I wandered around yesterday with a tiny microphone in my hand trying to get my act together to Read the Comments. But it was one of those dumb situations where you try to do too many things all at the same time and so do none. In the end, I gave up and went to bed to read the internet, which, as you well know, is far, far too exciting right now. Brent Leatherwood, for example, no longer has his job at the ERLC—never mind he’s back in. There is much speculation about the health of Mr. Biden. The hearings going on with the director of the Secret Service are hair-raising. And then there are two clips of Elon talking to Jordan Peterson.
In one, Elon talks about losing his son to the “woke mind virus:”
Check out Peachy for a little bit of background about the school where this apparently happened. And here Elon admits he might be a “Cultural Christian:”
“I was brought up as an Anglican,” he says, “and I was baptized.” Gosh that warms the cold cockles of my bitter heart. This is the most Anglican of all Anglican things to say—a sort of, “please don’t pry into my soul” answer that is, for many, sufficient for the hour. “I was baptized” ought to be allowed to be the answer to every question—What are the purposes of marriage? I was baptized. What are the three uses of the Law? I was baptized. Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior? I was baptized. Or, to say it another way, have a cup of tea and a biscuit.
What is “Cultural Christianity?” It keeps burbling up. First Richard Dawkins. And Tom Holland. And maybe Louise Perry. And then some other people. And now Elon. What might be the “principles” of Christianity that someone like Elon is a “big believer in,” being willing to call them “very good?”
I can make an educated guess, of course, but in some sense I am far too close to the whole thing to be able to fathom what someone like Dawkins or Musk is attracted to. Is it the death to oneself? The anguished prayer for God to do his will in the world? The painful and obedient relinquishing of one’s expectations for happiness in this mortal life?
For me, the “principles” of Christianity concentrate themselves so intensely on a certain, ineffable relational knowledge of a person—Jesus—that I am quickly disoriented when you try to prise away the moral and ethical teachings that more and more people are finding so splendid. Like, what would be the point of something like self-sacrifice, for example, if one were merely wandering around an elegant town or a pretty garden and not peering through the gloom at the hard wood of the Cross upon which the Lord had stretched out his arms? What would be the point of caring for the widow and the orphan if one, who had been so far off and confused, had not been brought near by the blood of the Savior? For me, none of the principles of Christianity feel particularly compelling compared to knowing Christ and being known by him. All these comfortable benefits have been given to me beyond my ability to ask for or even imagine them.
Still, the goods and benefits of Christianity, whether or not you know the Lord as your Savior, are obviously plentiful and precious. Ordinary forgiveness, I would say, is the glue that makes a community what it is. If someone hurts you and you can find it within yourself to let that person off the hook to go on being human makes interdependent communal life possible. Marriage, similarly, and the emotional stability of parents with their children is absolutely essential for generational happiness. Humble and obedient respect for people in authority is another big one, balanced, of course, by taking everyone seriously as people and not casting anyone aside as beyond the pale of care and concern.
I’m not sure, though, what Elon means by “Principles.” Does he mean the Table of Laws that God gave the world? Telling the truth, respecting one’s parents, not murdering, not coveting, and being faithful in marriage—these are all good on their own, of course, but they find their deep coherence only when the fool finally says in his heart that there is a God and starts searching in all corners to find out who he is. They all flow out of the alarming commandment not to commit idolatry, which seems, to me, to be the thing that drives the economy and politics in general. For anyone to stop worshiping himself and start worshiping God is such an unusual occurrence. Who even thinks of it without divine intervention?
So maybe that’s what’s going on. Maybe God is breaking through the gloom and waking people up to notice that life is too nasty, brutal, and short to carry on thinking that the human moral faculty is sufficient on its own to produce good thoughts and good systems. I am delighted to direct all my daily prayers in that direction.
And on that note, I have some more scrolling to do. Have a nice day!
Three thoughts:
1) There is a scene in the movie Fury. The John Bernthal backwoods Pentecostal character asks the new guy typist turned tanker east coast coded Episcopalian "Are you born again?" He answers, 'I'm baptized." Berthal responds, "that ain't the same thing now, is it?" It's a great scene.
2) Does anybody else remember the late '80s/early '90 great "cultural Christian" purge? Lots of evangelical types full of fervor wishing that the church would be purified of all its lukewarmness? Or is that just me? I remember thinking at the time "you might miss them when they are gone, and you might chase out more than you think." Pastorally there are seasons. And it is easier heating up the lukewarm in your pews than bringing them back into them.
3) Ultimately "Cultural Christian" just means we agree on the 2nd table of the law. We also agree that the first table is a good thing, Although the Cultural Christian would not use the civic authority to support it and they themselves might be squishy. And they agree that the Sermon on the Mount is a constitution for a nice society. None of which is strictly about the Gospel. We agree on the law compared to the neo-pagans that disagree with at least 7 of the 10 commandments.
I was legit worried yesterday, not seeing anything hereabouts from Anne Kennedy, then I recalled that verse about being anxious for nothing at all but just keep checking Substack for a po...oh wait...
Today's post made me think of a flower name that I love: "heartsease". What an unsettling moment this is: attempted assassination, MIA president, etc. But in the midst of the disintegration, Mrs. Kennedy's steady voice keeps pointing out the right direction to look.