Who is “Us”? Rethinking Church in a Multicultural Society

Real spirituality is embodied—right here and right now.

I wrote about the false presumption of “normalcy” here. Some small corners of the world might look mostly Christian, middle-class, or white. Globally, we are NOT predominantly Christian, middle-class or white. We never were. We never will be.

One purpose of that article (and this one) is to assert that NO identity is “normal” in a multicultural, secular society. All religion is cultural, and all theology is speculation, so we should all realize that our beliefs are NOT facts and that reasonable people can disagree.

Another purpose of that article (and this one) is to assert that real spirituality is NOT woo-woo. Whether it is based on belief or practice, spirituality is embodied—right here and right now. Otherwise, it is merely an intellectual exercise, NOT a practical undertaking.

You Might Be Right

In The Way, I said that sometimes, we think that we “know” because we believe our scriptures are inerrant or our traditions are infallible. Those beliefs themselves are opinions, not facts, about the veracity of our scriptures or our traditions.

Today, many of us are spiritual, but not religious (SBNR). In one of the online communities that I frequent, someone wondered whether SBNR is a kind of cultural appropriation and trivialization of “genuine” religious traditions. In my opinion, it is just the opposite.

Religion has appropriated and trivialized genuine spiritual experiences that are inherently accessible, helpful, and universal. Many Western religions replaced experience with belief, emphasizing doctrine, exclusivity, and evangelization, rather than connection and transformation.

Where our tradition is dominant, we might get away with saying that other traditions point to the greater truth in our own tradition. However, in a multicultural, secular society, who is to say that any one tradition contains the greater truth, the “Truth with a capital T”?

You might be right, as I always say. Of course, that implies that you might be wrong, too. Likewise, I might be right, and I might be wrong. We look foolish when we insist that our beliefs are unquestionably right and that others’ beliefs are unquestionably wrong.

Christian Supremacy

Ideally, nobody “wins,” nobody “loses,” and we all live happily ever after. Practically, however, the Western traditions, such as Christianity, are notoriously doctrinal, exclusive and evangelical. Often, they insist that their beliefs are right and that everyone else is going to hell.

Many former Christians, including me, were discouraged from asking questions. If or when we left the church, we were shunned. Eventually, we discovered the difference between “church friends” and real friends. Outside the church, many of us enjoy deeper and richer friendships.

I wrote about “Christian supremacy” here. Recently, John Thatamil, a Christian theologian, chided many Christians for subscribing to the harmful and popular practice that he calls Christian supremacy.

Thatamil reminds us that Jesus said that we can NOT serve two masters, namely God and mammon. Jesus did NOT say anything about people who find spiritual nourishment in other traditions. In fact, in the Gospel of Mark, he said, “He that is not against us is for us.”

Likewise, in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says, “And if anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town.” He did NOT say, “Admonish them, attempt to change their minds, then tell them that they are going to hell.”

The Unlearning Curve Podcast

Recently, I appeared on The Unlearning Curve podcast, where I discussed Christian supremacy. I am a follower of Jesus. As such, I respect the words and works of Jesus and the beliefs of the earliest Jewish Christians who followed him.

The Jewish Christians followed Jesus before there was any Bible or creed or hierarchy, and before there were speculative doctrines such as original sin or the Trinity or substitutionary atonement. The Jewish Christians likely did NOT believe in the virgin birth, divine sonship or physical resurrection of Jesus, either. These stories appeared in the later Gospels, written many years after Jesus’ death.

But I do NOT respect many of the exclusionary, literal and rigid constructions of contemporary Christianity. On this podcast and elsewhere, I suggested that many Christians only superficially understand Christian beliefs. And most are completely ignorant of non-Christian beliefs.

Also, I agreed with researcher Ryan Burge that, for most Christians, their politics drive their spirituality, not vice versa. And I suggested that one unfortunate outcome of the exclusionary, literal and rigid constructions and the superficial understandings is that there are very few Christians who have been transformed by their spirituality. But I know many people who have been transformed after leaving the church.

In The Way, I described my transformation from a single-minded investment banker to an open-hearted and open-minded spiritual seeker.

Real Spirituality is Embodied

This article is NOT a departure from my usual message that “Everyone is related, and everything is connected.” Instead, it is a reminder to look at the greater good, beyond those who share our beliefs. And is a reminder that real spirituality is embodied—right here and right now.

We should NOT ignore our spirituality at the polls, and we should NOT leave our spirituality at church.

My last article was NOT an attack on middle-class, straight, white people. And this article is NOT an attack on Christians. Of course, many Christian, middle-class, straight, white people look out for LGBTQ+ people, minorities and poor people.

And the free market, less government, low tax Reagan conservatives and the homophobic, Islamophobic, xenophobic MAGA conservatives are increasingly parting ways. Also, “Love your neighbor,” Christians and “You’re going to hell,” Christians are increasingly parting ways.

More people are saying, “I’m NOT that kind of conservative,” or “I’m NOT that kind of Christian.” So if the MAGA conservatives and the “You’re going to hell,” Christians prevail, more people might say, “I’m NOT a conservative anymore,” or “I’m NOT a Christian anymore.”

Arguably, that is already happening. I do NOT believe that it is a coincidence that church attendance has been declining since 2016. Further,  I do NOT believe that it is a coincidence that young men (but NOT young women) are returning to church, the last bastion of patriarchy.

If we care more about what someone does in the privacy of their home than about whether she is clothed, fed, healed, housed, or schooled, then we might want to rethink our politics and our religion.