What Team Sports Mentality?

I’ve discussed this quite a bit with friends, and it’s pretty clear that our political discussion has come down to “Are you red or blue?”.  The answer to that question determines whether you are on my side or if you’re trying to destroy the country I love (and that you obviously hate).  There doesn’t seem to be a lot of middle ground available, even when there is a genuine effort.

Say you’re a conservative and you are immediately lumped in with George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Sarah Palin, and all the other conservative cartoon characters. You hate gays, you love guns, you want no limits on any company, you want to ship all the blue collar jobs to China to maximize profits, you hate the environment, you also probably hate black and hispanic people, and if you’re from Texas you’re ready to secede from US at the drop of a hat.

Say you’re a liberal and you are immediately lumped in with Al Gore, Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, Mao Zedong, Karl Marx, and pretty much anyone else that hates the US of A or is for any sort of class warfare.  You like dogs and cats more than people, you probably smoke pot regularly, you kinda understand why the terrorists attacked the US on 9/11, you desperately want the US to be exactly like France, or Canada, or Cuba, you hate guns and want them banned, you abhor violence and just want to make nice with all the other countries in the world, no matter what.

It’s crazy, really, but it’s so widespread now I wonder if we’ll ever get out of this mess. There are no discussions any more, just track meets where the finish line is at the lowest common denominator.  There are no more policy talks, just talking points.  There aren’t town halls, there are productions to produce just the right TV clip.  The media has become the sideshow, making news not reporting it.  The blogosphere is among the worst culprits of spinning any and every event to their specific agenda.  Some are so open about it that they will list their objective in the opening paragraph on their “About Us” page, like this from MediaMatters.org:

Media Matters for America is a Web-based, not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media.

They couldn’t care less about misinformation in general, they are simply working against conservative misinformation.  I’m sure there’s plenty of it, but the fact of the matter is that they aren’t interested in clearing up the picture for people, they are interested in making the picture fit their mindset as much as possible.  Reality doesn’t really factor into the equation.  And the problem is that this is pretty much true for media all over, at least in the US.  And it’s killing our country.

So, What Team Do I play For?

This has been a difficult thing for me, because I’m one of those moderates that doesn’t fit into any political mold.

• I think abortion should be outlawed, because I think it’s the obvious killing of an innocent baby.
• I have no problem with gay marriage, because I believe that what makes my marriage sacred is the vow I took before God, sanctified by our submission to His will.
• I think the health care system is obviously broken, I believe there needs to be substantial reform, but I don’t think the idea of a public option is anything I want a part of.
• I hate the idea of wide-spread wire-tapping for the same reason: I have no reason to trust the federal government enough to trust them to use that power responsibly.
• I think there’s enough evidence for global warming that we should at least try and do something about it; not to mention the fact that using less and being responsible for the land, water and air we have is what I consider being a good steward of what God has provided us with
• I think the Christian Coalition / Moral Majority / whatever other organization seeking to maximize the political power of the Christian Church has done more to hurt the conservative movement and the Church than it could have ever hoped to have helped
• I think the Republican Party is more liberal than it’s ever been, that it’s lost its voice and that there’s little hope that they will ever find a meaningful message again

So, what am I?  I’d call myself a conservative.  Maybe a “rational conservative”…  I hate labels, period, but people generally want one, so that’ll work for now.  Most Republicans out there would laugh at the thought that I’m conservative while liberals would simultaneously be laughing at the fact that I think half the things up there are “rational”, but it is what it is.

I’m a conservative because I want the government out of my life as much as possible.  There are, of course, going to be things that will be governed, we live in a society, so there’s going to be rules that we play by, and I’m fine with that.  I’m even ok with there being rules protecting behavior that I don’t agree with, as long as it means that when I want to do something that someone else thinks is ridiculous, I’m free to do it (within reason, of course).

A Few Examples

I have this argument a lot when bringing up no prayer in schools or gay marriage.  I’m fine with both, and it’s a completely selfish, and I think rational, reason.  I’m going to preface something before I get into why I can call myself a conservative and be ok without prayer in schools or having gay marriages legalized.

I am a Christian, born-again if you will.  I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, He came to Earth, lived a perfect life, took the sin of the world onto Himself before dying on the cross.  I believe that three days later, He rose from the grave, appeared to as many as 150 people, and then ascended into Heaven where He sits at the right hand of God and intercedes for us.

