You might remember an infamous moment during President Clinton’s impeachment trial. He responded to a question with, “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’, is.” While questions like that tend to be reserved for academic literature and philosophy classes, the definitions of terms sometimes become absolutely critical to our public discourse. We find ourselves in a time when the meanings of common terms are up for grabs, or even more often, have been redefined without our knowledge.
Two recent articles, seemingly unrelated, help us understand how one family of terms now means something completely different than what most normal people take them to mean. So, when we run across them in articles, theological language, or political rhetoric, we are not always ready for what comes next. The family of terms I am thinking of revolve around words like, “harm,” “violence,” “hate,” etc.
Our first example comes from the Church of England and their recent decisions to bless same-sex marriages and work toward a gender-neutral version of the God of the Bible. The Christian Post reports:
Members of the Church of England's General Synod approved plans to allow same-sex couples who have been joined in a civil marriage or civil partnership to come to church services and "receive God's blessing," according to a church statement.
The vote — which tallied 36 bishops in favor, four opposed and two abstained — also included language calling for the church to "lament and repent" for what officials said was "the failure of the Church" to welcome LGBT-identified people and for "harm" LGBT communities "have experienced — and continue to experience — in churches."
Their decision is laced with terminology of lamentation for harm and violence done to the LGBTQ community. Now, while you might be able to find some phenomenally-rare instance in which the Church of England has done physical harm to someone, their meaning has nothing to do with that. By “harm” they mean disagreement. Traditionally, the Church of England has not blessed same-sex marriages because that would change the teaching of Christian Scriptures. We have reached a point, however, where simple disagreement on this issue has been redefined to mean “harm” and even “violence”, which serves to load disagreement with enough emotional gunpowder to get a denomination to change its teaching. If you load enough guilt into a term, it does not matter how false its application is. It still gets the job done.
Our second example comes from the Biden Administration, and an attempt to change the guidelines for hiring Federal employees. The Daily Signal reports:
Under the current regulation, 731.202(b)(7), an applicant is disqualified from employment by the federal government for “knowing and willful engagement in acts or activities designed to overthrow the U.S. Government.”
The Biden administration, however, is proposing to replace that straightforward standard with four enigmatic standards:
· Knowing engagement in acts or activities with the purpose of overthrowing Federal, State, local, or tribal government.
· Acts of force, violence, intimidation, or coercion with the purpose of denying others the free exercise of their rights under the U.S. Constitution or any state constitution.
· Attempting to indoctrinate others or to incite them to action in furtherance of illegal acts.
· Active membership or leadership in a group with knowledge of its unlawful aims, or participation in such a group with specific intent to further its unlawful aims.
The author of the article goes on to note that the last three standards can be used to fire or refuse to hire anyone who does not agree with the social policies or favored legal positions of the administration. It is worth noting that with the passage of the RFMA, belief in traditional marriage only is now against Federal law. Additionally, the FBI has been caught treating traditional Catholics as potential domestic terrorist groups, going so far as to figure out how to infiltrate Latin masses. He notes:
Managers also could reject anyone who questions the acts and behavior of government officials or who voices opinions that don’t fit with the accepted political orthodoxy of the times, such as viewing racial preferences in hiring or college admissions as unacceptable, immoral discrimination.
Do you doubt that? Members of the progressive Left long have claimed that words and free speech are a literal form of violence, that they amount to intimidation and coercion.
All of this is intellectually and morally ridiculous, but it is the spirit of our age. It also means that the cultural Left has not so much argued against traditional Christians and won, as much as it means they have labeled them as hate-filled and branded them as outcasts.
We return to the call of the Christian right now – faithful endurance. The truth is good for us and for our neighbors, even if they disagree. Faithful and loving people cannot go the way of the Church of England. But Christians need to learn one more important lesson right now – no matter how much you capitulate, if you still believe in Jesus Christ and hold to Christian orthodoxy, there is a segment of our population who will still label you as hateful.
While we spread the good news of Jesus Christ, pray for our neighbors and the growth of the church, and work for the flourishing of our communities, we may have reached a point where no matter how good we think we are being, the Christian’s fundamental belief system labels them as outsiders. Not everyone sees Christians this way, to be sure. But increasingly the power that be in media, politics, and entertainment do.
Ultimately, however, this should not change the Christian’s love for God or love for neighbor. Our culture needs a stable place, and faithful Christians and churches can be that right now.
Exodus
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ETC Morning Edition
Seems the Church is simply beginning to experience what has been normal for Christians through the centuries since the Day of Pentecost. The "honeymoon" of cultural respect and deference that American christians have known is quickly fading. Thanks for the clear message and illumination of current trends. We should not be dismayed or retreat from Truth but embrace 'faithful endurance' and shine the Light of the Gospel into the growing darkness.