A couple of weeks ago, a popular but controversial American pastor went on a rant in his Tennessee tent-church.
Raging rhetoric
He shouted to his Global Vision Bible Church congregation: “If you vote Democrat, I don’t even want you around this church. You can get out! You cannot be a Christian and vote Democrat in this nation. I don’t care how mad that makes you. They are God-denying demons that butcher babies and hate this nation. Get out in the name of Jesus!” Most of his congregation cheered him on.
It's increasingly common to hear the term ‘hate preacher’ banded about regarding church leaders who speak against homosexual practice, Islam, etc. Most recently, the charge was brought against Franklin Graham during his UK ‘God Loves You’ tour. In that case, as in so many others, the charge was patently false – as Graham stated simply, “I’m not a preacher of hate; my message is about love”.
The same cannot be said about Greg Locke on Sun, 15th May. Sadly, he went on to make more disturbing, even subversive, comments still, threatening physical violence against his political opponents, and twisting biblical texts in attempt to justify them.
As Graham stated simply, “I’m not a preacher of hate; my message is about love.”
The partitioning of America
While Locke’s vengeful outburst has been widely condemned by Republicans and Democrats, Christians and non-Christians alike, they do reveal a disturbing trend in humankind, that of political polarisation. Perhaps nothing has done more to fuel the fire of polarisation than the widespread use of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Social media serves to siphon people into 'echo chambers' that increase the effects of confirmation bias, creating a self-reinforcing system where their opposition to others, such as an opposing party, grows stronger.
Especially in the United States, polarisation is increasingly being understood as a social identity issue, similar to the way Sunnis and Shias or Israelis and Palestinians often perceive one another – as enemy tribes that represent a major risk to their identity and value system.
That was particularly evident during the presidency of Donald Trump, when Americans became sharply divided along partisan lines in their views. While many Christians (who helped get him elected) thought – and still think – he can do no wrong, he was, undoubtedly, the most polarising president America has known.
Trump can’t be blamed for everything, however. Currently, given the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn universal abortion rights, America is irreconcilably divided over this issue. 49 out of 50 Democratic Senators voted in favour of an abortion bill; some of them even opening the door to infanticide (all of which partly paved the way for Greg Locke’s outrageous outburst).
UK divisiveness
It's at times of national celebration such as the Queen's Platinum Jubilee that one would be excused for thinking a remarkable spirit of unity existed in the UK. But in recent years also, the world has watched as Britain became increasingly divisive, with arguments especially raging over Brexit. A study showed that more than half-a-decade after the referendum, Brexit remains the most polarising political issue in the United Kingdom between left and right-wing voters.
A study showed that more than half-a-decade after the referendum, Brexit remains the most polarising political issue in the United Kingdom between left and right-wing voters.
Other areas that have seen the UK population entrenched on either side of a deep divide include a series of issues related to the Covid pandemic (mask wearing, the dangers of Covid, the efficacy of lockdowns). North of the border, the battle over whether Scotland should declare independence from the rest of the United Kingdom has virtually split the nation in two.
Church schisms
You’d hope things would look a whole lot better within the body of Christ. Alas, this isn’t always the case, as the Greg Locke scenario makes apparent. Historically, Christianity is renowned for its divisions and splits. The longstanding rupture between Protestants and Catholics over many centuries has been a sad saga, resulting in a great many actions and words unbefitting of anyone calling themselves Christian. In the late nineteenth and early 20th centuries, the most bitter opposition arose from evangelicals against new-born ‘heresies’ such as the Salvation Army and fledgling Pentecostal groups.
You can see the effects of the polarising of believers quite notably in many Highland communities, where a succession of church splits has led to the sorry scenario of three or four church buildings being located within a stone’s throw of one another, all having the same basic evangelical Presbyterian doctrines and practices, but congregations refusing to worship together, preferring instead to meet in their small separatist holy huddles.
Believers are known to adopt polarising positions on all manner of issues.
Believers are known to adopt polarising positions on all manner of issues, such as - with atheists - on topics like evolution and the existence of God, or ‘internal’ concerns, such as how to interpret the Bible (the evangelical / liberal divide), the relationship between the Church and Israel, and disputes over all matters eschatological.
Abiding in the unity of our faith
We know from the advanced social science of tribal psychology that belonging to a group and identifying with those in it is an important aspect of mankind’s identity and sense of self. But it is tragic when Christians feel the need to so identify. Our security is in Christ, not in shared political or religious beliefs.
As followers of Christ, we need to stop seeing those with differing beliefs as a threat, as ‘other’ than us, and certainly, as enemies. To insist that our views on this or that topic are the only ‘right’ ones is arrogance. We need to humble ourselves (James 4:6, 10, Col 3:12, 1 Pet 5:6-7), and accept that we don’t know everything about every topic in hand, and that we just may, from time to time, get some things wrong!
To insist that our views on this or that topic are the only ‘right’ ones is arrogance.
We need to have relatively open minds, and rather than being full of our own opinions and fixed positions (Prov 18:2), be constantly willing to listen to others (James 1:19, Prov 18:13), hearing other points of view, and noting why they are held.
Of course, we must ever hold tenaciously to the fundamentals of our faith (Col 1:23, Rev 14:12). But may we be humble in attitude, always willing to learn from the teaching of the Scriptures and from others, and ever watchful that we maintain the unity of our faith (1 Cor 1:10, Acts 4:32).
Top image: Greg Locke (Bob Daemmrich / Alamy)
