Can the Center Hold?

The last few weeks the “ask the pastor” Sunday school group I have been in has explored our response as Christians who are serious about being disciples of Jesus to the cultural trajectory of the United States. At the time of the founding of the nation, even the Deists assumed a generally Protestant cultural consensus. As immigration brought Roman Catholics and Jews, many from eastern and southern Europe, a generic Judeo-Christian civil religion took shape. As the 20th century came to its conclusion global immigration brought a much wider range of religious perspective to the United States, and the whole population became increasingly secular. Most people are not opposed to private religion but do not claim to practicing any religion themselves.

This discussion prompted me to think about what core of shared values might be able to hold together a large, diverse, pluralistic, secular democracy. I tried to think of things that I could support as a Christian that could be equally embraced by Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and atheists. I am starting by suggesting these five ideas, with a connection to Christian theology in parentheses. I invite others to engage in this discussion with suggestions of other ideas, deleting some of these, defining what I have just labeled without working out definitions yet.

1. Respect people – the dignity and worth of every individual. (created in the image of God)
2. Respect community – the shared environment, culture and history. (creation, purpose)
3. Justice – with compassion for the weak and poor, with restorative rather than punitive purpose for those who violate others or the community as well as protection from those whose habits threaten others and the community. (hope and redemption)
4. Integrity – honest, transparent interactions. (truth)
5. Rule of law – predictability of expectations, checks and balances. (accountability)

A corollary issue is whether a large, diverse, pluralistic, secular democracy can have a mission or purpose. The founders of the United States articulated an aversion to foreign entanglements, and an isolationist theme does recur in public opinion, especially when global ventures have gone badly. From the Monroe Doctrine and Theodore Roosevelt’s “big stick” to George W. Bush’s desire to spread democracy, the Puritan’s concept of a “city set on a hill” has taken on a secular direction backed up with military power as the country emerged as a superpower. Neither isolationism nor empire building are practical and probably not ethical. So it remains to identify a purpose broader than national interest for a large, diverse, pluralistic, secular democracy.

My suggested value core and questions about a national mission are raised with an awareness of a fragmenting, polarizing trend in the public arena of the United States today. Strident voices with a “take no prisoners” attitude are arising around a host of volatile issues: immigration, health care, response to terrorism, gun rights/controls, and economics (banking, deficits, taxes).

By suggesting a minimal core of values and seeking some sort of national mission, I am asking whether there is an American center that people of the whole range of political, social and religious stripes can agree to claim together. I am not optimistic about the current atmosphere or about finding such a core and mission, but I think it is worth trying, which begs these additional questions.

1. Is this compelling? Does it inform a social mission or reason for being?
2. Can the center hold?
3. What is a legitimate cultural center for a large diverse country like the United States?
4. What can Christians contribute to defining the cultural center of a secular, pluralistic society?
5. If the center does not hold, how should Christians conduct their own lives, their churches and live with their neighbors?

As a pastor I am particularly concerned about this last question, feeling responsible to help Christians find a center in Jesus that will hold for their personal lives and for their congregations. I have concluded that this is essential as the inevitability of secular pluralism becomes inescapable. It will be even more urgent if as a large, diverse, pluralistic, secular democracy the United States cannot find a center that will hold and fragmented polarization becomes what characterizes this country, and perhaps all of the western democracies.