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Note: This essay first appeared in the
March 2008 Baptist Studies Bulletin.
Less than a
decade into the twenty-first century, the world's religious landscape
is undergoing noticeable change. Defined by 9/11, Version 1.0 of
Twenty-First Century Religion reflects fear and antagonism. Last week
the Religious Right 1.0 gathered to applaud their hero. A revival
atmosphere ensued as the faithful
cheered, clapped and shouted "Amen" as the president preached
war-mongering in the name of Christianity. But at the same event
patriarch James Dobson fretted that his movement
lacks a new generation of leadership. Frank Schaeffer, son
of movement leader
Francis Schaeffer and now a vocal critic of Dobson and
company, was more blunt. Religious Right 1.0 (a.k.a. "Bush's last
fans"), the younger Schaeffer declared, had used the guise of
conservatism to cover an agenda of "anti-American
agitators for a thinly disguised theocracy." Schaeffer
lamented that America is now faced with the talk of "undoing the
damage done to our country by the born-again president whose miserable
presidency was brought into existence by and aided and abetted by the
religious right."
Meanwhile, two days ago the
Associated Press reported that the Muslim world is
attacking freedom of speech in creating "a battle plan to defend its
religion from political cartoonists and bigots." This latest
undertaking by Islamic Fundamentalism 1.0 follows on the heels of a
study that revealed that most of the suicide bombers in
Iraq over the past five years were alienated young religious Muslims
who were recruited by fundamentalists and indoctrinated in religious
extremism under the guise of Quranic studies.
In short, Twenty-First Century Religion 1.0 was founded on
the principle of fear and has been expressed in militant efforts to
suppress theological opposition. Untold tens of thousands of lives
have been lost in this clash of Religious Right 1.0 and Islamic
Fundamentalism 1.0. Fearing that the opponent is yet gaining an upper
hand through reproduction, Religious Right 1.0 is turning to "a
new cold war, a 'clash of civilizations' to be fought through women's
bodies, with the maternity ward as battleground," according
to one scholar.
Meanwhile, Twenty-First Century Religion 2.0 is
emerging upon the scene. Surveying the smoldering battlefield ashes
and lives ruined by no-holds-barred theological warfare, Religion 2.0
is rejecting the pulpit of fear and the use of theology as a tool for
conquering. Late last year
138 Muslim scholars and nearly
300 Christian leaders published letters seeking peace and
reconciliation between Muslims and Christians. Religious Right 2.0
leaders Rick Warren (a well-known Baptist pastor) and David Neff
(Vice-President of Christianity Today) signed onto the effort,
while Religious Right 1.0 leader Al Mohler (president of The Southern
Baptist Theological Seminary) criticized attempts to find "common
ground" by "loving God and neighbor together," declaring instead that
the United States has a responsibility to
continue the war against Islamic fundamentalism. In a
related development, the Pope's 2006 call for
Christian-Muslim dialogue was followed earlier this month
by an announcement of the first
Catholic-Muslim Forum, to be held in Rome in November.
Twenty-First Century Religion 2.0 is also manifesting itself
in other places, such as within a growing Religious Left in America,
the broader
Emerging Church movement, the resurgence of the
Baptist World
Alliance following the departure of the Southern Baptist
Convention, last month's
New
Baptist Covenant Celebration, and the growth of
moderate Muslim movements such as the
Moderate Muslim Brotherhood. The movement is even finding
expression among the Religious Right in efforts to move beyond the
shibboleths of anti-abortion and anti-homosexuality and making a
priority of global poverty and environmentalism. Rick Warren has led
the way in fighting poverty and disease, while in 2006
86 evangelical leaders broke ranks with the larger movement
and pledged to fight global warming. Earlier this month
46 Southern Baptist leaders followed suit in announcing a
biblical mandate to stop global warming, only to be
promptly
rebuked by Religious Right 1.0 leader Richard Land,
president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty
Commission.
So what is to be made of the tug-of-war between
Twenty-First Century Religion 1.0 and 2.0? In the larger sense, it is
an age-old struggle between fear and hope, war and peace, love and
hatred. These struggles will always be with us. On the other hand,
following a period of time in which the darker religious themes have
dominated the world's consciousness, we as Christians must hold forth
hope that Jesus' teachings of love and peace will once again shine
brightly enough to overpower the darkness within and without. |
