"Being concerned about people “rebelling” against you is a sign of pride and authoritarianism" - Eric Pazdziora

I wasn't really a rebellious child. My younger brother was considered to be the more "rebellious" one, but as an adult, I now see, we really weren't. Sure, I wore a wallet chain. My musical interest were often considered "rebellious" ranging from Coolio, to Rage Against the Machine, passing through The OC Supertones [and yes, the value of the latter was questioned as its message wasn't always something Biblical]. I even recall, not being allowed to wear biker shorts under regular shorts because they were the "symbol of a rebel" - thank you Andre Agassi.



In the end though, life wasn't so bad, I was given the freedom to make my own choices, and learn from my own mistakes. I have infinite respect for my parents for giving that to me.

Unfortunately, I have come to find out, I am not in the norm. In fact my poor wife is still dealing with remnants of an authoritarian childhood, even though we have moved 5582 miles (that's 8983 km for the more enlightened) away. I have several friends headed down the same road with their quiver of children. This Christian sub-culture is largely part of the homeschool movement. In the past twenty years I have gone through several stages in my attitude toward such an approach to parenting, now that I am nearly thirty, I think I finally have pin pointed what bothered me so much about the group, and this is in no small part due to watching my wife's journey out of what we call The Movement.

My perceptions of The Movement

1. Puzzlement (sometime in junior high) - when I first heard of homeschooling I could not understand why any parent would do this to their child, or why any kid would just go along with it because "how would they every witness to anyone?"

2. Frustration (college) - my university had many homeschoolers, and although some were fine, others were really...well weird. It wasn't their fault they had never regularly interacted with peers, but it was hard to be their friend because they didn't know how to be friends.

3. Anger (early years of marriage) - seeing what had been done to my wife for so many years was just not right. She was (and is) a fantastic person that is haunted to levels beyond her control.

4. Pity (the past year) - seeing so many friends fall into this way of life, I realize they don't fully understand what they are getting into. I had the experience of seeing a family up-close-and-personal after years of being in The Movement, my friends have no idea what road they are headed down, and are slowly brainwashing themselves. They feel it is their duty to have dozens of kids. It is their responsibility to keep their kids away from the evils of the world. They are trained, and train their kids, to defend their way of life no matter what the challenge is.

5. All of the above, plus a little more (today) - this has been building in my mind for quite a while, but after reading Eric Pazdziora's post on Quivering Daughters, I just had to bring it all together. The problem is Authoritarianism. It is often referred to as Patriarchal. However, reading the post, and thinking through my friend's individual situations, I think the problem starts in a church. A church that is so authoritarian it requires, forbids, and orders it's members. It labels people as rebellious, and is trigger happy with the heresy label. This results in individual families modeling their home live in the same way. They may even leave that church, but the damage has been done. Now that family is nearly destined to church hop because no other church is quite as perfect as theirs used to be, until they join/start a home church and whole-heartedly believe they are the only ones that know. This is where pity comes in, because they are trapped. Anger is not far behind, because reality is, they are doing this to themselves, and their children don't know any better. Which makes them awkward and frustrating to be around, and in the end, if they had really honestly studied God's message to us, I just have to ask: why?

I have been having some good discussions with a few of my friends lately on power and authority in a Christian and secular context. Walter Wink is a good source on this topic from a Biblical perspective. Recently, I was introducing my kids to real cartoons: The Looney Tunes! Although I do so cautiously (because of the gun violence), they seem to think it is funny. Later, I started thinking about the Bugs Bunny episode we watched from a sociological perspective.

Who has the power in this episode?

Who has the authority in this episode?

Definitions
1. Power – Exertion of physical force to enforce an idea/cause through subjugation; might makes right.
2. Authority – Exertion of force to promote an idea/cause through persuasion and sacrifice.

Which of these does Elmer Fudd embody? Power fits with him because he is supposed to be the superior species…and he has a gun. The animators do a good job at casting him as a buffoon with power. He is easily misled and manipulated. Bugs Bunny, on the other hand, mostly uses authority to get his way. He conjoles and persuades, even with bad reasoning. He also will masquerade as someone else.

