Persecuted on Every Side

by Ken Brown

Forgive me for traipsing into politics (a realm where angels rightly fear to tread), but Joe Carter has sparked an interesting debate on persecution rhetoric, which is well worth reading. Joe argued that the left's fear of an American theocracy evidences a profound ignorance of the largely populist nature of evangelicalism. A number of the comments respond that this phenomenon of claiming persecution (whether present or in the near future) is not limited to liberals, but appears just as often in conservative circles. As "ex-preacher" notes, for every secularist decrying "the coming theocracy", there's a conservative complaining about "the war on Christians":

"Each side is convinced that the other side is out to get them. There's a strange paranoia among both leftists and rightists that their political/religious opponents are on the verge of coming to some type of absolute power and legislating the other side out of existence."

I think he's exactly right, and unfortunately, this kind of thinking is self-reinforcing. Since almost any kind of victory by the opposition can be claimed as "persecution" and used to drum up support for a favored policy, this victim mindset can easily outgrow the facts. What used to be taken as evidence that democracy is working --- people disagreeing and voting with their consciences while warning of the perceived dangers of their opponent's ideas --- can now be used as evidence of a vast conspiracy to take over the government. The tactic might help garner votes, but the result is always the same: Rather than helping to move everyone toward the middle and thus avoid the feared takeover, this kind of rhetoric only furthers the division between those claiming persecution. Each side becomes more extreme and the chances of one group or the other's fears being realized is increased rather than decreased.

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm tired of it. There are, of course, laws that discriminate unfairly against one group or the other; there are very different views about how this country should be run; there is a chance (however small) that either the extreme left or the extreme right could run away with enough elections to forever change the face of our nation, for better or worse. But there is no coming theocracy, there is no war on Christians. The only way there ever will be is if we insist on our present course of polarizing every debate. Enough is enough!

Comments

[Charlie]

I take your point, and I agree that both left and right are too quick to think that religious motives are in play when the better interpretation is that we disagree about political policy. I'm tired of the wild-eyed theocracy talk, and of those who equate Christian "persecution" in America with China.

But on the other hand, we don't neatly separate our lives into the secular and the spiritual, which is why we have have debates about whether it is appropriate for elected officials to be influenced by their faith. And we know that among those who would call themselves "modern materialists" there is a deep distrust of, and sometimes a hatred of, religion. And, by extension, religious people. Just as, among people of faith, there is a deep distrust of people who believe there is no god but want to gain and exercise political power over society.

I would agree that we take the rhetoric too far, but I believe the rhetoric is driven by strongly held convictions about human nature and cosmic questions of the meaning of life -- e.g., religion is an archaic and discredited idea that poses dangers unless it can be held to a strictly private sphere of life.

And on the Christian side, we recognize that behind the curtains, human history is in some unseen way a spiritual battle between the forces of God and Satan, and that the persecution of Christians (and Jews) is a historical fact. We may be too quick to use the label, but we are not wrong to see hatred and intolerance as the underlying motivation for some allegedly political acts.

[Ken]

Hey Charlie,
Thanks for commenting, and I really do agree with you. My point was not that we're mistaken in thinking there are religious or spiritual realities at play here, nor that they are unimportant. Rather, my point was that both sides are too quick to shout conspiracy and claim the role of the persecuted minority.

I do not believe it can be credibly argued that either Christians or secularists qualify as a persecuted minority in this country. However much either side may dislike some of the laws or politicians of their opponents - even when we recoil against them with every fiber of our being - shouting persecution is no solution. It only exasperates the differences between us and shuts down genuine dialogue, leading the opposition to even greater extremes.

[Charlie]

Yep. You're right. It's a good post. We're too often guilty of flame wars when we could make more progress with greater civility and less over-the-top rhetoric.

[Ken]

The always readable Ed Brayton offers some thoughts on this issue from the opposite perspective:

http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2006/04/is_risk_of_theocracy_overblown.php