i am not a liberal

I am not a liberal. 

At least, not in the way that some people think.

Having grown up in the evangelical community, someone who was “liberal” meant that he did not believe that Jesus is God, or that He was born of a virgin by the Holy Spirit, or that He rose from the dead, or that His crucifixion saved humanity from sin, or that the Bible stories of miracles are true, or that Scripture is authoritative and communicates God’s Word.

I believe all these things.

In this sense, when I became Orthodox, I became even “less liberal.” In addition to the above, I also believe things that are even older than the evangelical community. I believe in the necessity of baptism for the remission of sins. I believe that the Eucharist is the bread and wine transmuted into the Body and Blood of Christ. I believe in the continuing presence of the saints, led by the greatest worshiper, pray-er, and worker of all, the Virgin Mary.

But there has been something of a “confusion of categories.” In the aftermath of the mass shooting of 19 children and 2 teachers on Tuesday (May 24th), I was called “liberal.” Why? Because I called for the minimum age for gun purchase to be raised to 21, nationwide. Because I called for universal background checks at every gun purchase – including gun shows and private sales. Because I called for the ban of the sale of military weaponry – including assault rifles – to civilians.

This, I’ve been told, is “liberal,” despite the fact that I have never once called for the repeal of the Second Amendment. Despite the fact that I support the right to civilian handguns for protection and long guns for hunting. Despite the fact that all these reasonable gun safety measures are supported by the majority of Americans.

But in the minds of many (too many), any mention of public gun safety puts me in the same category as those who cannot endorse the tenets of the Nicene Creed.

I shouldn’t be too surprised. I’ve wrestled with this difficulty for some time now. I oppose abortion, but I try to be consistently “pro-life” in my opposition to abortion, extending from before birth to after birth. Thus I support universal healthcare and safety nets of all sorts. I believe that there must be stewardship in the care of the environment and that global warming and climate change are real things. I believe in the necessity of public health policy in addressing pandemics, and that data from mainstream science takes precedence over minority conspiracy theories. I believe in socioeconomic justice (like the Prophets, the Apostles, and the Saints, and the Lord Himself), and that our three centuries of American slavery has deeply affected our past and present and needs to be taken seriously.

And I disbelieve in the “stolen election conspiracy theory.” I disbelieve in the QAnon pedophile conspiracy theory. I disbelieve in racial replacement theory. I disbelieve in male-centered domination and what is known as “complementarianism.”

And for all this, I am called a “liberal.”

I will own up to that label in that I am deeply committed to universal suffrage – i.e., one adult, one vote. I am committed to the freedom of religion and the complete severance of the church from any collusive ties with the state. I think that neo-integralism (and all theocratic theory) is not only anti-American, but that it is deeply anti-Christian. I am committed to the eradication of autocracy and oligarchy and every kind of tyranny and totalitarianism. I despise all racisms. I deeply distrust all nationalisms and ideologies.

No nation-state is elected by God for a special purpose, neither Russia (as in the ridiculous notion of the “Third Rome”), nor America. I’m thankful for my country indeed, but I do not put my religious belief in it.

And I think there can no longer be any earthly monarchy: I have only one King, and that is the Ascended Lord, Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords.

Historically, then, on the bases of the political opinions in the last three paragraphs, it would be correct to call me a liberal.

I would argue, though, that these particular "liberal" beliefs – including my arguments for commonsense gun safety – are rooted in faithfulness to the Gospel. Call it what you will, whether conservative (as in old fashioned) or radical (as in deeply rooted), I hold these truths, that “all men are created equal,” that every human wears the Face of Christ, that Creation is loved and desired by the Creator -- Who commands the tending of His garden -- just because I believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Saviour of the world. 

Liberal democracy is rooted, fundamentally, in the personalism of the Gospel. We are persons only because the Trinity is a Unity of Three Divine Persons. We are democratic only because of the integral humanity of the Son of God. Our communion with divinity in the Body of Christ has affected and ordered all our relations – even and especially in politics.

Call me liberal, if my politics bother you. But the libertarian insistence that there can be no public imperative for safety and civility, that there should be no mandate for epidemiological measures, that there can be no restriction of military arms sales, that the reason for mass shootings is mental health or video games -- anything but guns -- such libertarian insistence is grossly liberal. Libertarianism is precisely what happens when liberalism is severed from its Christian roots. Libertarianism is nihilistic as it is antagonistic to the self-denial that is necessary for the life of any community.

(Unlike well-meaning "post-liberals" like John Milbank and Adrian Pabst, I draw a sharp distinction between essentially Christian liberal democracy and essentially non-Christian extremely liberal libertarianism. I harbor no nostalgia for "Christendom.")

I do not suggest that anyone espousing libertarian doctrines (like unrestricted gun sales and use) is “not Christian.” Anyone on any day may hold to opinions that digress from the Christian faith, and no one can determine the precise boundary when one has excommunicated himself for that reason.

But I can say this. The espousal of libertarian doctrine, and the partisan support of authoritarianism, and the adherence to celebrity and personality cults, are beliefs that are far more modernistic than my own so-called “liberal” notions.

My call for gun safety, in these heartbreaking days after the slaughter of children in Texas, indeed is “political.” Of course it is. Everything that has to do with community and relationships is political. Jesus' saying, 
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these My brethren, ye have done it also unto Me," is a profoundly political statement.

But the very accusation that I and others are “politicizing” this tragedy (a charge made by Senators Cruz and Rubio and the boisterous mayor of Uvalde) because we are trying to prevent this sort of "American carnage" from happening again and again and again -- is the most politicized (and heartless) action of all.

Comments

[Amy]

Amen.