I don’t think either is a flattering picture of power and authority but in conclusion, Bugs Bunny has the superior intellect, manipulative ideas and experience while Elmer Fudd simply has…a gun. This shows you how dangerous power and authority can be in the wrong hands.

So how does this apply today?

There are Christians who are hellbent on accessing power. In the process, many of them have lost their witness. These are the same ones that appear more ‘Republican’ than Christian. These are also the same ones who also appear more ‘Democrat’ than Christian. It exists on both sides although we tend to focus on the Republicans because they were more savvy in connecting with Christians. The sad part is that there are very few well known Christians that command both power and authority. The only two I can think of are Billy Graham and Mother Teresa. Both have demonstrated the ability to shift our culture through their actions (power) and challenge systems and structures (authority). But first, they challenged the systems and structures whether it is spiritual, physical or both. I am not saying this is all they did.

Jesus had power AND authority!

Power
Jesus demonstrated his power by revealing his true nature and his connection to God. He performed signs and did miracles. Signs in the Bible were demonstrated through his command over the natural world. Miracles demonstrated his command over human mortality and illness. His power was meant to remind people that he was not of this world. Even though his power was undeniable, there were some who went to great lengths to silence him. At some point, the Pharisee stop questioning his power and started trying to trick him into abusing his power. The power that Jesus displayed was so jarring that many followed him as a result. But his power was not in a vacuum. He did not wield it for the sake of wielding it. He taught people which points to his authority. Power in modern society is designed to originate from a single source.

Authority
Jesus demonstrated his authority through his knowledge of God, his Triune status, the material world and the spiritual world. He talked about God as if he had intimate knowledge of Him. He taught people things that were reserved for scholars yet he did not receive this type of training. He discerned situations that showed he was in tune with people’s issues and the movements of his day. He also clearly saw how the spiritual world affected people and clearly wanted to set things right. He allowed himself to be tested to strengthen his witness and reveal his motives. This is one of the reasons why demons were so afraid of him. It is clear they respected his authority because they saw the power he had and his motives. Jesus willingly sacrificed himself for people who did not deserve it. Demons hate humankind and they knew that humankind hates itself…yet Jesus loved humankind with a passion that frightened them. Authority is based on validation from someone or something outside yourself. For example, if apply for a job, they want references to validate that you are someone worth hiring. They want the authority of others to confirm what you are saying in your resume.

Jesus putting power and authority together is a deadly combination. It gives us a sneek peak of what his Kingdom is actually like. It, in no way, looks like how the world uses power and authority. I would submit that if you have authority, you can eventually gain power. But the opposite is not true.

Here are a few examples:

Power
Adolf Hitler
The Pope
Jerry Falwell
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Emperor Constantine
Simon the Sorcerer
Pontus Pilate
Michael Jordan

Authority
Winston Churchill
Mother Teresa
Billy Graham
Barack Obama
Athanasius
Apostle Peter (Acts 8)
Jesus
Jackie Robinson

Here’s the catch: you don’t even have to be a good speaker to be respected as an authority. Your experience and sacrifice says it all because you have been tested. You can gain power by illegitimate means but not authority. Power hungry people are too focused on its outward manifestations. People with the right kind of authority don’t care if they appear to have power or not. Jesus did not align himself with political or religious leaders.

With authority, people will bend over backwards to hear what you have to say. Mother Teresa has a very quiet small voice but she can tell single Christians to stop sleeping together. Authority is not about people doing exactly what you want. It is about the integrity of your position. Single Christians know that she is right whether they want to admit it or not and will not argue with her. Yet she proposes no power moves to get them to stop sleeping together. People with a proper understanding of authority rely on God to prick the conscience and to judge. It is their connection to God that makes them valuable and their authority real. Now imagine Pat Robertson saying the same thing.

Now, the list above does not mean that anyone in the power list has not exercised authority. It just means that their position fits mostly with my definition.

Check out the Busgs Bunny/Elmer Fudd 'Rabbit of Seville' clip.

So here is a question.

Which expression (power or authority) would make an Atheist or a Christian feel safer about expressing their views? Where do you see this?

Part 2: Power and Authority in a Modern Religious Context