Last week, a landmark Supreme Court decision solidified the self-understanding of progressives as those “on the right side of history.” Story after story used such language.
I don’t blame progressives for thinking of themselves in this way. Indeed, it’s hard not to look at the rulings coming out of the High Court since 1973 and miss the near one-sided directionality of their decisions.
My problem isn’t with progressives; it’s with the Church.
At some point in America’s past, the culture war came to battle over time itself. Many who rejected the Bible’s enduring claims put a bid on the future, and far too many Christians settled for simply the past. You can see this in the very names the various factions chose for themselves – “conservatives” and “progressives.”
It strikes me that today in particular, the Church won’t persuade anyone with a moral argument that starts, “Back in the good old days … .” At best, we’ll score some cheap points with those already agreeing with us, but everyone else will be thinking about the sins (slavery, racism, sexism, etc.) which tainted this utopian past we’re holding up as ideal.