Whatever happened to liberal Christianity LINDA WOODHEAD FOR
Whatever happened to liberal Christianity? LINDA WOODHEAD FOR INCLUSIVE CHURCH, YORK, JULY 2014
Liberalism – boo hiss Many meanings, huge slippage Now used by critics to mean ‘secular’, ‘theologically woolly’, individualistic etc. (Yet something of its force is still retained in its opposite, ‘illiberal’. Who wants to be illiberal? Not to mention the fact that we live in a liberal democracy – hands up who would rather not? )
Recovering ‘liberalism’ To make the term powerful again it is best to strip it down to two of its most basic senses. 1. Ethical or political liberalism: the belief that each individual should have the right to decide how best to live his her life (JS Mill) The opposite is not conservatism but authoritarianism, illiberalism, paternalism. ‘There is a higher authority to which you should defer. ’
Recovering ‘liberalism’ 2. Hermeneutical liberalism. The belief that the meaning of no text, including the Bible, can be accessed directly and without human interpretation, or that there is a text which does not itself involve human interpretation. It is perfectly possible – and common – for hermeneutical liberals to believe that the Bible is nevertheless the Word of God.
Recovering ‘liberalism’ I suggest that we need to recover these cleaned and stripped-down meanings of liberalism and discard the extra baggage. Liberalism is a stub to which can be added right wing or left wing politics, various kinds of theological approach and system etc. None of these should be used to define its core meaning.
Recovering ‘Christian liberalism’ So for my purposes, liberal Christians are Christians who see ethical/political liberalism and hermeneutical liberalism as integral to the Christian faith. (Not as secular ‘add-ons’, but as growing out of the Christian tradition itself. ) And for the purposes of clarity in this short talk I am going to focus only on the ethical/political sense.
How many Britons are liberal? Before I tell you the answer, based on my surveys with You. Gov last year (google ‘Faith Debates’ & click the ‘Research’ tab) let me ask you the same questions I used on the surveys. This will give you a liberalism score. As it turned out (a finding not a presupposition) 3 issues in GB tpday proved to be the litmus test issues: abortion, same-sex marriage, euthanasia (a contingent fact).
Start with a score of 1 If you: ABORTION favour the current time limit of 24 weeks (or think it should be relaxed) ADD 0 believe the current time limit should be reduced or don’t know ADD 1 believe abortion should be banned ADD 2
SAME-SEX MARRIAGE If you: Think it is right ADD 0 Think it is wrong ADD 2 Don’t know ADD 1
If you: ASSISTED DYING Think the law should be changed/liberalised ADD 0 Think current law should remain ADD 2 Don’t know ADD 1
HERE IS YOUR LIBERALISM SCORE 1 Out and out liberal 2 Strong liberal 3 Mild liberal 4 Liberal paternalist 5 Mild paternalist 6 Strong Paternalist 7 Out and out paternalist
HERE IS THE LIBERAL PROFILE OF GB ADULTS 18+ 2013 % Out and out liberal 1 21 Strong liberal 2 21 Mild liberal 3 23 Liberal paternalist 4 18 Mild paternalist 5 8 Strong Paternalist 6 6 Out and out paternalist 7 3
We are overwhelmingly liberal LIBERALISM IN BRITAIN TODAY Counting 1 - 4 as liberal There is a “Liberal moral majority” of 83% And an authoritarian/paternalist moral minority of 17% Who are the moral minority (MM)? 45% of Muslims are MM Over a third of Baptists are MM 15% of Catholics are MM 8% of Anglicans are MM Practically none of those who say “no religion” are MM
VALUES PROFILE GB Let’s put the liberal scale on a vertical axis And a social/welfarist to individualist scale on a horizontal axis The %s show where GB population is, and where self-defined ‘Cof. E’ members are. Conclusion: Anglicans are as liberal as everyone else, but a bit more rightleaning.
