If you have liberal friends or family members, then you will face this question, sooner or later. If you don’t have any friends or family members who are liberal in their theology, political ideology or worldview (or all three), then I would highly recommend that you get out more and cultivate these relationships! It makes life dull to live in a bubble without interacting with folks who do not share your outlook on life. Of course, I would likewise encourage liberals to find a few conservatives — including Evangelical Christians — to befriend. You just might find that we are not all the knuckle-dragging neanderthals that popular media often unfairly portray.
Perhaps because I haven’t always been a pastor, my life experiences have afforded me the opportunity to meet people from a variety of religious, cultural, and political backgrounds. I have been blessed through the years to develop relationships with people from all walks of life. My college years at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. — particularly time spent as a brother at Phi Sigma Kappa Fraternity (Lambda Chapter) — exposed me to a much wider world than I had experienced growing up in the sleepy central Florida town of Lake Placid.
From the moment I walked on the Foggy Bottom campus of G.W.U., I encountered an eclectic group of fellow students who would make lasting impressions on me. Most of my closest friends would end up also being my fraternity brothers. While other fraternities on campus had a definite identity (WASP, Jewish, Jocks, Druggies, etc.), Phi Sigs were a duke’s mixture — Jewish, Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, none-of-the above and one lone Southern Baptist boy who insisted that “alternative beverages” be served at each fraternity party.
During my four years at college as a student and as an active member of Phi Sigma Kappa, I don’t remember how many “dialogues” that I had with my fraternity brothers and other friends on the pressing moral, social, and political issues of the day. I don’t believe I ever got into that kind of dialogue with senior brother Eric Cantor, who is currently the Republican Majority Leader of the House of Representatives. If I had only known! But, there were other brothers who I had very intense dialogues with. However, I don’t think that I ever thought — even in the heat of battle — that my brothers or friends were bad people. Wrong, yes. Misguided, perhaps. But, not bad or evil people. I’m sure that others thought the same of me. Of course, that was 25 years ago. Where has all that time gone?
Fast forward to 2012. No longer an attorney and long-past college, my life has seen many changes along the way. The same could be said of my Phi Sig brothers and college friends. Although I now hang out (in person or online) with mostly Christians of the Southern Baptist variety, I still maintain friendships (mostly through social media like Facebook, but sometimes in person) with fraternity brothers (and little sisters), college and law school classmates, and other family and friends, many of whom identify as something other than Southern Baptist. Some of these — both religious and non-religious — would probably describe their politics and worldview as liberal. A few of these would identify as gay.
Every now and then, one of my liberal fraternity brothers or friends and I will get into a dialogue about a particular social or political issue. The dialogue usually starts because of an article that I have written for my blog or a status update that I have posted on Facebook. While most folks don’t blog, many people do spend a lot of time interacting on Facebook (some perhaps too much) and other social media. During the last week, I have posted more than my fair share of articles on my blog and status updates on my Facebook page dealing with the Chick-fil-A kerfuffle. Many of the people who I know, especially Christians, have likewise been prolific in their postings about the fried chicken chain currently embroiled in controversy.
From both personal experience and from talking to others, it appears that the reaction to the reaction to the Chick-fil-A boycott — specifically Gov. Huckabee’s idea for a National Appreciation Day for CFA — has become not just a flash point in the ongoing culture wars, but also a turning point in the civil discourse in America. Instead of being able to agree to disagree on one of the most contentious moral/political issues of our day — homosexual rights in general and gay marriage in particular — we now have proponents of traditional marriage (or, if you prefer, opponents of same-sex marriage) called bigots, homophobes, and worse. The Democrat Mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, has even gone so far as to say that those like Dan Cathy (CEO of Chick-fil-A), who believe in the biblical definition of marriage, now hold values that are not worthy of acceptance in polite company (although Chicago’s Catholic Archbishop begs to differ). And, to take it one step further, many supporters of gay marriage find it easy to castigate traditional marriage supporters as akin to racists.
I would like to say that I am surprised by the vitriol that is being directed against Christians like me who believe that God has defined marriage as between one man and one woman. However, in a post-modern, post-Christian culture, Christians who teach and preach Biblical values will continue to be marginalized. That marginalization will come from the culture at large, from popular media, and from politicians. It will even come from our family and friends. My liberal friends may think that I am horribly wrong about gay marriage. I can understand that. They may try to argue why same-sex marriage should be afforded the same rights as heterosexual marriage. I will respectfully listen to those arguments, even if I ultimately agree to disagree.
Two questions remain unanswered: Will my liberal friends show me the same courtesy or will they bash me for my beliefs, branding me as one of THOSE bigoted homophobes? Or, will my liberal friends simply tell me that they think I am wrong? How these questions are answered — not just for me but for those like me — will say much about whether our relationships and our nation “can long endure.”
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