Christian Faith and Public Disorder
Humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, self-control
For most of my life I’ve lived in a city – Philadelphia, Trenton, New York, Portland (ME), and now Seattle. And for a rather short period on a Maine island and a Connecticut village. In this piece I’m exploring one aspect of city living – order and disorder. Cities don’t do well when there is too much disorder. We get anxious and grumpy. We get all judgy. At least I do. And as we Christians know – judgy is not good.
In the last 5 years or so our cities have experienced ups and downs around crime. Every shift in the numbers gets media attention. Then we argue over whether it’s real, or significant, or if we should compare this year to 2020 or last year,or 2018 or 1995. And we do get caught up in the awful and sad stories, e.g., the woman pushed off a subway platform. And the infuriating criminal disorder, e.g., the shoplifting gangs. Why do I have to ask a grocery store clerk to get Tide?
Even though I have strong reactions to all that – I don’t really worry much about being the victim of a crime. I experience Seattle as a fairly safe city. And yes I know there are some in the city, in every city, who can’t say that. And yet, even in my safety, I feel unsettled. And so do many other citizens.
Here's how my small part of the city has changed in the last few years. There’s more speeding and running of red lights. There’s a few pickup trucks roaming about without license plates. The small park nearby is usually taken up by homeless men sleeping or a loud group or someone screaming at the sky. You no longer see families or small groups of teens using the park. I’ve been stalked on the street twice, both times in a threatening manner (I’m 80 on tomorrow and very aware that I have little ability to defend myself). There’s a lot of trash and the smell of urine at the bus stops.
Time to talk about
This morning I read “It's Time to Talk About America's Disorder Problem” by Charles Fain Lehman. He explores the issue with a mix of sociology and thoughts on public policy.
He defines disorder this way: “Disorder is domination of public space for private purposes.” And he writes of disorder as both rational and normal. And asks, “Why, then, is there not more disorder?” And goes on to suggest, “Why do people mostly not litter, or play their music on the train, or run prostitution rings out of their ADUs? If you ask people this, the extremely unsatisfying answer they usually give is “norms” or “culture,” which are just ways of saying “we don’t do it because we don’t do it.” A slightly more satisfying answer (to me, anyway) is that we don’t litter because of a variety of motivations, which are themselves the products of a diversity of institutions. Most people don’t litter because they are motivated by guilt, which is itself carefully cultivated by family members, peers, and social messaging.” He writes that is “social control”—the regulation of individual behavior by social institutions through informal and formal means.” He looks at how we sometimes attempt to over-control and at other times we under-control. Also how we have forms of informal and formal social control. “Under normal conditions—when there’s not a big disorder problem—social control is maintained mostly by informal means. This is Jane Jacobs’s famous “eyes on the street”—if enough people are watching, most people will not feel they can engage in disorderly behavior. Why don’t people throw litter on the ground or urinate in public? Because they feel bad when other people notice them doing it. But when the informal systems have lost their sway—as they perhaps have—then you need formal systems to step in.” Possibly his primary point is that we need to think and talk about it. I’d add pray about it. More - “It's Time to Talk About America's Disorder Problem”
Tolerance of social disorder
Ruy Teixeira of “The Liberal Patriot” picked up on the issue this morning in making a case about the collapse of the Progressive movement. He identified four ways in which they undercut themselves. The second was this. “Promoting lax law enforcement and tolerance of social disorder was a terrible idea and voters hate it. In the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd and the nationwide movement sparked by it, the climate for police and criminal justice reform was highly favorable. But Democrats, taking their cue from progressives, blew the opportunity by allowing the party to be associated with unpopular movement slogans like “defund the police” that did not appear to take public safety concerns very seriously. At the same time, Democrats became associated with a wave of progressive public prosecutors who seemed quite hesitant about keeping criminals off the street, even as a spike in violent crimes like murders and carjacking swept the nation. This was twinned to a climate of tolerance and non-prosecution for lesser crimes that degraded the quality of life in many cities under Democratic control.”
How Christians are called to respond
I found myself thinking about how Christians are called to respond to something like public disorder. The three thoughts that first come to mind are:
1) We are called to not participate in the disorder.
2) We usually take a stance of supporting the social norms and institutions and so encourage harmony in human relations.
3) We affirm community.
We are called to not participate in the disorder
We have a set of stances we take. A form of what we have called virtues and spiritual gifts, and many psychologists have called emotional and social intelligence or how to not be a jerk.
