Did you hear that Vice President Vance scolded the Pope for criticizing the U.S. for the war in Iran, saying that he should be careful when talking about theology?
“If you’re going to opine on matters of theology,” Vance declared, “you’ve got to be careful. You’ve got to make sure it’s anchored in the truth.”
Truth?!
Even Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune said, “When [Pope Leo] talks about matters of theology? Isn’t that his job?
According to Britannica, epistemology is the philosophical study of the nature, origin, and limits of human knowledge [or truth]. For scientists, the way to determine “truth” is the scientific method. For Pope Leo XIV, the origin of truth is the Bible.
My comment to the vice president is that he should be careful when talking about subjects like theology, about which he apparently knows very little.
“How can those MAGA evangelicals be so anti-immigrant when Jesus commanded his followers to welcome the stranger?” is one of the rhetorical questions progressives use to point out one of the many inconsistencies of Trump supporters who claim to be Christian.
What I have observed in two decades of reporting on religion in this area is that most religion around here is a hybrid (in the words of Merriam Webster), “something produced by a combination of two or more distinct elements: marked by heterogeneity in origin, composition, or appearance.”
For example, Thailand is 95% Buddhist. The core of Buddha’s teaching are the Four Noble Truths:
1. All beings experience pain and misery.
2. The cause of suffering is desire or attachment.
3. The cessation of pain and misery can be achieved through detachment.
4. The way to attain or achieve detachment is to follow what is called the Eightfold Path.
At the same time, many Thais have what are called “spirit houses,” which look sort of like elaborate bird houses, which Thais provide for the local spirit to live in and on which they provide offerings because the spirits are fickle and will turn on you if you don’t keep them happy.
Talk about a hybrid of heterogeneous opposites!
But if we bravely examine our own worldviews, we might discover that we are viewing reality through hybrid lenses.
For example MAGAs tend to self-identify as Evangelical Christians. They go to church every Sunday and have “given their life to Christ,” yet at the same time they frequently prioritize political power, cultural dominance, and nationalistic pride over the Christian principles of humility, love for enemies, and care for the marginalized.
They vote for and passionately support a narcissistic convicted felon who lies and demonizes those who disagree with him. They declare “America first” whereas one major thread running through the whole New Testament is a trans-national vision of the world.
They are mixing populism with the Jesus story.
“Why do progressives turn to government as the solution to all of our problems when Jesus seemed to promote change by individuals repenting and believing rather than passing laws?” is one of the questions MAGAs ask when arguing that progressives are disciples of the Enlightenment more than of Jesus Christ.
The Enlightenment declares that we mortals are essentially good and that society, and even human nature itself, is perfectible. The Bible teaches that humans are, at the same time, created in God’s image and yet fallen, i.e. sinful.
Religious folk around here, it seems to me, have moved away from sin on the human-nature spectrum and toward goodness. When we hear of yet another mass shooting, we immediately look for a verifiable reason — bad parenting, no jobs, poor education, abuse, addiction, prevalence of guns, social media, mental illness.
Sin and/or evil as categories are no longer convincing or plausible.
When it comes to who adjudicates between Truth, with an upper-case T, and falsehood, each person assumes they, as individuals, are the final judge.
When Jesus declares, “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” modern, educated folk respond with, “Well, that’s just your opinion.”
Hybrid religion.
I can’t think of anywhere in the four gospels where Jesus talks about wealth or the pursuit of it favorably, yet both conservatives and we liberals have found a way to blend Capitalism, or a modified version of it, into our belief system. We have figuratively read The Wealth of Nations along with our Bible in our morning devotion time.
We have created a hybrid religion.
The drawback of hybrid religion is that we rationalize. Like President Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt tries to make sense of her boss’ contradictory statements, our minds sometimes resolve the tension by constructing a fantasy narrative in which two once-contradictory ideas are somehow compatible.
Have you ever noticed that when you dare to set foot in the dangerous land of religious discussion, what comes out of your friends’ mouths seems inconsistent with what you know about the religious tradition they claim to follow?
Do they ever point out that you do the very same thing?
Tom Holmes, a Forest Park resident and retired Lutheran minister, is a regular columnist for the Forest Park Review, a Newswell Chicago publication. Follow Pastor Mitty’s fictional spiritual adventures at https://tomholmes10.substack.com.
