Language, Liberals, and Conservatives

The following is the first reading from the daily lectionary.

First Reading Genesis 11:1-9

[1]Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. [2]And as they
migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and
settled there. [3]And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and
burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.
[4]Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its
top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall
be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." [5]The LORD came down
to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. [6]And the LORD said,
"Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only
the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now
be impossible for them. [7]Come, let us go down, and confuse their language
there, so that they will not understand one another's speech." [8]So the LORD
scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left
off building the city. [9]Therefore it was called Babel, because there the
LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered
them abroad over the face of all the earth.

It amazes me that people who supposed speak the same language, cannot communicate with each other. Politicians and Religious folk stand out in this area. Conservatives of the past, such as those who called themselves the silent majority (which were neither silent nor the majority) made the term liberal a dirty word. Liberal means board minded and tolerant of different views and behaviors of others. That’s the social definition. Politically it means those who favor political reform that extend democracy, distribute wealth more evenly and protect the personal freedom of the individual. These are dictionary definitions not something I made up. Liberal sounds good to me.

Now for conservatism: reluctant to accept change, in favor of preserving the status quo and traditional values and customs and against change; avoid showiness, cautious. Again, some pretty good values, especially the traditional values and caution. As a liberal I can affirm those qualities. And it reflects the problem of modern Republicanism, it that they no longer follow those values.

I’m also reading a book, Leaders Who Last by Dave Kraft. He has lots of good things to say about leaders and the passion we should have for our work. He relates many sound principles of leadership, but I find myself uncomfortable with some of what he says and his style. He leads one to believe the true leader is constantly manic, always up, always enthusiastic and passionate but the truth is we all have times when that just is not the case,  unless you are mentally ill. Perhaps it raises the hackles of my Presbyterian traditions, who have on occasion been called the Frozen chosen. I like to think in my ministry I was basically a good news type of preacher who lifted the human spirits with the teachings of Jesus and the prophets; but the prophetic part was also called us to task when warranted. I also liked to think of myself as one who chose to appeal to people's intellect and thinking rather than just to their emotions. There needs to be a balance between the two, but reason with the one I trust if it fits with a good feel.

Again, the same language is often used but we find ourselves in religion at cross purposes and load words with positive or negative meanings depending upon our predilections.

God confused our language in the biblical story for a good reason, so we wouldn’t get so uppity and full of ourselves and think we could build ourselves (earn our way) to heaven. Heaven is a gift from the Almighty.

And so we turn on the news or go to church and listen to Babel. However, I firmly believe that if we do our work, think through the terms, remember our history, and used our God given talents and most, rely upon the inspiration of God’s spirit, we can hear and see truth. We also need to realize people view truth in many ways; we should be liberal in accepting the variances, know our history and traditions to see how the fit and move forward in loving and caring ways.