Zombie Christianity
A way to understand our current cultural climate
Angela Merkel, it is said, welcomed in immigrants to Germany because of her Christian faith. Care for the stranger is certainly mandated by the Christian faith. However, in looking over how all of Europe and the United States have treated the stranger in the past few decades it seems that what we see are not Christian values, but rather zombie Christian values. There is the appearance of Christian values, but the animating life found in the Christian faith has long since departed, replaced by something considerably more sinister.
Lets take a few real Christian values and contrast them with their zombie versions
Multiculturalism. In Christianity, the nations will gather under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and will bring their treasures into the Holy City, the New Jerusalem. Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess. There will be a unity of worship around the Triune God and a diversity of people gathered together. This is realized in an imperfect way when people from many nations join in a worship service together.
Multiculturalism. In zombie Christianity, the impulse to bring the nations together remains. People are invited from different nations and groups to live in one land. However, there isn’t a unifying center. It feels good to be “welcoming,” but everyone has a different idea of what the good life is. Instead of unification, there is colonization, as different groups form mini-replicas of their home countries, do not integrate with the greater whole and bring with them their old conflicts.
Tolerance. From it’s earliest beginnings Christianity has had to negotiate differences and figure out which differences it would abide and which constituted a breach. This centers around the radical freedom that Christians enjoy. Christians are not bound to sacrifice to idols, to follow the rules of the superstitious, they need not bow to leaders, while they are to dress modestly, they are not bound to a dress code. Out of charity, those with greater Christian freedom make room for those who may stumble.
Tolerance. In zombie Christianity, the tolerant impulse to “live and let live” remains, but the connection to Christian freedom is lost. Increasingly, those groups who are “tolerated” attempt to impose on the rest of society an increasing number of freedom restricting rules wrt speech, conduct, food (think about the radical vegan), and sex. Yes, sex, as a young group of hockey players are finding out, in this ‘free love’ society, love isn’t free and jail may result. The life giving rules around sex, marriage and procreation, found in true Christianity, give way in tolerant zombie Christianity to an ever increasing set of ill defined rules about consent that imprison, quite literally, sometimes, those who transgress them and even those who try to follow them.
Love. In Christianity love has two aspects, at least. Affirmation and growth or improvement. To love someone is to affirm that it is good that they exist. Affirmation. To love someone is also to desire “the perfection of the beloved.” Genuine love, then involves challenge, discipline, encouragement and moral instruction.
Love. In zombie Christianity, the affirmation aspect of love remains. But, the telos, or goal of humanity is lost. Thus one can no longer desire the perfection of the beloved because there isn’t a shared understanding of what that perfection would look like. To take a simple example, a good coach will love his players when he teaches them effective strategies that actually win games. However, in Zombie Christianity not everyone is interested in playing, some don’t care about the rules, and most are oblivious that there is a game going on. The coach, in such a circumstance, is viewed as intolerant at best, but more likely hurtful or harmful for supposedly imposing a game and its rules on the world. He can only affirm, but he cannot desire the perfection of his beloved.
Forgiveness. In Christianity, we recognize that we have sinned against God and against other people. We confess what we have done wrong and the wronged party offers forgiveness. Forgiveness should put us on a trajectory toward reconciliation with God and our neighbours.
Forgiveness. In zombie Christianity, forgiveness is severed from the other person and from the pursuit of reconciliation. One is rather taught to “forgive yourself,” because you have failed to live up to your own standards of goodness. Forgiving others is also done for the sake of yourself, so that you won’t carry around hatred or animosity. Reconciliation is considered unnecessary, and even dangerous.
Guilt. Not a value, really, but a reality none the less. In Christianity, guilt results from our violation of God’s law. Guilt is lifted by the substitutionary atonement provided by the death of Jesus on the cross.
Guilt. In zombie Christianity, guilt mysteriously re-appears, now however, someone feels guilty for not being their best selves, for missing out on an opportunity, for letting themselves down. Such guilt is “atoned” when the person develops victimhood status (See the Strange Reemergence of Guilt article). Victims are innocent, so if the guilty person can become a victim then they regain innocence. See Paris Hilton discussing her “difficult” life.
I could probably go on. The bottom line is this: You want the real thing.