Fighting Cross-Cringe

In reading over the recently-published book Deer Hunting with Jesus by Joe Bageant, I was further reminded of the debate that has recently been raging in the left-wing blogosphere. How do we take back the idea of Jesus, and reframe him in his proper context?

How do we re-establish Jesus as the radical, left-wing prophet he right is, rather than continuing to concede to the right this idea of Jesus as a staid, dyed-in-the-wool conservative?

Well, I think part of it is in the fact that many religious liberals are often reluctant to put a public face on their faith. This viewpoint is nothing new, but I add my own two cents to the matter.

I live in the Southeast, a region of the country where open religious expression is quite common. Some people, natives and transplants both, find it awkward and off-putting to be so open about one's faith, yet still others find it freeing and liberating to be able to vocalize a facet of themselves with which they are passionate.

Having traveled fairly extensively throughout the country, I recognize that other regions of the country are far less effusive about their religious preference. In my opinion, we ought not to fear judgment by our fellow humans and be much more open about our faith and our faith journeys.

I was further reminded of this fact when I was informed that former Alaskan senator and Democratic Presidential hopeful Mike Gravel is a Unitarian. One of the reasons I left the Unitarian church is because UUs are so reluctant to be vocal about their denomination. Unintentionally, UUism lies behind a veil of secrecy to rival the Masons. It loses a member for each member it gains because people are so afraid and uncomfortable to be open with what that which they worship and hold dear. And I can see their viewpoint, but I don't share it.

In a larger context, I think all of religious liberalism holds this same fallacy of thought. People my own age and of my generation hold an often cynical, often skeptical view of religion and spirituality because they confuse the Pharisees for the true believers. During adolescence, when challenging the status quo and the things one has been taught by one's parents is the norm, this is forgivable. But I feel that continuing to remain in this frame of mind after adolescence has passed comes across as a state of arrested development rather than a personal decision to stay mum.

For example, if I put up a scathing condemnation of the Republican party and of President Bush on this website, I'll get some comments and I'll be effectively preaching to the choir. I'll have milked the same old "ain't it awful" perspective that we as human beings love to engage in. Nevermind that all it does is coalesce support amongst ourselves and alienate others. We all want to hate on someone, unfortunately, and few of us wish to stick our necks out for fear of being called out.

So let me propose something radical (and it's not really that radical, because I'm only echoing what others have said on this site and many other places). Why don't we all engage in a grand sociological experiment? Why don't we be more vocal about how important our faith is to us rather than worrying about what the Jones and Smiths will say?

We prove ourselves hypocritical when we hold two contradictory viewpoints: 1) that nonconformity ought to be our goal but 2) only the sort of socially acceptable non-conformity. We were founded on a sort of rugged individualism, so why not follow the example of our Founders and take our Jesus back?