the dark side

I try not to spend a lot of energy worrying about what people do who don't agree with me. The operative word in that sentence is try.

Two recent articles, however, have given me some pause. The first is cited today on Andrew Sullivan, and is from the Boston Globe. It's an article about far-right Catholics and what they are thinking about politics in general, and church politics. A Father John McCloskey is quoted as saying he would like to see [edit: he thinks that we will see] the American church stripped down to the folk who believe more closely with conservative Catholicism. He says it is intolerable for the church to include people who disagree on abortion, or who can accept two gay people living together in a relationship. And that while he doesn't support it, this kind of intolerable situation could leave to violence. Sullivan calls it hyperbole, and he is probably right, but it was a disturbing story. Perhaps I feel that way given the current push to change the Episcopal church into what feels like an Anglican version of the Wisconsin Synod Lutheran Church.

The second article is from Harper's Magazine, and it is called Jesus Plus Nothing. I don't know anything about the author, but he describes a sort of evangelical Skull and Bones fraternity-like organization in DC for high-minded youngsters. What is a little unsettling is not what these young people believe, although I interpret Jesus differently than they do, nor is it the sort of ambitious networking aspect of it, because DC is all about networking, but it is the secretive nature of what they are doing. Perhaps the author is making it sound more sinister.

In fact, that may be what was bothering me about both of these articles. The folks involved aren't being very public about what they are doing, but they want to tie their faith to change public policy.

Again, everybody in Washington wants to tie whatever they support to public policy. Certainly liberal and left-wing Christians want to do this. Any thoughts?