A reflection on two worldviews

In light of Lambeth, GAFCON, and all of the media’s attempts to dismantle the positive conversation that is currently going on within the Anglican Communion, as well as the Archbishop’s address yesterday, a thought occurred to me recently.

The current talk of schism (encouraged by the self-called Global South, cranky American bishops, and the reporters that amount to teenagers in a schoolyard chanting “Fight! Fight!
Fight!”) leads to the embodiment of two incredibly questionable worldviews:

1. There are two groups that are warring in any situation.
2. Conservatives are in a culture war.

Neither of these worldviews is accurate, nor are they beneficial to the discussion. But we use
them as the subtext, pretext, or even primary text of our discussion.

The war worldview is obviously unhealthy. It begins by suggesting that there are only two views of a situation and that they are diametrically opposed to one-another. It then attempts to shoehorn divergent perspectives into these two opposing positions. Our current political use of liberal and conservative don’t seem to fit the modern definitions or the classical definitions, so why would they even accurately describe the current situation?

Like church conflicts of old, the groups of people that are responsible are not diametrically opposed, but tangentially. Imagine that you are sitting in front of a sandbox. The oppositional/conflict worldview suggests that the other child playing in the sandbox must be directly across from you and that they are in direct opposition to you. What if the other child is to your side, or worse, next to you? Does that mean you have to knock down their castle to make room for your own? Can’t you work on the same greater project?

The second worldview is perhaps more subtle, but strangely common. It is the idea of the culture war: a crusade to remake culture into a conservative ideal. It suggests that the world has strayed, not just from God’s plan, but because of liberalism. Related to the us vs. them mentality described above, this represents the opposing forces from the victim’s perspective. It recasts normal as liberal and conservative as normal. This not only shifts the goal posts, but the sidelines as well!

We have seen this worldview engaged in national politics, introduced in the 70’s, epitomized in the 80’s, and then implemented as normal in the 1990s. It represents a retro response to what they perceive as a creeping liberalism. A liberalism that is also authoritarian. It believes that they have been stripped of their position by those at the top, despite their interest in replacing the existing status with a new centralized conservative authority!

This worldview is further made difficult in that, as in war, both sides are seemingly “responsible” for the current arrangement. It seems to suggest that the culture itself represents hostility toward them and that a chosen action is not a breeching of covenant, but a response to aggressive action. The Schismatics seem to have learned from the Southern rebels that have inherited their region’s legacy after the Civil War.

Both of these worldviews distract us from the discussion that would enliven our relationship, replacing it with conflict, distrust, and in some cases, violence and oppression. Think about this: In confirming the election of V. Gene Robinson to Bishop of New Hampshire, the Episcopal Church didn’t “act”. It abided by its process. The incursion of international bishops into
the Episcopal Church, on the other hand, are acts of aggression.

Until we sit together in honesty and integrity, these things will continue to divide us.