Beginnings

It seems necessary to begin with, intuitively enough, a beginning. An outline of what this particular piece of bloggish writing will encompass and perhaps attempt to touch on some of the questions which this writer is hoping over time to illuminate. The title of the blog is ‘Church and State.’ But not in the traditional sense of separation thereof, instead this is an attempt to explore those very concepts. Sometimes through essay, sometimes through analysis, sometimes through satire this blog is an attempt to answer larger questions about the nature of things. It may seem ironic that a blog would attempt such a seemingly grandiose purpose. Can a blog of sorts fulfill such a purpose? I answer with a resounding maybe!

What is the outline for this little insignificant project? It arises out of dissatisfaction with the current discourse on two different, yet interrelated, topics: church and state. The church, or religion, is in a decline. First mainline Churches adopted practices which have doomed them to a slow, prolonged death. A death by strangulation of sorts, the vine which is suffocating these churches is modern liberalism coupled with an embrace of post-structuralist theory. This process has ceased to be an intriguing question. Instead, what is fascinating is the related decline of what many would have considered “fundamentalist” churches. These evangelical and quasi-evangelical churches are just beginning, abet in their own unique forms, to embrace the mainstreams positions. The result of these variables seem almost inevitable: similar consequences as have been suffered by the mainline churches.

What is perhaps different from the earlier forms adopted by the mainstream Christian churches is a third embrace by these ‘fundamentalists:’ consumerism. The evangelical / quasi-evangelical church has begun to operate like a Starbucks franchise. It has embraced the consumer mentality and advanced it in concert with an acceptance of modern liberalism and, increasingly, postmodern or poststructuralist theory. Here at Miami a colleague’s work is focused on mega-churches and consumerism. She is a psychology graduate and is not particular Christian, but she finds this a phenomenon which will shape the future of the church and I must agree with her.

The state, in many ways, is suffering a similar identify crisis as the church. The state of the 21^st century is increasingly becoming all-powerful. Both Republicans and Democrats have both come to accept the fundamental truth that big government is good government. Regardless of the desirability of this situation, it has created a new set of issues for the definition of government and state. Both are grappling with a newfound set of normative goals which would have never been considered in political theory only 50 years ago. As the state increases its size, it must decide an increasing number of issues. As government defines these issues it necessarily must make sweeping moral and social decisions and force non-conformers to the margin in its wake. The cleavages between groups will only grow as the number of areas in which government operates expands and there is no end to the expansion in site.

As these two institutional pillars in the American landscape redefine themselves, our own socio-political system cannot help but undergo a massive shift. How we understand and contextual ourselves cannot remain static as such foundational institutions reshape. It is the purpose of this so-called blog to examine these shifts, how they interrelate and react to one another, and to comment on them. Almost without question our era will be an important one. We therefore come full circle to the reason for this so-called blog. I will be analyzing these structures through essay, through comment, through satire, and a variety of textual forms. Perhaps it is only the musings of an odd man, but I hope it is more and I hope it is worthwhile for not only me, but for anyone crazy enough to read it with me.