The Radical Middle: Conclusion

Both Liberal John Locke and Conservative Thomas Hobbes were right about some things, and both were wrong about some things. Can't there be three sides to every issue?

Gun Control- One extreme says that there shouldn't be any. Anyone should be able to own any gun. The other extreme says that no one needs any guns in the 21st century anymore so no one should be allowed to own any. But somewhere in the middle we can talk about waiting periods and hunting weapons or home protection as opposed to instruments of murder and war.

Death penalty- One extreme says that not only should murder be punished by death, but so should rape and kidnapping. The other extreme says that it's barbaric, cruel and unusual. Surely, somewhere in between we can talk about DNA evidence and redemption and rehabilitation- yet restitution, consequence, and deterrence.

Stem Cells- One extreme says that we shouldn't play God, the other thinks that science has the solution to almost everything. Somehow, so long as we're not deliberately fertilizing eggs to create stem cell lines, if legal fertility treatments, produce cells that will be disposed of anyway, why not allow those to be used for research?

Gay marriage- One extreme stands outside of churches with posters that say "God hates fags." The other extreme would be blasé' about deviant behavior becoming more and more acceptable as just another lifestyle choice. Somewhere in the middle we can see that the constitution guarantees rights to everyone no matter how different from us, like it or not, so if marriage is so holy, then why should states issue marriage licenses? Let marriage be religious and civil unions be social.

Evolution- One extreme says that God created the earth in 6 24-hour calendar days as we know them, roughly 6,000 years ago. The theories of Charles Darwin threaten all Christian norms and not only should Intelligent Design be taught in public schools, but Darwinism should not. The other extreme is that we're all random stardust and everything we know is by random accident. Religion is a delusion and an opiate and not only is the whole concept of Intelligent Design laughable, but you can put your faith in any of the scientific theories in current textbooks, including Darwin's and there's no place for any religion in our schools.

Yikes, right? Seems like there would be no middle, but come on- obviously both of these are too absolutist. No scientific theory or discovery can shake my faith because "faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1)." Whereas science is studying, testing, and reporting those things that you CAN see. You can't measure, calibrate, quantify or qualify faith, prayer, love, devotion, belief or forgiveness. And the problem with science is that it depends entirely on what we can see, but the very act of observing something alters it's natural state- so we can never observe something the way it really is. It's like trying to see if the light turns off in the refrigerator when you close the door. The evidence suggests that the rock is billions of years old. Evidence may suggest that a candle has been burning for three hours, unless you lit it with a blow torch.

So where is the middle? Teach scientific method as a method and ALL scientific theories as theories. Teach critical thinking skills, then go ahead and present Intelligent Design as a theory, but attribute it to who advocates it and why and let students make their own judgments about it. But don't try covertly sneak religion into the science classroom. Teach religious doctrine and dogma at Church, at home or at parochial schools in Religion class.

And remember, the First amendment prohibits public school teachers from using their position to proselytize students, but it also protects every students right to freely speak about and practice their religion anywhere, including school. So, as long as the kids initiate it and the teacher facilitates discussion rather than advocating or promoting any one position, there's no reason that kids can't talk about their views on evolution or religion or anything else in any classroom.

Abortion, the war in Iraq, equal pay for women, affirmative action, a progressive tax code, the distribution of power and responsibility between the three branches of government, the balance of power and responsibility between states and the Federal government, participation in international treaties and organizations, illegal immigration, domestic spying, work safety, drug safety, TV ratings, boring budgets and appropriations… everything from infrastructure to Social Security can divide us and anyone can have a liberal positions on one or two issues and yet a very conservative positions on several other.

Not all Republicans are filthy rich and white males and not all Democrats are herb smoking New Agers who can't wait to spit on our soldiers when the come home. So both as Christians and as Americans, we should be slow to judge and quick to look for what we have in common with others, so that together we can move forward on the things we agree on instead of stereotyping each other and resenting each other because of what we disagree about.

"It is good to grasp on to one and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all extremes."~ Ecclesiastes 7:18

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"The gospel is meant to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." ~Garrison Keillor