Walke: Religious authoritarians have lost sight of other people's testimony, experiences

There is a story in the Gospel of John that tells of a man born blind. It takes up the entire ninth chapter. Despite the story being 41 verses long, the man receives his sight by Verse 7.

This should be an obvious indication that the bright, shiny miracle is not the point (the miracle is never, ever the point of any Bible story), but we often treat it that way because it allows us to ignore the parts of the story that might lead to confession, repentance and repair.

So, what other parts of this story warrant our attention? Here’s a recap: After the man “came back able to see,” no one believes his story. Their disbelief persists even though the man borrows a line from Taylor Swift: “It’s me. Hi. I’m the problem. It’s me.” They ask how he recovered his sight, and he explains that he simply followed directions, but this isn’t good enough for them. They want to interview Jesus. When that isn’t possible, they haul the man in front of religious leaders, who refuse to validate an experience outside of their own. There is some trash-talk about Jesus, and then the man’s parents are interrogated, although they insist he can answer for himself. The man is questioned again, and the people continue to reject his experience and testimony.

More: Lori Walke: Christianity is a way of life, not a form of government. For the Bible tells us so.

What happens after almost 30 verses of people fussing, fighting and name-calling? They drove the man out of town. It’s easy to miss because of the happily-ever-after vibe after Jesus circles back around, but the punchline is that they drove the man away from family, away from everyone he ever knew and away from community.

These people knew what they knew, and nothing could change their minds. The result was to deny community to a human being. This is what happens when religious authoritarianism rules the day. It casts people out and creates a culture that encourages being right over getting it right.

Like many stories in scripture, this is a story that happened and a story that is still happening. Gov. Kevin Stitt recently told The New York Times that Oklahoma “isn’t for everybody.” The Oklahoma state Legislature is following up to make sure this is the case, starting with transgender beloveds, pregnant patients, public school teachers, drag queens and librarians. Gov. Stitt and the Christian nationalists who follow him are doing everything they can to cast out those whose experience and testimony is different from their own.

More: Walke: Instead of banning Oklahoma drag shows, reconsider doctrine of original sin

Theologian Ellen Ott Marshall explains: “Like other forms of authoritarianism, religious authoritarianism demands unquestioned obedience, dismisses all other sources of knowledge, and denies legitimacy to all other positions. Religious authoritarianism is antithetical to democratic discourse, enslaves individual conscience and facilitates violence against people who hold contrary religious and philosophical positions. We pave the way for religious authoritarianism whenever we insist that we alone know the will of God, that our knowledge of God’s will is beyond the reach of critical inquiry, and that divine endorsement for a particular policy trumps any other considerations about it.”

Since we know the end of the story and have the chance to do better, we know the antidote to religious authoritarianism is theological humility, which Marshall says is a posture that 1.) admits limitation of knowledge and partiality of perspective, 2.) explicitly and deliberately practices hermeneutics, and 3.) remains transparent about faith commitments and accountable to other sources of knowledge.

Theological humility might not seem like it will be enough to push back against the violent and hard-hearted religious authoritarianism we’re up against, but as researcher Brené Brown writes, “People who demonstrate humility don’t lack confidence or conviction. They may hold strong views, but they are open to hearing other points of view.” Theological humility creates a culture in which we aren’t obsessed with being right, but with getting it right.

Besides, we follow Jesus, who used the power of love to defeat death. Religious authoritarianism should be shaking in its boots.

The Rev. Lori Allen Walke is senior minister at Mayflower Congregational United Church of Christ.  

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Walke: Religious authoritarianism rules cast people out