David Corey is a professor at Baylor University. He has a fine article on the Comment website discussing the divisive role played by politics in the fractious life of the American church.
He does not address the spiritual disease at play when so-called Christians prioritize political agreement over and above shared devotion to Jesus Christ.
But he does offer an excellent analysis of the spiritual dimension of true friendship and what our divisive politics tells us about the absence of true friendship in American life.
The article is titled “Politics, Friendship, and the Search for Meaning.”
Below is an excerpt:
All around us, friendships old and new are coming to grief over politics. What is the cause of this? Part of the problem relates to how we practice politics today: we have become more warlike and tribal. Another part of the problem stems from our contemporary understanding of friendship. Genuine friendship places weighty demands on us, and most of us prefer relationships that are quicker and easier, and thus less enduring.
Politics and friendship are deeply connected. As strange as it sounds, how we understand what politics is has an effect on the kinds of friendships we are likely to enjoy. And, conversely, how we understand friendship will affect our practice of politics.
What exactly is the connection between politics and friendship, and how should we assess the relative value of each when they come into conflict?
Click here to read the entire piece.
