Facts and Values

For a long time now, Christians in the U.S. have been caught in a cultural system that has emphasized a few precious dichotomies, like: fact vs. value, public vs. private, and others.  This cultural system is known as "modernity," and some have already heralded its demise.  Yet, many people remain caught squarely in its grip.  Sometimes it's tough to say whether it's coming or going.

Part of how it works is that the world is split into two realms: the realm of facts and the realm of values.  This realm of facts is full of statements that can be objectively known by anyone who is thinking rationally, regardless of age, gender, or ethnic or cultural considerations.  These statements (or facts) are true regardless or circumstance or viewpoint.  They are to be publicly taught as the truth for all to know.  While some many differ on their interpretation of these statements, their existence as "fact" is not up for discussion.  Maybe something like "the sky is blue" or Newton's laws of motion would fit into this realm.

The other realm is the world of values.  This realm is full of statements or ideas that each person is free to hold as his or her preferences.  These values differ for each person, and are not to be taught publicly.  They belong to the private realm.  For example, I could believe that LOST is the greatest television show ever made.  This is my right as a modern person - to hold that as one of my values.  I could believe that blue is the most beautiful color, or that Christianity is the best religion.  But, those are my private values, not public facts that everyone should also hold as true.  Each person is free to choose whichever values matter most to him or her.  One person prefers sports cars, waffles, and buddhism, while another likes SUV's, cereal, and atheism.  You can have wonderful, enriching discussions about these values, but people pretty much hold a tacit agreement with one another that they don't encroach into the realm of "facts."

This is the cultural system that Christians have had to deal with for quite a while now, and they have accomodated themeselves to it pretty well by developing a couple of responses to the given dichotomy.  The first one is to accept the fact-value dichotomy, and then attempt to assign Christianity to the realm of "facts."  This has largely been the fundamentalist/conservative evangelical response.  They are well aware that it is not good enough to accept a position for Christianity that sticks it purely into the realm of private choice.  This is clearly insufficient for the Lord of the universe who makes unimpeachable claims on the lives of men and women.  So, the realm where Christianity belongs is the realm of "facts."  Thus begins the preoccupation with facts that has characterized conservative versions of Christinity in the U.S. over the past 100 years or more.  The Bible has been read against this backdrop, leading to the many facted positions regarding inerrancy, the positions of young and old earth creationism, and many more.

The other side of this system occasionally comes up when someone is faced with the many issues regarding scripture that don't really have a good explanation.  For example:

• Issues regarding creation and evolution
• Historicity of the first 11 chapters of Genesis
• Issues of authorship and redaction in the OT
• Whether or not millions of Israelites really wandered around in the desert for 40 years
• If those Israelites really conquered Canaan the way the OT describes
• Whether or not there really was a King David

And many, many more.  That list doesn't even touch the other issues that can drive a person away from his or her faith.  So, what happens if you accept the fact-value dichotomy, and you once believed that Christianity belonged to the realm of "facts," but you are faced with evidence that no longer allows you to believe that?  A lot of these people have no other choice but to then believe that Christianity is false.  If it properly belongs in the realm of "facts," but it isn't "factual," then it clearly must be a lie.  These people become embittered atheists, and many are committed to trying to show Christians the errors of their ways.

The third option is to accept that Christianity belongs in the realm of values - not facts.  This is where the more liberal versions of Christianity have ended up.  They don't spend time worrying about whether or not millions of Israelites wandered around in the desert for 40 years, or who wrote the Pentateuch.  Really, why would you, if Christianity is really about having a good set of values to guide you?  Values such as love, forgiveness, and doing good for others.  Their readings of scripture tend to emphasize interpretations that are the least likely to offend others in their culture.  Thus, they are pretty accepting of many practices that more conservative Christians would consider to be "sin."  This version of Christianity has abandoned any hope of Christianity having anything to do with truth that is valid for all people - not just the individual - in favor of accepting the latest whims of critical views of the Bible.

There are variations on each of those themes, but in the land of modernity, those are pretty much your choices.  Do you like those choices?  I don't.  I think I found a different choice that is a little difficult to describe, but I'm going to give it a shot in the next post.  Basically, it has to do with not accepting the rules of the game.  What if the fact-value dichotomy is a bad one to start out with?  What does that mean for Christianity?