Your Neighbor’s New Creed: ‘In This House, We Believe . . .’
I first started noticing it in 2017 at the beginning of the secular “religious” revival spawned by anti-Trump resistance. I saw it often in windows of coffee shops and vintage boutiques in Silver Lake (L.A.), Portland, San Francisco, and other hotspots of progresssive politics. They were signs that said something like “all are welcome here,” with a list of various marginalized groups. The sign became an iconic symbol of progressive allyship and inclusivity. It signaled “safe space zone,” though I often wonder if a conservative, traditional-sex-ethic-believing Christian like me would also be welcome there.
More recently I’ve noticed a 2.0 version of this sign popping up on residential yards. This one makes the “secular religion” motif of progressivism even more explicit, as it begins with creed-like language: “In this house, we believe . . .” There are various versions, but the one I’ve seen most often (in at least a dozen yards in my Southern California neighborhood) goes like this:
In this house, we believe:
Black lives matter
Women’s rights are human rights
No human is illegal
Science is real
Love is love
Kindness is everything
You might not share the politics of the people proudly displaying these yard signs, but don’t dismiss their importance. They should be illuminating and convicting for Christians—ultimately a cause to connect rather than argue with your progressive neighbor.
Editor’s note: this is a helpful article from the perspective of a positive approach to loving one’s neighbour, taking the heat out of political antagonism, and finding areas of common ground through which to share the gospel. Taken on it’s own, though, it can appear naive: those who hold to the sentiments expressed in these slogans may not be essentially nice people who just need gentle persuasion to see Christ as the unknown factor in their desire for community harmony. They may subscribe to an ideology which is extremely hostile to Christian faith, wants to eradicate it in its orthodox form, and to punish those who adhere to it. Like some in England who are viewed as reliable guides in the question of how to relate to culture, this author in his commendable desire to avoid unnecessary conflict with neighbour and association with a political party, is in danger of not taking seriously enough the power and destructiveness of the philosophies behind the seemingly bland slogans.
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