Anglicans Liberal Anglicans Our survey shows that every generation has become more liberal than the one before Liberal Anglicans (score 3 or less) Liberal Anglicans subset: churchgoers 18 -30 30 s 40 s 50 s 60 s 70+ 81% 71% 67% 64% 57% 49% 62% 60% 45% 42% 46% 40%
THERE HAVE BEEN TWO WAVES OF LIBERALISM IN GB (AND MORE WIDELY) First-wave liberalism: extension of liberties from propertyowning males to all males, including all races Up to 1970 s and the civil rights movement. Second-wave liberalism: extension of liberties and rights to women, to LGBT, and to children. From the 1980 s to the present – ongoing and unfinished. Most Britons have embraced both waves. The Cof. E (and RC Church) embraced and sometimes led the first wave, but not the second. This is the ‘leadership liberal reversal. ’
NOW I WANT TO ADDRESS TWO PUZZLES ‘Whatever happened to liberal Christianity? ’ Why has the power of liberalism in the Cof. E declined when Anglicans and the country have been getting more and more liberal? And why has the influence of (liberal) Anglicanism in British society declined?
Michael Ramsey on Honest to God 1963 Liberal reversals in the Cof. E Higton motion passed by General Synod 1987 (& Some issues in Human Sexuality 1991) What are the emblematic events? Possibly these Exemption from equality legislation (2003 on) Anglican Covenant
6 REASONS TO EXPLAIN LEADERSHIP ILLIBERALISM IN THE Cof. E 1. Rejection of second-wave liberalisation (reluctant to admit women, hostile to LGBT, reactive not active in relation to children’s rights). 2. Effective anti-liberal mobilisation by minority groups in the Cof. E 3. Global religious anti-liberal alliances 4. Media representations amplify the illiberal minorities 5. Growing isolation of leadership from society 6. A ‘post-secular’ turn in theology
4 REASONS TO EXPLAIN GENERAL FAILURE OF LIBERALISM IN Cof. E 1. Lay disengagement from the Church 2. Clerical divisions and the decline of Anglo-Catholicism 3. Failure of liberals to mobilise effectively 4. Failure of liberals to make theological case
THE GROWING ‘VALUES GAP’ BETWEEN LIBERAL ENGLAND ILLIBERAL CHURCHES HELPS EXPLAIN DECLINE IN AFFILIATION BY AGE Anglican None Roman Catholic Other Over 70 60 s 50 s 40 s 30 s 20 s Under 20 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
ALIENATED FROM CHURCH BUT NOT NECESSARILY FROM FAITH BELIEF IN A GOD OR HIGHER POWER Definitely Probably Don't know Probably not Definitely not Over 70 60 s 50 s 40 s 30 s 20 s Under 20 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
WEAKNESS OF LIBERAL ANGLICANISM ALSO TO BLAME FOUR REASONS WHY LIBERAL ANGLICANISM FAILED 1. Too disembodied – all about ideas, not embedded in the Church’s symbols, rituals, power structures 2. Persistence of paternalistic authority, rather than a more liberal model 3. Liberalism often inward looking and churchy 4. Liberals often narrowly focused and divided, not embracing genuine pluralism (which liberalism implies –freedom to follow own interpretations)
A SERIOUS QUESTION Liberals don't like being preached at; why do they need to go to church at all?
HOW CAN LIBERAL ANGLICANISM RECOVER AT LOCAL LEVEL? A huge dose of humility needed (the Cof. E is a very arrogant Church) 1. LOOK outwards, learn from society 2. Partner with appropriate laity and organisations (obligations on both sides) 3. Be a resource (amongst many) for people to draw on as they live their lives 4. recognise that people today have multiple identities; religion is only one 5. Reject division; embrace all liberal Anglicans and genuine pluralism – inc. nonliberals
RECOVERY at NATIONAL LEVEL 1. Embrace genuine pluralism, not chimerical unity 2. Effective liberal mobilisation 3. Open debate and real research, to re-engage Church with society & Anglicans 4. Creative re-imagining of church structures 5. Empowerment of all Anglicans 6. Set the agenda; stop allowing anti-liberals to set it 7. Maximal tolerance + zero tolerance for bullying and manipulation = genuine liberalism
Come to our Westminster Faith Debates series on ‘The Future of the Church of England’ this autumn
Oprah 24. 7 m Twitter followers A closing thought Liberal religion lives on – it’s just a pity the Church isn’t benefitting/able to reengage and revivify its own liberal heritage… at the moment. But the signs of change are all around us – it’s time for the liberal majority to remember it’s the majority. Pope Francis 4. 2 m Archbishop of Canterbury 59. 6 K
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