Dear Friends in Christ,
You have heard me say, about a gazillion times over the past 23 years, that I see our task today to be to transform Christianity from a theology into a philosophy. This is exactly the opposite of what I was taught in seminary, where we were warned against construing theology philosophically. They worried that such a move would render theology into something “merely” this worldly; they were committed to an other-worldly, supernaturalistic understanding of human faith and destiny. My whole life has been dedicated to fighting such dualism. I really resonate to this comment by the Trappist spiritual writer, Thomas Merton:
Do we really choose between the world and Christ as
between two conflicting realities absolutely opposed? …Do
we really renounce ourselves and the world in order to find
Christ, or do we renounce our alienated and false selves in
order to choose our own deepest truth in choosing both the
world and Christ at the same time? If the deepest ground
of my being is love, then in that very love itself and nowhere
else will I find myself, and the world, and my brother, and
Christ. It is not a question of either/or but of all-in-one. It
is …[a matter] of wholeness, wholeheartedness, and unity…
Another way I’ve put this to you: The spiritual is not something opposed to, or even different from, the material. The spiritual is the meaning of the material, it is the material given its full moral and human potentiality.
We are approaching another presidential election—this one in a world in serious, multiple crises. Remember: elections are not just about who will hold office; elections are about who we want to be as a people, how we want to address our human problems, what we understand life to be all about. The Church treads a fine line here. We must not become partisan. We are not a Party. But this does not mean that we have no role to play in elections—our job is to call both Parties to rise above mere partisan bickering and turf wars and to address the serious issues facing our world—environmental and economic, issues of peace, justice, and human rights. For our point of view as Christian philosophers, these are all spiritual issues. We also need to find a way beyond adversarial politics and toward a collaborative politics. I’m not interested in having one Party “win”—I’m interested in a debate where we learn from each other, test one another’s ideas, find common (though not necessarily “middle”) ground, and help our country become a healthier place.
I believe strongly in the separation of State and Church. I want to be free of State interference as I pursue my spiritual life; but I’m never not Christian. When I enter the voting booth, I don’t leave my Christian conscience, my Christian values, behind. In fact, it is precisely as a Christian that I value separation of Church and State. I think everyone needs to have the religious freedom I desire for myself; it is a matter of the Golden Rule.
So, as your pastor, I urge you to take your responsibility in our democracy very seriously indeed. I hope you will think deeply as you prepare to vote. I hope you will ponder the moral and spiritual dimensions of our political life together. For this Christian at least, there is no chasm between my life of faith and my life as a citizen—I only have one life and in all its dimensions and aspects it is a life of discipleship. Thus I strive for wholeness in all that I do. I hope you will too.
Yours in Christ,
–Pastor Bastien
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