To rant or not to rant
May 25th, 2006 ~ Orthodox perspectiveOrthodixie gets into some pretty interesting stuff here. Our culture has more than enough going on in it at any minute to exhaust the patience and good will of any of us so that, like Rip Van Winkle’s wife, we’re in danger of dying from bursting a blood vessel screaming at a New England peddlar. Reason dictates we pick our battles. But do I use that as an excuse to absent myself from ever fighting the good fight at all?
When is the day that turns the corner past all reason? Then again, my typical thought on seeing Christians up in arms and protesting is: “Oh. My. Gosh.” And, like the Pharisee, I secretly thank God I’m not like them.
Inaction can be viewed as sophistication. Perhaps, in God’s eyes, too smart by half.
When it comes to criticizing the world around us, how far do we go? Can we decry the apostasy, blasphemy, unrighteousness, hypocrisy and still go to church on Sunday, still be — in some sense — praying for them and for the whole world?
I hope the answer is yes. Responses on the Ortho-blogosphere would have me believe it’s not quite as self-evident as I think.
I can’t see the wisdom of that position myself, and I know that in my case, it would be motivated in no small part from the strong temptation to resist any confrontation, think well of everyone and be thought well of in return, have my tiny share of domestic tranquility (no matter what I had to sell in order to get it) and to avoid looking like That Sort of Christian. In short, I’m a bit of a coward, and if walking away from this cultural fight is the right thing to do, in my case, I’d be doing it for all the wrong reasons.
So I rant. Sometimes. And sometimes, I just skip it. And which one I do may have more to do with whether I’ve got some time to kill or can think of a funny way to say it.
And as long as I’m being painfully honest, I’ll admit that I rant against liberals more than conservatives and Democrats more than Republicans and Madonna more than Jerry Falwell. Not because there isn’t such a thing as a right wing, but because they don’t seem to be crusading against active Christianity, and I don’t see how I can say the same about the left wing.
That’s subjective, I know. But I thought I’d come clean.
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June 7th, 2006 at 10:25 am
I think all of us (I especially) spend too much energy worrying about whether our protest/satire/rants/quiet conversation/ignoring the problem is the right move. The truth is, in a big war, there are infantrymen, bombers, medics, typists, generals, etc., and sometimes an infantryman gets called upon to become a general, but if the typists walked away from their typing, the war effort would be less effective.
In other words, there’s a time to rant, a time to deride, a time to feel sorry for the stupid and meaningless life of the sinner and a time to walk away from the problem, so that we can regain perspective on the whole situation. There’s also a time to evaluate what’s working and what’s not, so that we can pursue effective strategy. I think that’s where the “Boycott First! Read the Book Never!” folks make their mistake. There’s also a time to discuss and argue about effective strategy.
And to appreciate the irony that sometimes our strategies unify us with people whose goals differ from ours. It gives us a chance to reach across the chasm, but it’s helpful not to forget our unity with those who share our goals but not our strategy. (Or vice versa.)
Example: I agree with Ann Coulter on a lot of what she says, but I think her rhetoric is unnecessarily inflammatory. So I end up among a group of liberals who hate what she says, but are not opposed to being equally inflammatory, if they thought of it. What to say? Nothing. I’m not a good enough debater to take on six people at once. I felt guilty about that sort of thing for a while, until I had a chance to talk one-to-one with a similarly minded liberal about one topic. There we could find common ground and explore our realms of agreement and disagreement and leave as friends.
And I love your rants on this blog.
Great post, very though-provoking.
June 7th, 2006 at 11:45 am
Omigosh, this has so much pure truth in it that my head may explode.
And either we two represent a trend (always a favorite conceit of mine) or we’re just coming to very similar places. I used to be happy enough just being a hothead — now I don’t see things quite the same. I know too many people that are really trying to do good in their lives but don’t see things my way. So what am I supposed to do — obsess on how to tell them how wrong they are? pity them? thank God that He did not make me a sinner like them?
It seems to me that I lose track of the culture war part of it and willfully ignore the great costs that happen all the time as a result of it. When you hang out listening to the talking heads (or talking airwaves or talking blog-heads) long enough, you can visualize a country full of enemies of decency and sanity. But if I rely on my own experience, I know a lot more people who just want to do the right thing and are rarely certain that they’re right and everybody else is wrong.
This all sounds confusing when I try to write it down. Hope it makes some sense.