On Deconstruction

Haven't You Just Changed Political Parties?

I don't want to paint with too broad a brush with this post, there will be many exceptions people will be keen to point out, but I do want to describe something that's long been going on under the label "deconstruction" among ex-evangelicals.

To start, let me say this: There's nothing wrong with deconstruction as a developmental process. As we mature spiritually we all have to confront beliefs about God, faith, and the church that were immature, in error, or dysfunctional. As Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians 13: "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways." Spiritual growth is a developmental process. 

Also, "deconstruction" isn't a new thing. St. John of the Cross called it the dark night of the soul, where immature and idolatrous conceptions of God are burnt away in a painful, disorientating process. During the dark night of the soul we feel God-abandoned, not because we are abandoned by God, but because the idol that we took to be God is "deconstructed." This purgation leaves behind a void which we experience, for a season, as the death or loss of God. 

My point here is that "deconstruction" is Biblically, theologically and spiritually legitimate. Vital, even. We shouldn't stigmatize deconstruction out of hand. Every mature Christian has been involved in some deconstruction at some point or another.

And yet, I want to suggest that some (much?) of what is passing as "deconstruction" among ex-evangelicals perhaps really isn't deconstruction but is, rather, people who were raised Republicans becoming Democrats. 

Now, of course, to change your political party as an adult is going to involve some "deconstruction" of the beliefs and values you grew up with. You might, for example, need to "deconstruct" how you once read the Bible literally as a child and teen if you, as an adult, become convinced of evolution. The same as you'd need to "deconstruct" if you changed your views about LGBTQ folks. I'm not denying there's a difficult and challenging journey to be made here if your values shift or you embrace scientific literacy. But at the end of the day, what's driving the "deconstruction" is more political than theological. 

That political dynamic is what I'm trying to name here. Given all the drama around "deconstruction," aren't we mainly just watching former Republicans become Democrats? Because when I look at the ex-evangelical crowd, that's mostly what I see as the end-game of the journey: A change of political parties. You were once a Jesus and John Wayne Christian, and now you're a woke, social justice warrior Christian. 

Now, to confess, as someone who sides more with woke, social justice warrior Christians, I don't think this is a bad outcome. But I am deeply skeptical about calling this journey "deconstruction." 

Why?

Well, if changing from Republican to Democrat is ultimately what we mean by "deconstruction," then God is still trapped by the idolatry of politics. We've changed teams, to be sure, but we're still playing the same game. You can see this in how, among both evangelical and the ex-evangelical Christians, there is little daylight between their faith and their political views. The political views held by evangelicals are not prophetically troubled, criticized, or contradicted by Jesus. Neither are the political views held by ex-evangelicals prophetically troubled, criticized, or contradicted by Jesus. For both groups, Jesus legitimizes their preferred politics. For neither group does Jesus subvert their politics. 

And that's why I don't think what is currently passing as "deconstruction" is truly deconstruction. People are just being angsty about changing political parties, describing a political change as a religious journey. 

If what we are witnessing were truly deconstruction, real dark night of the soul journeys, we'd see a whole lot more people landing in strange, peculiar, and hard-to-define political locations. We'd see evidence of the Holy Spirit blowing people around unpredictably (i.e., not neatly captured by the confines of a two-party political system) rather than people simply shifting from one voting block to another.

Here's a test: When someone says they've "deconstructed" their faith, was the outcome of that journey that were raised a Republican and are now a Democrat? If so, I don't think we've witnessed a true deconstruction. That person just changed political parties.