POLARized: the Idolatry of Ideology – Brad Jersak

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In a world where people often lay claim to being “spiritual but not religious,“ is it just me, or has that angle failed to guard our hearts from what Bruce Cockburn once called “the idolatry of ideology?” What I mean is that the -isms that drive partisan politics, the left-right culture wars, and the conservative-liberal spectrum (or specter!) are just a covert way to remain religious, often without the brakes that religious fear (however ugly) sometimes apply. 

In other words, it seems that people don’t need to adhere to a particular God or inhabit a religious brand to continue practicing the idolatry of religion. All it takes is a cause, a heavy dose of outrage, the talking heads of 24-7 news media… and we develop the deep conviction that our opinions hold the moral high ground.

This triggered the thought, “Ideologies put the polar in polarization.” What do I mean by that? First, to describe polarization, we first think of opposite poles… like the North and South Pole… we speak of polar opposites (which my grammar check suggests is redundant). Second, polarization usually means more than opposite; it usually means opposed in the sense of rivalry or enmity, and in social terms, connotes mutually hostile factions. At least that’s the outcome. And third, polarization also describes the process that brings about those extreme ends… so, “he was a polarizing figure” refers to someone who escalates the hostilities and widens the chasm. 

As this post’s title suggests, the root from which the term polarize comes is ‘polar,’ referring to two poles… but because we associate ‘polar’ with the North and South Poles, we also tend to think of polar as freezing cold… as in icy. When describing a person, words like cold, frigid, or icy (as opposed to warm) reflect a lack of love or affection in their hearts. 

On that note, the word ‘polar’ offers a double meaning for how evil works in this world. Evil is, as my godfather says, the realm where everyone becomes so right and righteous in their own eyes that no further word can be heard or spoken, where we and the hateful ‘other’ are frozen by our mutual judgments in a polar and polarized paralysis. In the vivid imagery of Dante’s poetic tour of hell, The Inferno, we find our way to the bottom—the ninth and deepest rung of the underworld—and are surprised to see that the devil is not burning in a sea of fire and brimstone, but is encased waist-deep in ice! That ring of hell is identified with ‘treachery’… of cold-hearted betrayal.

But the Christian story—distilled in the Apostles’ Creed—is that our Savior “descended into hell” (in Latin, inferno) to “bind the strongman and plunder his goods” (Matthew 12:29). How interesting, then, that the author of Hebrews describes God as a “consuming fire,” or Daniel 7 sees a “river of fire flowing from his throne.” Early Christians, such as Isaac of Nineveh, assure us that the fire of God is none other than the infinite love of God. It is only experienced as “hell” by those whose hearts are cold to love. 

To play with that poetic imagery, picture the Father Almighty on his throne, conferring all authority to the Son of Man—Jesus Christ—who directs the flaming river of God’s love (aha! the Holy Spirit!) into the icy depths of Hades, warming the frozen hearts of his rebel children back to life and back to love while consuming only Satan, who personifies evil, and melting away our loveless rigidity. 

Of course, in this present evil age, it seems ironic that “when Love came to town” in the Incarnation of Jesus, he was regarded as a polarizing figure! The truth is that God is simply Love, but yes, to an icy, loveless heart, the warmth of love can feel threatening indeed. Jesus’ opponents would draw back or lash out in rage, as we see in the Gospels. 

But while the polar ice of the most resistant sinner can remain frozen for what seems an interminable duration, we also know that only the heat of infinite love is eternal—the mercy alone endures forever—and so we’re called to pray that the Spirit’s fire would ultimately melt even the hardest heart. But in the meantime, let us allow the warm heart of Jesus to do his depolarizing work in us. Practically speaking, that means staying mindful that our hearts do not become cold by turning from love.

I’ll leave you with the warning and invitation of Jesus:

“Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 
but the one who stands firm [in love!] to the end will be saved.” 
—Matthew 24:12-13

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