Why isn’t your name on the list?
by Bill Atwood, AAC:
The latest province to dive headlong into “Facilitated Conversations” is the Church of England. Stated goals are quite noble: to help those who are on opposite sides of painful issues communicate well. It is certainly true that clear communication is helpful. For many issues, clear communication may allow for a resolution that honors the concerns of all the parties. That, however, is not the case with everything. Take for example the issue of disagreement over the Lordship of Christ. The two different positions – one side confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord of all and the other side believing otherwise – cannot be reconciled.
The German philosopher Hegel, in writing about analytical thought, said that conversations should pose a thesis, engage an antithesis, and then resolve into synthesis. That approach works fine when dealing with matters of opinion or preference, but it is not effective in dealing with issues of truth. For instance, when discussing preferred flavors of ice cream, there’s no “right” answer, and so a synthesis may be effective: if one person likes vanilla and another likes chocolate, a vanilla chocolate swirl might serve as the synthesis. When dealing with matters of ontological truth, however, matters are not quite so flexible: no synthesis or compromise can be made regarding the type of fuel to put in an airplane; similarly, the size of wire required to carry a given electrical current cannot be compromised. When it comes to morality and living ethically, while there is room for kindness in the language we use, there is no room for compromise with what God has revealed in Scripture. Also it’s important to note that it is not simply a system of right and wrong that God set up; rather, it is also the way things actually work best.
Those of us who live in North America and have been in discussions with “progressives” understand well that the “facilitated conversations” have simply been programs of manipulation to advance the liberal agenda. In the church in North America, the liberals have not allowed any advance of the historic difficult positions to stand. I suppose those in other provinces will have to learn this painful lesson for themselves, namely, that the people designing the conversation also process the outcome. Here in North America, we have watched a downward spiral, as received typical values have moved from being the mainstream norm to being an oddity and then finally to being considered hateful. I expect nothing less from the conversations in the UK.
Related Posts
Tags
Share This
