Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 31, 1993 TAG: 9301290042
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: THE REV. CAMERON D. MURCHISON JR.
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
CULTURE WARS VEIL RESPECT FOR DIFFERENCES
It may seem grandiose to frame our local community flap over school holidays in the rhetoric of warfare. But the term "war" does justice to the struggle in our society to define America. The phenomenon that is taking place in the midst of our very own community is an illustration of one of the battlefronts on which the culture wars are being fought.I suspect that most of us would just as soon see the whole thing blow over. I wish I thought it was going to. But there are immense, institutionally powerful resources fueling the battle.
On one side there is the shifting of energy by the Christian Right from national politics to local politics, with the intent of embodying its values and commitments in the political life of local governments across the land.
On the other side is the considerable influence of the "knowledge industry" and the government itself. With such significant resources on both sides, it is unlikely we will soon return to normalcy.
One of the most excruciating things about our controversy is the opposing perspectives among Christians.
At the Montgomery County School Board meeting at Christiansburg High School on Jan. 5, the first 10 speakers identified themselves as Christians and spoke vigorously against the School Board's action to change Christmas and Easter holiday designations to "winter" and "spring."
The next speakers also identified themselves as Christians and spoke just as vigorously in favor of the board's action.
What is striking is that the culture war does not primarily pit one religious group against another (though the particular issue of holidays might give such an impression), but rather pits those within the same religious group against one another.
Well, we might say, that is America. Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. But the tone of that School Board meeting does not allow such benign disregard.
On the one side were people convinced that the removal of religious symbols from the public schools contributes directly to moral decline in our society - including drugs and teen-age pregnancy.
On the other side were people convinced that the inclusion of such religious symbols violates the constitutional protection of religious minorities.
On the one side were people fearful that a changed school calendar would be one more step down a road that denies the significance of their religious commitments. On the other side were people fearful that the other side's exclusionary tone denies a sense of respect and belonging to all Americans, regardless of their religion.
On the one side were people determined to stand up against the enemy of secularism. On the other side were people determined to stand up against the enemy of religious intolerance.
These are not merely different opinions; they are different intentions for the public life in which we all share. And the differences have consequences for us all.
The Christian tradition has often distinguished between justifiable wars on the one hand and crusades on the other. In a crusade, all the forces of good are seen as being on one side and all the forces of evil on the other. The crusader expresses moral self-righteousness and moral indignation toward presumed enemies, with all compassion absent.
Open microphones in public meetings do not ordinarily invite deeper understanding. Instead, they encourage rhetorical excess. They become in effect the cannons used for bombardment on the battlefield.
We need to arrange for other ways to communicate with those whose ideas are different from our own. We need face-to-face encounters where we can explain ourselves and question one another, where we can test our understanding of others' viewpoints and ask them to understand us, where we can search for common ground for the foundation of a public life inclusive of all our differences.
This heart-to-heart mutual searching will take more time and energy than we are likely to think we can give.
To ignore our culture wars is to invite the eventual chaos of civil war into our midst. The God who has called us is the God of all creation and of all people.
This is especially important to remember as we contemplate not only the antagonism between Christian groups in our community, but especially the plight of those who are not Christians who feel particularly vulnerable. We need to assure them that our Christian conviction does not put us into opposition with them, but rather gives us solidarity.
Thus we testify to the God who shows no partiality and who can lead us all into a community that honors and respects differences.
The Rev. Cameron D. Murchison Jr. is pastor of Blacksburg Presbyterian Church.