Is it just me, or is the Christian “blogosphere” becoming more interesting and diverse? When I began blogging it seemed to me that the Christian blogs were pretty much a solidly right-wing block. There were some early exceptions, but the blogs that made the running had, for this Brit, an uncomfortable political consensus.
Of course, that was partly because the blogs were overwhelmingly US-based, but that was only part of the reason. I knew that there was a “liberal” (terrible word, hopelessly inaccurate, but you know what I mean) wing of the church in the USA that was just not represented in blogdom. A cursory glance down a typical front-page at blogs4God is instructive — non-conservative links are fairly rare.
But just recently I’ve been sensing a bit of a shift. Nothing you could call a sea-change, but certainly the emergence of a Christian witness that does not share the political agenda of American conservatism. Real Life Preacher is perhaps the most notable, but Tim Samoff, Camassia, Darren Rowse and others have been instrumental in “giving permission” for non-conservative (or unconventionally conservative!) Christians to add their voices to this strange self-opinionated world. No one would want to deny Bene Diction’s part in this, and I dare to hope that my blog has made a contribution to widening debate.
I might, of course, be much mistaken. But it seems to me that newish blogs like The H is O and even newer ones such as A Religious Liberal Blog and Matthew 25:40 are very significant.
But I wonder. Will these very disparate bloggers from across the political spectrum be able to remain in fellowship with one another? Or will the old consensus of “Christian==Conservative” mean the exclusion of these newer, more diverse, voices?
Published 4 years, 5 months ago
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I sure hope that the fellowship continues… Of course, others might be embarrassed to be seen near someone who’s blushing as much as I am right now.
I recall the build up to the Iraq war all to well in the god-blogosphere.
Afghanistan was under way, and international god-bloggers and none neo-conservative voices in the US were getting hit with the literalism of ‘you are either for us or against us.’
In many many cases rhetoric became its own war.
For some the hurts haven’t healed to this day.
For what?
I think you are correct, there is a wee change. God bless those who have shown grace, kindness and respect all along.
Whatever label anyone choses to try to stick on any of us, whatever priority any person places on their politics, I pray we live James 3:1-18 in the day to day and in the blogosphere.
And when I fail, God grant me mercy to be quick to seek forgiveness.
I don’t share the political conservatism in most areas of the blogosphere, but I do have the moral conservatism. DO you have any idea how hard it is to be an economic ‘liberal’ and pro-life as well?
Tim:
By far the most difficult struggle I’ve had as a blogger is to really know when someone doesn’t want fellowship, when other things crowd out the love of God between us. I don’t know when I’m to walk away and wish someone peace who doesn’t want peace or who dictates peace on their terms. I don’t know if I’ll ever get the hang of that. Blog on!
Alica:
It is hard, especially when you are judged falsely for your intent. So many of us fall silent. I’m glad you are blogging, I admire your courage, and I’m grateful you are here. I’ve learned a great deal from you. Blog on!
Good point Alicia. Political/economic/religious/moral conservatism are not always so bound together as they’re sometimes presented. Which kind of reduces the value of labels like “liberal” and “conservative”. We still use them because we *think* we know what they mean. I wonder how much fellowship has been lost in that gap between our understanding and our words?
Great post.
I have been amazed at how many times I’ve read blogs that subtly imply that there is only one way for Christians to feel or think about a wide range of issues. (Some of them aren’t all that subtle either.)
I’ve seen posts from many bloggers that seem to think that following the party line without question is akin to following gopel truth.
I too feel uncomfortable at what I see in US God-blogs. I suppose everyone has a right to political affiliation, but the subtle (and not-so-subtle) hint that we are to support only one way is puzzling.
I’m from Malaysia, and it’s a bit different here. I don’t think Malaysian Christians have such an attitude (I could be wrong) where we support one political party because we think that’s the Christian way. In fact, politics is a very silent issue.
I don’t know what I am - whether liberal or conservative. Have no idea what they mean sometimes. But I certainly do not believe that God is on a particular party’s side. He’s the true ruler of the world, so He’s on his side.
I think you have a point there. When I first started blogging late in ‘02, most of the other bloggers who interacted with me were conservative Catholics. Since then, a lot of more liberal types have shown up.
That seems to have been the general pattern with the blogosphere as a whole, actually. Conservatives and libertarians were the first to hit it big, and the left followed later. Don’t know why.
Thanks for the plug!
Conservative, right-wing Christianity tends to be the brand that gets the most exposure, but in reality, American Christians — even evangelicals — are a politically diverse bunch. The sociologist Christian Smith wrote about this in his study Christian America? What Evangelicals Really Want. Perhaps worth checking out.
I see I can’t use HTML. That comment above was supposed to contain a link to Christian Smith’s book: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0520220412/qid=1087026587/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-6203144-2188866?v=glance&s=books
Sorry Dave, I disabled HTML in the hope comment spam would settle a bit.
I too get tired of Christian = Republican blogs out there and how they deem those who disagree with them or a Christian blog that refuses to talk politics as ‘heresy” or a ‘fake Christian’. I feel like I am stuck between ‘the rock and a hard place’ sometimes because I am not an ultra-conservative card carrying Christian Republican or because I am not a Christian liberal who believes everything goes because of Grace.
Jesus never cared about politics. If Jesus wanted to establish a political kingdom, then he would have chosen all twelve disciples to be, think, dress, etc. like Simon the Zealot (the Zealots believed that Jesus had to be a ploitical ruler who would free Israel from Roman captivity) and could have had political power at the snap of his fingers. Jesus cared about spreading the love of God and the will of the father via the Great Commission.
Political views are important… but there comes a time when one is shouting for the sake of being heard, of proving to everyone that “my views are right.” At that point, it become really difficult to hear what the Spirit is saying…
“_Thy_ will be done, on Earth…”