| Conservatives! |
| Conservatives! |
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I'm not sure how far back it goes. I'd say at least Egyptian times. Conservatives versus liberals. In Egyptian times you had your poly-theistic priests (conservatives) battling your mono-theistic priests (liberals). The latter got wiped out (Akmenhaten and associates). As a general rule, conservatives are the 'past' and liberals represent 'change'. Conservatives tend to be 'meaner'. Threatened. So, today you have your 'conservative' Christians versus your 'liberals'. The conservatives pride themselves on what they view as 'the past', while the liberals take even further pride on changing the past. However this varies according to which Jewish/Christian period you're talking about. Here's some examples. The Sadducees versus Everyone Else Drawing from the gospels and Josephus, the Sadducees insisted on using the Torah (first five OT books) only. No prophets. And certainly no resurrection. These would be the 'conservatives'. The rest of jewish-dom ('liberals') had moved on to the prophets/writings and even some greek language books. The Pharasees versus Everyone Else These would be the 'separatists' and they insisted on the whole hebrew Bible plus ... a million other rules. Now, technically that would make them 'liberals'. But with all those extra rules, they were the 'conservatives' compared to the Sadducee 'liberals' who were taking it easy with just the Torah (and cozying up to the Romans). Jesus versus the Pharasees Jesus said he was the messiah and even worse, a son of God. Blaspheme! (from the pharasee conservatives of course). Yes, Jesus was a liberal, looking for (major) change. He said the Pharasee conservatives were fake conservatives. Paul versus the Jerusalem'ers During the times of the early church (early chapters of Acts), the messiah was meant for jews only (the previous 'liberals', now become 'conservatives'). Paul, the new 'liberal', advocated gentile membership ... Peter too, but that was kind of iffy. Interestingly, it wasn't the ethnic problem that was at issue, as much as bodily surgery and eating habits. Gnostics versus Everyone Else Anything 'new' is always believed to be better than anything 'old' by 'liberals' and so the gnostics felt tremendously superior to the rest of the Christians, believing that 'knowledge' was the path to divinity. The 'conservatives' had a heart attack. Marcion versus Everyone Else Marcion noticed dramatic differences between the New Testament and the Old Testament. Hellooo. He dumped everything jewish, and built the first Christian canon (that we know about anyway). That would make him a 'liberal', and the 'conservatives' in Rome were none too happy about it. Unfortunately he had money and a lot of followers. Typical 'liberal'. Luther versus the Church Luther got a little suspicious of the Church charging money to go to heaven. Plus killing 'liberals' who questioned the church. So he introduced the german Bible for popular reading, and the 'conservative' church was enraged. Baptists versus Everyone Else Ok ... also the Campbell-ites and so forth. They noticed the 'high worship services' of what they viewed as the 'liberal' churches. 'Not in the Bible!'. So they defined themselves as 'conservatives', even though technically they were both 'liberals' relative to the 'high worship', and also 'liberals' in adopting Paul's teachings. That brings us to 'today'. If you're conservative today, ironically you probably are most similar to the liberal Christians of the late first-century. If you're liberal, you're likely more similar to the conservative early church, and their emphasis on love and personal behavior. And if you're a 'real' liberal, you're probably most simiar to the earliest apostles, who went fishing after Jesus got killed. Wise man, but resurrected? Do you see the pattern? Liberals versus conservatives are opposite the time period of New Testament times. We're talking protestants here. The Catholics are back in Rome in the second century. Check it out. Here's some questions ... match the answer to the period in the New Testament and, the labels we use today: (1) Which group is tremendously prideful, and accusative of the other groups going 'straight to hell'? (2) Which group seems to be welcoming of 'all faiths', with an emphasis on personal respect and 'love'? (3) Which group is busily chopping the resurrection story up, trying to figure out how it didn't happen? Gee ... who, oh who, might that be like? (4) And finally, which group thinks Yeshua sure had an odd ego? Now, frankly I have to admit, I'm pretty much in group #1. And it is true that my pride is the best, and I have few equals. But I am slowly beginning to think that I need to concentrate on my own behavior relative to God, and let the other Christians do the same. I wonder if God is liberal or conservative? We'll all find out real soon, now won't we? |
| Copyright ©, 2007, dmbarnhart |
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