VITAL SIGNSrnRELIGIONrnBe Fair to thernLiberalsrnby David MillsrnAfter some years of ecclesiasticalrncombat (Episcopal battlefield), Irnthink I know why so many conservativernChristians do not respond to liberalismrnas strongly as one would expect. Theyrnthink that liberals are just cheating: thatrnthey know the rules, but like spoiled andrnwillful children have decided to play byrnrules the)^ like better. Since they are justrncheaters, they only need to be shamedrninto behaving, and if they won’t bernshamed into behaving, conserxcitives canrntry to change their church’s rules andrnstructures to prevent them from cheatingrnanymore.rnAn evangelical friend recently told mernthat he wanted to tell Bishop John Spongrnand his allies, “O.K., fine. Believe whatrnyou want. But don’t call yourself a Christian.rnYou can’t be a member of the clubrnwithout paying some dues, and the mostrnbasic payment is to believe. Get in or getrnout, but stop muddying the waters.” ThernRoman Catholic bishop of Omaha,rnFabian Bruskewitz, is reported to havernsaid that “the difference between a dissentingrnCatholic and a Protestant is thatrnthe Protestant has integrity.”rnThis isn’t really fair to most liberals.rnI’ll admit, it ;s irritating when a man whornhas made quite a good living from hisrnchurch declares his rejection of yet anotherrnof her doctrines and praises himselfrnfor his prophetic courage, while irreligiousrnreporters applaud him and publishersrnstrew book contracts at his feet. Itrnis more than irritating when comfortablernsherry-soaked theologians sneer at thernpope for his supposedly simplistic understandingrnof the problems of modern societyrnor when (as has happened in thernEpiscopal Church) tenured feministsrnpublicly describe a bishop who, on biblicalrngrounds, hesitates to ordain womenrnas “evil.”rnNevertheless, we have to be fair to thernliberals and try to see things from theirrnpoint of view, not just as a courtesy duernany opponent, but to know what to dornabout them. Most liberals are not cheating.rnThey are playing by the rules andrnplaying fair. They are acting with integrity.rnThat’s the problem.rnLiberals (the usual but certainly unsatisfactoryrnname for a hazy collection ofrnskeptics, relativists, ideologues, and sentimentalistsrnheld together mainly by theirrnopposition to the same things) believernthat truth evolves and grows andrnchanges, or at least that our understandingrnof truth evolves so radically that earlierrncertainties may be replaced by newrnand contradictory truths. They believernthat what has been, even what has beenrnsettled, may not be, or shall not be anyrnlonger.rnTheir ways of explaining this evolutionrndiffer. Some believe that they arernrescuing the truths in the Christian traditionrn(the equality of men and women,rnfor example) from the errors therein (thernheadship of men). Some believe theyrnare rescuing the truths in the Christianrntradition from the errors later imposedrnthereon (the same example applies).rnOthers believe that the Bible and Christianrntradition were historically limited attemptsrnto speak of fundamental religiousrnrealities and want to express these fundamentalrnrealities in a more modern andrnrelevant form. Others believe that therernis no truth in the Christian tradition andrnthat we must therefore reinvent thernChurch as we go along, to serve whateverrnideals or desires we have.rnYet others believe that they have recoveredrnthe original faith itself, the religionrnof the loving, inclusive, non-judgmentalrnJesus, who accepted everyonern(except for the proto-capitalists and religiousrntraditionalists of the day), whosernmessage of tolerance the pharisaical St.rnPaul distorted, and whose story laterrnmisogynist, racist, and homophobicrnchurch leaders rewrote so that theyrncould keep oppressing women, blacks,rnand homosexuals.rnHowever they explain the evolution,rnliberals must conclude that the Christianrntradition has little formative and no bindingrnauthority and that the new truthsrnthey see must replace those still assertedrnby orthodox Christians. Orthodoxy is atrnbest out of date—but dangerously, notrnamusingly so. It is not quaint: It is an enemyrnof the good, of God, and of humanrnfreedom and liberation.rnIf they are right, those who cannot orrnwill not explore formerly forbidden areasrnand risk the loss of all certaint}-, who willrnnot open themselves to new movementsrnof the Holy Spirit, who want to hold tornthe plain meaning of the ancient texts,rnand who rely on the Church’s traditionrnto tell them what it says cannot be allowedrnto define the Church’s doctrinernand discipline. Those who live in errorrncannot be allowed to limit acceptablernbelief to what in less sophisticated timesrnwas called “orthodoxv.” They certainlyrncannot be allowed to expel liberals orrneven to restrain or inhibit them.rnConservative Christians are sometimesrnconfused because all five types ofrnliberal tend to keep the traditional formsrnof the faith. People like liturgy and feelrnthe need to pray to something higherrnthan themselves; a hierarchy is a goodrnway to run a church, especially if yournhave made it to the top; old doctrines arernuseful metaphors; biblical stories makerngood illustrations; the doctrines and storiesrnare part of the heritage and thereforerncomfort the old people; the buildings arernbeautifiil, and also paid for. Of course,rnsometimes this deference to tradition isrnsimply convenient, as when bishops whorncare not a vhit what the Fathers of thernChurch said about ordination or moralityrndefend their intrusion into the lives ofrntheir parishes by appealing to the patristicrnunderstanding of the bishop (or whatrnthey think is the patristic imderstanding).rnIn general, liberals act from a sort ofrnconservatism. Noting that the traditionrncarries our common memory and securesrnour identity as a community, theyrnthink modern Christians may keep patristicrnliturgies and a hierarchical orderrnaird even the doctrinal assertions of thernNicene Creed, while believing that Jesusrnis only one way to the Cod seen dimlyrnand incompletely by all religions, includingrnours, or while ignoring specificrnbiblical moral teaching in favor of a generalizedrninjunction to love, or while rejectingrnthe Pauline teaching on headshiprnfor a misreading of Galatians 3:23.rn38/CHRONICLESrnrnrn