An Inclusive Theology Exposed

In an interview with theotherjournal.com Stanley Hauerwas (perhaps most widely known for his co-authorship with William Willimon for the book Resident Aliens) says:

Inclusivity is a way of forgetfulness.  I often suggest that egalitarianism is the opium of the masses.  This is simply because inclusivity is often nothing other than the direct attempt to eradicate difference.  Therefore, I think that the presumption of inclusivity is exactly a way of preventing the conflicts we need to have in order to have healthy communities.  I know that sounds counterintuitive, but I just think that's the way it works.  (http://www.theotherjournal.com/article.php?id=426)

In response the interviewer says, "In a sense, it is a way of excluding the type of people who don't fit into the type of inclusivity we're looking for."  Hauerwas responds saying,

Right.  Exactly.  I mean tolerance and inclusivity are always strategies of the powerful!

In terms of Christian Scripture, it is significant to understand that the Old Testament (or Hebrew Scriptures) are, to some extent, the story of the unfolding narrative of a weak nation - an underdog - and the God of creation exacting a favoritism for that weak nation at the crossroads of the world.  Furthermore, the context of the New Testament finds Kingdom of Israel a slave to Rome and her military might.  And so, because I would suggest that the unfolding narrative of the Bible is about weak people whose contributions to God and neighbour are beyond measure I would also suggest, in response to Hauerwas' comments on the words tolerance and inclusivity that the Bible uses the word reconciliation.

Reconciliation is a word for the weak.  It is a word that loudly reminds us that God is well aware that more of our human history has been about barrier-building than bridge-building.  Reconciliation is about being drawn back into harmony; it is also about repairing.

Thus, it should not be surprising to us that Paul interprets the meaning of Jesus Christ as such:

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.  (Colossians 1:19-20)

We also shouldn't be shocked to read that Jesus passage from the Gospel of John in which Jesus says,

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.  (John 12:32)

Another way of saying that is, "When I am raised, I will reconcile all peoples to myself."

The problem with the word include is that it is not an expansive word, but rather a very closed-oriented word.  The Latin includere means "to shut in" rather than to expand.  To that end, inclusion is much rather like the American melting pot whose dream it is to have everybody speaking English and foreign culture's grip on new immigrants replaced by American culture.

Reconciliation, on the other hand, is about recognizing the walls that already exist between each of us, and realizing that to get to harmony we have to talk to each other, and realize that our conversation might lead us toward conflict; but that conflict is necessary for us, in the end, to be repaired and restored to harmony; or what the Hebrew texts call shalom.