I believe that I am a sinner, a fractured, broken vessel who’s only hope to achieve a relationship with God is through His Son.  I depend on His grace every day, because I sin every single day.  I’m no good person, and I don’t think there is such a thing as a good person.  I believe that the best life we can live is still a life of sin.  But because I believe that, I also know that I have absolutely no place in this world to do anything other than praise Jesus and God for the salvation made available to me, and to love those around me.  I’m not perfect at it, but I work at it.

All that said, why wouldn’t I want prayers in school!?  First of all, I don’t believe that anyone can keep prayer out of school.  Anyone can pray at any moment, in their heart and their head, and that’s something no one can stop. Second, who’s to say the prayer being said is one that you want to be praying?  That’s an awful big assumption.  Imagine that the prayer being offered in school is the Muslim Salat and you are a Christian.  How would you feel?  You’d probably be angry that you have to sit there while they pray, or worse, what if you were forced to take part?  The gall!  But for some reason, we want to push that experience on those that don’t share our beliefs.  We feel it’s our right.  How is that showing God’s love?  Do you really think that’s the best witness we can offer?

What about gay marriage?  How can a Christian support gay marriage (a Baptist no less!)?  Well, let’s start with a clarification: I’m not a supporter of gay marriage, I’m just not willing to lift a single finger to fight it, and I don’t think anyone else should, either.  I hear over and over about how God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.  Sure, that’s all well and good, and I absolutely agree that the marriage that God intended was between man and woman. But guess what? We live in a country with a wonderful thing called the separation of church and state.  That means that what God intended and what the law of the land is won’t always match up.  Marriage is sanctified by the church and by God.  If my church started approving gay marriage, I would take issue with it, because I don’t believe the Bible supports that, but I’m also absolutely certain that the Bible doesn’t state that we should fight to keep this from being a legal civil union in the eyes of the state.  Especially in such an unbecoming way as has been traipsed about the cable news networks over the past few years.

And what are we really worried about?  Is our concern really health care expenses?  Lost productivity from vacations?  Or is it that we think these sinners shouldn’t get the same rights us good “real” married people deserve.  Or does the idea of two guys kissing at the marriage alter just give you the willies?  That’s not a good enough reason, folks.  We are ALL sinners.  Christians get divorced at the same rate as non-Christians, so it’s not like our marriages are the city on the hill that we’d like to believe they are.  There is one that will judge, and the rest of us, well we get to be judged at the end of days.

I think that if we all took a step back, took a deep breath and really thought about things, we’d realize that we’ve all gotten a little out of hand.  There’s been quite a bit too much screaming, demonizing and fear-mongering on both sides of the aisle, and there’s been far too little reasoning, listening and humility.  We have such short memories about our actions and our shortcomings, but such long memories when it comes to others.

So to bring it back to team sports and why I think it’s killing our country.  The team sports mentality is destroying our ability to have meaningful conversations with those that disagree with us.  It forces us into more and more homogeneous groups that solidify our misconceptions into statements of fact, sharpen our prejudices into judgement and hatred, and poison our spirit against anyone not on our team.  The fewer dissenting opinions we allow ourselves to hear, the less we challenge our beliefs, the less we understand why we believe something.

I’m a conservative, but I listen to NPR exclusively.  It’s a good source of news, and it definitely has a left-leaning perspective.  It keeps me thinking. My best friend (brother from another mother type best friend) is a liberal, and the only thing he listens to is conservative radio, for much the same reason, I think (although I have to agree that conservative radio is a lot more entertaining than NPR).  I think our openness to other viewpoints makes it easier for us to both confront wrong headed group think, and also gives us better understanding of what makes our beliefs tick, if you will.  In much the same way, I post on a message board where I am the lone conservative voice, by a long shot.  I’ve had my eyes opened on a number of issues, and I dare say that I have had my own influence in return.  That’s not to say that there have been any radical shifts in our stances on ideas, but there has developed a very real, refreshing dialogue that allows issues to be discussed, and doublethink to be purged.  For those of you who haven’t read 1984 in a while, here’s an excerpt that will help explain what doublethink is:

The power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them….To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is needed, to deny the existence of objective reality and all the while to take account of the reality which one denies — all this is indispensably necessary. Even in using the word doublethink it is necessary to exercise doublethink. For by using the word one admits that one is tampering with reality; by a fresh act of doublethink one erases this knowledge; and so on indefinitely, with the lie always one leap ahead of the truth.

It’s so true and so prevalent.  And dangerous.

Alright, this is a monster post.  What do you think?  Am I off base?  Is the team sports mentality ok?  Or does it not exist?

