A matter of love

 

Sir Thomas More : [in his prison cell]  If we lived in a state where virtue was profitable, common sense would make us saintly. But since we see that avarice, anger, pride, and stupidity commonly profit far beyond charity, modesty, justice, and thought, perhaps we must stand fast a little - even at the risk of being heroes.

Margaret More : [crying]  But in reason! Haven't you done as much as God can reasonably want?

Sir Thomas More : Well, finally, it isn't a matter of reason. Finally, it's a matter of love.



The above exchange takes place in the play "A Man For All Seasons", which is about Sir Thomas More being imprisoned, and eventually executed, for refusing to take a legally required oath to the king that he believed to be against his religious principles. You know, ACTUAL religious persecution, not "Waaah, I'm not allowed to persecute other people and break the law because of my religious beliefs". 


I read this play during my junior year of high school, and this one line - 


"Finally, it isn't a matter of reason. Finally, it's a matter of love" 


- really stuck with me. 


So much so that I made it my yearbook quote. So much so that I have a very clear memory of being at a youth group altar call trying to reconcile my Christian beliefs with observable reality and landing on this as a way to be okay with the fact that those two things didn't match up and never could. It didn't matter whether Christianity was a REASONABLE worldview. It mattered whether it was a LOVING worldview. If my heart said that I should love my neighbor as myself because the Bible said so, and my brain said that the Bible didn't make sense, then it must be my brain that was wrong. Because living by the rule of "Always do the most loving thing possible" was clearly right.


And I held onto that for decades. Even after I stopped being an Evangelical because that clashed too much with reason, I still stuck with the Episcopalians because they were willing to admit that reason wasn't going to get you there, and that it was okay to have doubts about your beliefs as long as you BEHAVED lovingly.


I'll come back to that...



The other day, I drove on a highway in Oregon City, which is about half an hour from Portland physically and half a world away culturally. On one side of the highway were a few dozen people carrying banners - American flags, flags saying "Trump 2024", Christian flags, and flags saying "Fuck Joe Biden, and fuck you for voting for him". Lots of shouting and fist pumping.
And on the other side was one lone woman, one goddamned HERO, serenely waving a Pride flag and blowing kisses at everyone who honked, whether they were giving her a thumbs-up or the middle finger.
And... it struck me how ironic it is that half the country still thinks that the first group, the one with the Christian flags alternating with the "Fuck you" flags... that group honestly believes that theirs is the side that stands under the banner of love, the side that Jesus of Nazareth would have been on if he was alive today.

People aren't leaving Christianity in droves because they suddenly stopped believing that Christianity was REASONABLE. It was NEVER reasonable, and we all knew that deep down but were willing to ignore it.
People are leaving Christianity in droves because they suddenly stopped believing that Christianity was LOVING. Any worldview that leads people to stand outside in the sun chanting about how much they hate me for voting against hateful rhetoric and hateful people and hateful policies, is not on speaking terms with love and never was.

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