Moderation - The Rev. Philip DeVaul

My favorite band of all time is The Beatles. Nobody whose favorite band is the Beatles could claim in good conscience to be an extremist. The most popular pop band of all time? Forget it. I’m a moderate. I just am. Let’s be real about my temperament, about my preferences: I like moderation. I like institutions. I like the sense of stability and belonging. I wear a uniform to work! I remember when I took the confirmation class at an Episcopal Church when I was 23. They made an explicit point of telling us over and over that we didn’t have to join – we could just be there, we didn’t have to be Episcopalian. But I like brands and organizations and belonging and I wanted to be called an Episcopalian – a denomination historically known for staid, moderate behavior. The old joke goes how many Episcopalians does it take to change a lightbulb?  “What’s change?” 

What even is moderation? What is centrism? Is it the idea that there are two extremes and the truth lies somewhere in the middle – in some kind of muddled compromise where nobody is perfectly happy and nobody is perfectly furious? I mean, I love that. I really do. It fits my temperament so well, and frankly it’s convenient to my lifestyle. It is also very often a pragmatic approach to life. And so many of us across the political spectrum have noted the unfortunate move towards extremism in our government – often bolstered by gerrymandering and corporate interference for profit. We would love a representative body that finds some kind of imperfect middle ground. 

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