The Moving Middle - The Rev. Philip DeVaul

The middle moves. When we talk about conservativism, liberalism, and centrism – we often speak of these things as if they are fixed, when in fact they are fluid. They may live on a spectrum, but over time the spectrum itself shifts.  

It begs the question, What are conservatives trying to conserve? And is it the same thing that conservatives were trying to conserve 50 or 100 years ago? What are liberals trying to liberalize? Is it the same thing liberals were trying to liberalize 50 or 100 years ago?  

And of course, most of us do not fit neatly into either of these categories.  Some of us do, for sure. We have in the Church of the Redeemer community a fair share of self-described conservatives and liberals.  But most people I know are a mixture of conservative and liberal beliefs and values. Most of us are not as easily categorized.  

This complexity – and this shifting spectrum of belief and the moving middle – all matters to the context of a religious community. One of the reasons for that is that religious communities are often expected to maintain neutrality, to hold the middle ground, or to make sure we do not express any kind of ideological or political preference. We have been exploring that in recent blogs. Trying to understand our part in the politics of our culture is an ongoing process.

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