{"id":16664,"date":"2018-02-22T10:46:13","date_gmt":"2018-02-22T18:46:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=16664"},"modified":"2018-02-23T08:02:50","modified_gmt":"2018-02-23T16:02:50","slug":"in-which-i-get-apolitically-political","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/in-which-i-get-apolitically-political\/","title":{"rendered":"In which I get apolitically political"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to the book The Rebel Sell,\u00a0<\/em>Heath and Potter believe that counterculture movements (be it the Hippies of the 60\u2019s or the Punk Rockers of the 90\u2019s) are founded on a false premise which renders them \u201ca set of dramatic gestures that are devoid of any progressive political or economic consequences and that detract from the urgent task of building a most just society.\u201d[1]<\/a> The authors seem to think that the rebels are more interested in preserving their status as rebels than affecting change within the culture, refusing to acknowledge the difference between \u201ccompromising\u201d and \u2018selling out.\u2019\u201d[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

One target of their critique is Michael Moore, who ends up taking a position against gun control, not because he is against gun control but because he deems it too superficial. \u201cHe passes up a perfectly workable solution … on the grounds that it is not radical or \u2018deep\u2019 enough … he rejects anything less.”[3]<\/a> I can\u2019t help but think of the book Heroic Leadership, <\/em>in which former Jesuit Christ Lowney reminds us that real change happens by \u201cknowing what\u2019s negotiable and what isn\u2019t.\u201d[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

Heath and Potter dig deeper to reveal that in many ways, the counterculture ends up throwing the baby out with the bathwater. The inability to discern the difference between essentials and non-essentials often leaves society in a worse place than it was before. To offer an example, the authors point to the feminist movement. In seeking the sexual liberation of women, they \u201cassumed that the very existence of rules was a symptom of the oppression of women.\u201d[5]<\/a> By getting rid of all the rules, women actually became more vulnerable to rape and ultimately to poverty. The authors conclude, \u201cThe result was not liberation, it was hell.\u201d[6]<\/a><\/p>\n

In a review of Rebel Sell<\/em>, Ian Reilly offers this critique: \u201cIn their attempt to create a uniform structural model, the authors have stripped the counterculture of its most distinguishing feature: diversity. Ironically, the success of their argument ultimately rests on the notion that the counterculture can be seen as, and reduced to, a monolithic entity.\u201d[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

I disagree. I don\u2019t think that Heath and Potter reduce counterculture to a \u201cmonolithic entity,\u201d I think they rightly identify the underlying crack in the overall counterculture foundation\u2014their collective inability to see the big picture and accept being a part of something bigger than themselves. In each of the stories told, those seeking \u201cfreedom\u201d or \u201ccreativity\u201d or \u201cindividuality\u201d made their goal their god, and ended up serving it more than being liberated by it.<\/p>\n

When we see a need for systemic change, we can easily become myopic. We create false dichotomies. We demonize the \u201cother.\u201d And how easy it is to let our pride keep us from compromise. When I think of the current battle around gun laws in the United States, I see both sides guilty of this. Every American\u2026EVERY. AMERICAN\u2026should be absolutely outraged that school shootings repeatedly happen in that country, and in that country alone. Every American should be willing to discuss all options to solve this epidemic. Every American should be able to compromise some aspect of their ideals in order to make progress towards safe schools.<\/p>\n

Instead, the gap just keeps getting wider and wider between the two sides. Both seem to have bought the countercultural lie that compromising is \u201cselling out.\u201d Each side\u2019s commitment to their cause continues to trump their commitment to the greater good.<\/p>\n

What if they decided to learn how to compromise.<\/p>\n

Could the Left consider some options that don\u2019t include making stricter gun laws?<\/p>\n

Could the Right consider some options that do?<\/p>\n

When does solving this finally become more important that holding to our own ideals?<\/p>\n

What boggles my mind the most is the number of my Christian brothers and sisters who seem to be unswervingly attached to the Second Amendment, as if compromising on this bit of legislation would be the equivalent of blasphemy.<\/p>\n

They are the ones posting this sort of thing on Facebook:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

But don\u2019t they see the plank in their own eye? The plank which that claims to be pro-life but is more concerned about their right to bear arms than the children who are being killed in schools?<\/p>\n

Before I came on the mission field, I might have been among them. I remember hearing a joke made by US Army General Schwarzkopf about France\u2019s refusal to join in the Iraq war. He said, \u201cGoing to war without the French is like going hunting without an accordion.\u201d I thought it was funny.<\/p>\n

Yesterday I sat on my sofa with a dear Christian friend who was telling me much of her life story, which included a bit about her husband being a \u201cconscientious objector\u201d when it was time for him to do his compulsory military service. She totally supported his position, both of them basing their decision on their Christian faith.<\/p>\n

There is no Second Amendment in France. There is no Second Amendment in the Bible. The right to bear arms is not a fundamental part of the human experience, it is not a right \u201cendowed on us by our creator.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not saying that Christians need to be against the Second Amendment. I am saying that they are certainly NOT doctrinally required to be FOR it.<\/p>\n

Christians, Christ has called us to a countercultural experience, one where Jesus is king. Because of Him, we should be leading the way towards peace and reconciliation. Reaching across party lines to find a way forward on this critical issue. There are no easy answers, and the solution will have to be multifaceted. Disparaging the other while clinging to your own way of seeing things is not the way of Christ.<\/p>\n

He has shown us a more excellent way.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter, The Rebel Sell: How the Counterculture Became Consumer Culture<\/em> (Chichester: Capstone, 2006). 69.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Heath and Potter. 69.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Wright, Pike. “Fightin’ words.” This Magazine, Jan.-Feb. 2005, p. 8. Academic OneFile, http:\/\/link.galegroup.com\/apps\/doc\/A126851352\/AONE?u=newb64238&sid=AONE&xid=79b16bcc. Accessed 22 Feb. 2018.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Chris Lowney, Heroic Leadership: Best Practices from a 450-Year-Old Company That Changed the World<\/em>, Reprint edition (Chicago, Ill: Loyola Press, 2005). 29.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Heath and Potter. 70.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Heath and Potter. 70.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Ian Reilly, \u201cThe Rebel Sell: Why the Culture Can\u2019t Be Jammed,\u201d The Journal of Popular Culture<\/em> 40, no. 1 (February 1, 2007): 187\u201388, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/j.1540-5931.2007.00369.x.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to the book The Rebel Sell,\u00a0Heath and Potter believe that counterculture movements (be it the Hippies of the 60\u2019s or the Punk Rockers of the 90\u2019s) are founded on a false premise which renders them \u201ca set of dramatic gestures that are devoid of any progressive political or economic consequences and that detract from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[847],"class_list":["post-16664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-heath-and-potter","cohort-lgp8"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16664"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16664\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16728,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16664\/revisions\/16728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}