Newspaper Columns by Bishop Paul V. Marshall
Are Churches Healthy Enough to Draw Clear Boundaries?
Bishop Paul V. Marshall
September 2002
Are wars started by the nice guys? In his breathtaking "On the Origins of War," Yale's Donald Kagan explains why he thinks so.
Examining evidence from ancient Greece through the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, Kagan observes how pride, honor, and other psychological aspects of nationhood play at least as much a role in the spawning of war as do territorial and economic needs.
Didn't we learn that the Second World War was begotten in the humiliating peace that concluded World War I?
Kagan says peace has been historically kept through "the possession by those states who wish to preserve the peace of the preponderant power and of the will to accept the burdens and responsibilities required to achieve that purpose."
That means that those who appease bullies pave the way for war. Those willing both to take clear stands and back them up preserve peace. Our psychologist friends talk about the ability to draw clear boundaries.
Kagan's theory about war and peace-keeping is as politically incorrect a theory as one can have in our time. It does not sound like "turning the other cheek" or the unwritten eleventh commandment, "Be nice."
Neville Chamberlain encouraged Hitler whereas John Kennedy's tough stand forced the Soviets to pull their missiles out of Cuba. There may be something worth considering here, even if Kagan's prescription does not sound like what a really nice person might say.
Perhaps the clearest wisdom is contained in the phrase, "Never again!" It puts the world on notice.
The determination of the Jewish people to be blunt about not allowing themselves to be victims is wisdom won through millennia of bitter experience. All too often, nice guys simply do not finish at all.
I had the inexpressibly sad duty recently to shut down a church. There were several reasons for this painful decision. What seemed utterly unfixable was an ingrained pattern of conflict that caused the church to be known in its community as "the fighting church."
It was the hardest thing I have had to do in my life. It has been a costly decision for me. Flack continues to fly. Still, a line had to be drawn: a church that harms people and will not see that it does so cannot be permitted to continue the harm.
I do not know about synagogues and mosques, but I do agree with the observation that people get away with behavior in church communities that would not be tolerated anywhere else. The core values behind this dysfunction seem to be precisely those Kagan finds behind war between nations: pride and a distorted sense of honor or worth. There is nothing people cherish so much as a perceived insult or hurt.
Can churches be healthy enough to say to actively or passively aggressive bullies, "Change your behavior or you may not be a part of this community?" It is an idea found throughout the Bible, in the words of Jesus and the writings of the apostles.
There is such a thing as intolerable behavior. When members of a church community denigrate or attempt to control each other, a boundary must be drawn. For their own sake as well as that of the community.
Every person who says "If the church does this I'll never contribute another cent" must be told we will find a way to get by. Every person who says "If this happens I'll quit the church" must be told we will miss them. Every person who says the truth hurts their feelings must be told to get over it. People who refuse to "be in love and charity with their neighbor," refuse to give up resentments, need to know they poison their own soul and defile Christ's cross.
Many doubt that religious institutions retain the backbone necessary to preserve their own existence. In a century with no social pressure in favor of church membership, we may find out if that doubt is well founded.Return to the index of Bishop Paul's columns for the secular press
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