Mourning for the dead is certainly no time for a political or spiritual confrontation. Nor am I particularly inclined to openly confront anyone who has participated in the recent explosive undermining of American democracy. But I suppose my words and tone betray my position.
I was attending the funeral for a family matriarch, a wonderful lady whom I had the privilege of knowing as extended family, and I must add, who never felt the need to push her born again religious beliefs onto me. I believe she understood that I would not be particularly receptive. And in any case, she knew I was among that very strange number that practices mindfulness, a spiritual tradition without a deity, hierarchy or any “after life” theories.
Of course there was plenty of “born-again” sentiment expressed at the funeral service, and which the rest of us had to bear silently. Respect regarding personal religious or spiritual beliefs should go both ways, I get it. Even so, I walked away feeling very much excluded.
Almost all of family present at the funeral were Christian Evangelicals and politically far-right. The two have become synonymous, unfortunately, as a powerful blend of exclusionary faith and exclusionary socio-political beliefs. In this situation, I was one of a handful of folks who were never “born again” and, according to this highly selective grasp of scripture, will not be ascending to the house of the Lord any time soon.
I was born once, and I believe my mother, if she were alive today, would agree that once was enough. I was raised Roman Catholic and grudgingly followed my parents to church every Sunday until one particular Sunday at around 13 years of age, I decided I had had enough and announced that I was no longer going.
It was not that I was unmoved by the religious experience. To the contrary, I enjoyed sitting in church, and listening to the organ and choir. I just didn’t believe anything they told me. My later in life adoption of contemplative silence, or meditation, may be linked to these early experiences.
But born-again evangelicals have a special formula that clearly demarcates the line between “born again” and everyone else, that is, the 75% of Americans who have not proclaimed Christ as their personal savior. According to Valerie Tarico:
“Christianity takes many forms, with Evangelicalism being one of the more single-minded, dogmatic, groupish and enthusiastic among them.”
There it is, what irks me so much about this particular slant on the Christ story. Jesus was an exceptional man, an educator and peacemaker, and in these ways a prophet among prophets. But he was a man nonetheless, as were Shakyamuni Buddha, Abraham and Muhammad.
Ms. Tarico outlines many of the issues I have with Evangelicalism:
- They are supremely righteous about a host of orthodoxies which must never be questioned, for example, that the Bible is the inherent word of God even though it was assembled by men who lived long after Jesus.
- We are all born sinful, and must live our lives repenting for man’s sins.
- There are only two kinds of people in the world: saved and damned. Adjacent to this list we may add male and female.
- Jargon: Praise the Lord, born again, backsliding, stumbling block, etc.
- Black and white thinking: If you are not for us, you’re against us.
- Shaming and shunning are both means of keeping followers in line, and excluding all the rest.
- Denial of science and history: if it is inconvenient, it is ignored.
- Evangelism: spreading the word so that others may be saved is essential and required.
- Arrogant hypocrisy: the universe was designed for humans, and many other examples.
- Suffer the non-believers, for they have forsaken the spirit of Christ.
All of this aligns very well with today’s political thinking and political action. We should not be surprised because far-right politics and far-right Christianity have grown up together, interweaving their influences and aligning their righteousness like two boys throwing rocks in a playground, and you are the bloody victims of these rock-throwing bullies.
For the interested reader, there is plenty of historical validation for the interweaving of these influences. Look no further than Spain’s Francisco Franco, Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority, Ronald Reagan, and the more recent Christian Right.
As a mindfulness practitioner, I have no objection to anyone’s personal beliefs or religious ideologies. Mindfulness is an outgrowth of Zen Buddhism which is not a religious movement but a spiritual philosophy. As such we welcome individuals from all faith traditions.
But when the personal becomes political and suddenly the 75% of us who are not “born again” — and have our own thoughtful beliefs about humanity, science and faith — find ourselves under the heal of far-right religious ideologues, this is when it becomes a problem.
But I am by no means the first to submit these complaints about the Christian Right. First a warning: please do not attempt disagreeing or debating with any of their number, as they have first and foremost submitted their souls as followers. They are by definition defenders of their narrow views, loyal followers who spend their days ready to pick a fight with you.
Martin Thielen, formerly a minister in the United Methodist Church, runs the Doubter’s Parish website and states the case very well:
“Today, many (although not all) religious right Christians believe Jesus dislikes LGBTQ persons, immigrants, liberals, elites, science, welfare, MSNBC, wokeness, critical race theory, Joe Biden, non-Christians, and Democrats. On the other side of the ledger, they believe Jesus loves America, churchgoers, capitalism, the military, conservatives, Fox News, guns, MAGA Republicans, aggressive masculinity, and Donald Trump.”
Mr. Thielen stipulates that there are some very fine people (my words) who are Evangelical Christians (EC). They love Jesus, serve God, live ethical lives, care for their families, contribute to their communities, and make excellent friends and neighbors. In other words, not everyone in the EC community is looking for a fight.
Well that may be, but there are certainly sufficient numbers who are presently driving our nation into an autocratic disaster from which it may never recover. Mr. Thielen summarizes what the EC community gets wrong. Allow me to briefly outline:
- The Bible is utterly true as it is literally the word of God.
- Women are second class citizens and should be content to remain so.
- LGBTQ persons are an abomination to God, and therefore we shall be prejudiced and cruel towards them.
- Scientific facts are irrelevant, especially anything related to evolution, human driven climate-change and vaccines.
- White supremacist ideology is supported, particularly as regards attacks on critical race theory and the Black Lives Matter movement.
- The EC community promotes hyper-partisanship, giving unyielding support to Donald Trump, a man who violates every ethical value they promote.
- It supports an “America first” philosophy that ignores God’s love for all nations and peoples, and assumes America is the new Israel.
- It violates the example and teachings of Jesus in numerous ways, including his call to love, kindness, inclusion, grace, mercy, compassion, and justice.
- It demonizes immigrants, Muslims, and social justice, and promotes an overall spirit of anger, fear, and negativity.
Let me be clear. These are matters that many believe the Christian Right gets wrong. We may work against the politics related to these positions, but we may not disregard the underlying religious beliefs.
Many have warned to avoid allowing our collective disapproval of the Christian Right to lapse into violating our own heart-felt ethical standards. We are not better than them. Nor are we intrinsically right, any more than they are intrinsically wrong. We are not better people than they, even if we see the world quite differently. Disagreement is a trap set by every cult leader worth his salt.
Fortunately, born-again Christians seem to be moving away from liberal and diverse parts of the country and congregating in Bible Belt states such as North Carolina. We will not miss them, and at the same time, we wish them well.
It is our sincere desire that they enjoy participating in large religious festivals such as FaithFestNC 2024, an event last September that attracted some 30,000 people according to the Christian Broadcasting Network.
At the funeral, I sat and listened respectfully, and tried to ignore all of the born-again jargon. I left after offering my condolences to the immediate family and speaking with a few outliers. I drove away with sadness in my heart that these kind folks had chosen a path that may fail to confirm their beliefs.
The same may be said for all of us.
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Vic Caldarola is the founder and lead facilitator of the Shine a Light Men’s Project, a mindfulness discussion group for men. He holds a Masters degree in Psychological Services and a PhD in Communication Studies.
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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