Are our cultural conflicts in this country between “traditional religious views” and “secular progressive views”? That’s the way moral and religious conflicts are often portrayed – and it leaves moderate and progressive Christians (and other people of faith) with nowhere to stand. By that logic, either we’ve sold out to a secular mindset and aren’t really following our faith, or we mean well but misunderstand our faith – if we really followed Jesus, we’d be fighting for the other side.
Professor Mark Jordan of Harvard Divinity School recently wrote a short piece that tackles this way of describing our divisions. He points out that a lot of the progressive views that have emerged in the past century, like anti-racism and women’s rights, have been advocated by Christian leaders re-reading our tradition and finding new light there. Moderate and progressive views can be just as faith-filled as “traditional” views – and moderate and progressive people of faith should claim that ground.
What’s more, the definition of “tradition” itself is pretty open-ended. When we talk about the “traditional” way of doing things, are we thinking of the 1950s? the 1500s? the 300s? Those different historical touchstones are associated with very different mindsets and practices, so “tradition” is not at all clear-cut.
Much to think about here! Take a look (don’t worry if you don’t know who Peter Steinfels is; I didn’t either – and it’s not necessary to understand the article) and share your thoughts.