liberals.” If you’re in their presence and you so much as reference the names Jesus Christ, James Dobson, Ronald Reagan, or Sean Hannity, you can actually see physical responses. Veins in their foreheads suddenly appear, their cheeks flush a bit, their feet get a little restless, and, if applicable, they reach for their blood pressure medicine. These names make our friends nervous and angry. After all, they are LIBERALS!
Yet when my wife and I really get intimate with these folks, when we have serious discussions about serious issues, we wonder how they can possibly arrive at the conclusion that they are liberal. Most of them are adamantly pro-life. They believe all the controversy over Christmas is ridiculous. They have no problem with a statue of the Ten Commandments being displayed on state property, even though they’re not Christians. They dislike the fact that college classrooms have become liberal training grounds that are led by some of the most radical individuals on the Left. They frown on parents who refuse to discipline their kids and teach them right from wrong. They think it would be a bad idea to legalize marijuana. They’re capitalists at heart and think taxes are too high. They think government is too big. They’re fed up with political correctness. They think entitlement programs are out of control. They understand the need for a strong national defense. The list could go on and on. In almost every way, their beliefs betray the label they have given themselves. The only issue that seems to unite them in a “liberal” way revolves around homosexuality. They claim to believe that homosexuality is perfectly fine and that they don’t have a problem with it. However, even on that issue Brooke and I sense an inherent attachment to conservatism: they’re not as quick to champion homosexuality as an honorable lifestyle when we ask them how they would feel if one of their children were gay or lesbian.
Why, my wife and I wonder, do our friends so adamantly insist that they are liberal? We can only assume it’s because “conservatism” has become almost synonymous with Christianity, and they certainly don’t want to be associated with the latter. It must be the fear that in our cultured, humanism-driven, fairly well-to-do suburbia, any association with Jesus and the things of God, however small, might mark them as unenlightened. And since “liberalism” has inherited a more secular meaning, they call themselves liberals.
What do you think? Are my wife and I right? If so, what does that mean? Does this conclusion (admittedly unscientific) give us any insight about how to witness to them? Or does my illustration simply reflect the Biblical truth that otherwise “good” people will reject the name of Jesus at all costs?