There is Paul's understanding of what God is doing in our lives as we grow into the full stature of Christ: humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance born of love, eagerness to maintain unity in the bond of peace, truthfulness mediated in love, mutual kindness, tenderheartedness and forgiveness; and love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Then there are the Cardinal Virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance.[i] Nurturing within ourselves these habits of heaven simply has us living in a manner that doesn’t contribute to the disorder.
We usually take a stance of supporting the social norms and institutions and so encourage harmony in human relations.
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. (See Romans 13: 1-7) and “For the Lord’s sake accept the authority of every human institution, whether of the emperor as supreme” (1 Peter 2:13). So, there’s a starting place. Most of the time we need to obey the law and rules because they are necessary for a society to not find itself in chaos. But there is more isn’t there?
The fact is that even if the institutions of our society do their very best, and they rarely do, there will still be some people speeding and screaming on the street, and there will still be some people, anxious and fearful when most people no longer experience it that way
One way I approach this issue is with both/and approach rather than either/or. I want to see social strategies that provide appropriate care for the homeless, the addicted and the mentally ill, that offer help for the young people who get themselves in trouble and at the same time, I want the general population to feel safe in public spaces.
There is a form of social disorder we Christians have frequently affirmed – protest in the cause of justice. Martin Luther King said, “I became convinced that noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good.” Such acts of non-cooperation are often disruptive.
We also want to take note of something else MLK said, “An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.” How we engage in such disorder is to be in the service of social order and holy order. We don’t hide ourselves and we do accept the consequences of breaking the law or rules. It’s not only that we seek just laws, but we recognize that law in itself is an essential element of a healthy society.
Charles Williams had an interesting take on the spiritual source of disorder, “Dimly he knew at what end the attack aimed; some disintegrating force was being loosed at the vessel—not conquest, but destruction, was the purpose, and chaos the eventual hope.” (From War in Heaven) More – “Chaos the eventual hope.”
We affirm community.
We gather for Eucharist and social connection. We affirm community life, marriage, families, and friendships. We are glad for the life of the Religious Orders and their witness to God’s call to particular charisms engaged by a community of brothers and sisters.
“We see the kind of community enjoyed by the first Christians delineated in Sunday’s first reading, from Acts. They supported one another by praying and worshiping together, and by looking out for each other. Above all they did it by welcoming those with whom they disagreed to fellowship at the one Eucharist: the story of Thomas is a parable of that. Our ministry to one another consists not so much in doing things for one another, as in travelling together.” -Michael Bowie, former Assistant Priest, All Saints Margaret Street More - An Energy Not Its Own
“We are a multi-generational, growing and vibrant parish church – where parish is the operative word. We are not an issue-based church or a conservative or progressive church. We believe that our call and strength is being a parish church where all are actually welcome and those who vote, shop, look and love differently can gather at God’s table and be reconciled and bound to both God and one another.” - Kristen L. Hawley, Rector, St. David's, Washington, DC. MORE – A Love Story)
From “The ways of the City”, “In Scripture and in the writings of Charles Williams “The City” represents the reign of God, the Kingdom. The City is here and now and eternal; it is a life in which its citizens express their unity in the ways they live and interact. Williams said, "here citizenship meant relationship and knew it." The ways of the Holy City are sacrifice, forgiveness, and reconciliation. The City is both a way of order and hierarchy and also what Williams expressed as “that joyous smile of equality which marks all happy human or celestial government” and “where everything and everyone is unique and is the subject of due adoration.” (From an Old Russian story)
Having nothing, yet possessing all things; forgive us as we forgive; leave house and family for the Kingdom and receive more in the present time and in the world to come; losing life to find life -- exchange is how the co-inherence is expressed. It is the process of giving and taking among us and between God and us. It is living from and for one another. It includes sacrifice, forgiveness, reconciliation and substitution. Our own salvation lies in helping others and in accepting help. We are not only to love but to accept being loved; not only to forgive, but to accept forgiveness. The ultimate reality of the co-inherence is that we need one another.
These modes of exchange are "Acts of the City", the “habits of heaven.” They are the acts of all the saints in heaven and earth. The starting place of any exchange is to be in small things rather than heroic gestures. We are not to offer and promise what cannot really be done. So, even in acts of intercessory prayer – we are to carry on our hearts a limited number of people and concerns at any one time.”
This abides,
Brother Robert, OA
Feast of Hiram Hisanori Kano, Priest, 1986