Anyway, here’s her response to the previous Dr. Tiller post (I hope she doesn’t mind my posting it!):

You are right that the church is not what it should be. It is full of painfully human people who, many times, are seeking their own agenda rather than the one set for us by the Lord. The things that are done in His name are sometimes horrific. All through history you can find examples of man’s attempt to convince others of the righteousness of their position by the most anti-Christian behavior. But, we do not have the corner on that market. You have given a wonderful example of someone who has actually lived their beliefs before someone else who was desperately seeking. This does happen. There are many examples of that in the Christian church, and yes, even within the Southern Baptist denomination. Please do not allow your very appropriate revulsion at the action of this person / group who was responsible for shooting Dr. Tiller to fire your strong leaning toward cynicism – especially toward the church.

There is no place for this behavior in the Christian life – most of the people in our (and by “our” I mean Southern Baptist mainstream) churches would agree with you completely. Until we are all completely devoted to Him and living each day in obedience to Him, there will be aberrant groups who do really stupid, and sometimes criminal, things. We must stand against that as much as we stand against the actions of Dr. Tiller. The way we stand against it can be as much a harm to the Church and to our own faith as the actions of these killers if we aren’t careful to keep it in the light of His word and His teaching.

This is a great reminder to me personally, because I’m very often hard on my brethren (while openly acknowledging my own sinfulness). Here’s part of my response to her email.

I agree with you that the vast, vast majority of the church condemn these actions and hate that they occur. I also agree that the average Muslim is probably about as devout as the average Christian. The response was more a “re-balancer” for me against the seemingly constant haranguing by (predominantly) Christians against these Muslim extremists. I wish that we would approach our own inequities (as a church and as individuals) before we would go traipsing around the world to find the worst of the worst of the lost. They don’t know the love of God! We do (or claim to)! That’s where my frustration stems from, and its frustration born from the fact that our church is falling apart around our ears, our country is losing sight of the One True God, and they are losing sight of him because our Church is more interested in political rallies, being on cable TV, and preaching against sinners (instead of sin), rather than serving, being humble, meek, accepting of God’s grace and recognizing that God is in Control.

Psalm 2
1Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
2The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,
3Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
4He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the LORD shall have them in derision.
5Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
6Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
7I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
8Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
9Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
10Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
11Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

We are so often assured of the primacy and power of God throughout the Bible, yet we act as if it’s all in our hands and God can’t stand it if someone says something about it, or if their presence/sin bothers him. The idea that we are any less sinful than the worst criminal in jail, the most promiscuous of folks (of any orientation), or even an abortion doctor is ridiculous and flies in the face of Scripture. And while we claim it with our mouth, our actions speak a very different message. And to go full circle, I know that the very people that are doing the judging are sinners, and should be forgiven of that, but they also claim to be followers of Christ, and therefore are open to be chastised by their brothers and sisters.

I don’t claim that the killer of Dr. Tiller is representative of the Church or its members, and I absolutely apologize if that’s how I came across.  We are all fallen.  We are all sinners.  We are all incapable of our own salvation.  We all depend on the free gift of grace from God to be excused for our shortcomings, rebellions, and failures.  Praise God for his grace.

The murder of Dr. Tiller, the abortion doctor in Wichita, KS, has provide great fodder for those that are looking for any reason to distract or demean the message of love and forgiveness of Christ.  And why not?  The man was shot and killed in the lobby of his church.  The lobby of his church.

Now, I’m pro-life, and I hold that belief for exactly what the name says.  I believe that an unborn baby is still a baby and that the concious destruction of that life is wrong, and should be illegal.  One of the government’s responsibility is the protection of life, and there is no more innocent or vulnerable life than that of an unborn baby. That said, there is absolutely no way you can justify to me the attack on abortion clinics or personnel.  There is absolutely nothing in the character of Christ (Christian means Christ-One, or someone trying to emulate Christ) that would in any way condone these actions, let alone a murder.

An interesting juxtaposition is this story from CNN.com about a Muslim storekeeper that turns the tables on a robber, and then converts him to Islam. The store keeper pulled a shotgun on a man trying to rob the store with a baseball bat, learns that the man is just trying to get some food, gives him $40 and a loaf a bread.  The robber, apparently moved by the man’s charity, asks to become a Muslim.  Wow.  Is there a clearer example that there are so many people that are desperate for something, and cling to whatever truth they see as most genuine?

Is it too cynical of me to believe that had the storekeeper been a Christian, there’s a decent chance the robber would have been shot and then chased out of the store?