Theology Musings: “Liberal” vs. “Conservative”

You know, there’s a lot of baggage with the terms of “Conservative” and “Liberal.”
Ultimately, they are political terms, but they some how fall out on the rest of society as well, and this includes the realm of theology.

I’ve heard some interesting things from both within the academic sphere as well as outside of it with regards to the concepts of “Liberal” and “Conservative” theology. I’ve also been asked where I fall on this Liberal-Moderate-Conservative scale. Within the last year or so, I’ve been telling people “Moderate.”

I hate to say it, but I’m just dodging the question whenever some asks me that; I really don’t think these ultimately political terms should apply to the theological realm, and contrary to most theological topics, I’d rather not get dragged into a discussion or a debate on it. I’ve also heard some people feel the same way, but they would rather see the identifiers Orthodox or Heretical be applied. Likewise with very loaded term “Progressive.”

I’m not really sure what identifiers should be applied to the theological realm, if at all. I’d rather see individual theologies be judged on their own merits than have such blanket terms applied.

But that’s not why I really started this essay.
Why I started it was a heated conversation I had with a member of my old parish, while discussing the value of Catholic colleges. This person saw value in what she called Conservative colleges, but the second I brought up the good academic reputation of Jesuit run colleges (like both my College and High School), the first words out of this person’s mouth was “No, they’re too Liberal!” And they said Liberal like a derogatory slur; the kind of slur that everybody knows but people do not say in polite public conversation.

I was incensed, almost immediately. I could not THINK straight; this person had just suggested that the Theological studies I had devoted my college career to; the studies that had opened up my mind a hundred times over from the start of college to something more, to an intellectual assent to faith, dismissed as nothing more than the ramblings of madmen.

Had my mother not been listening to the conversation and physically blocked my path, I probably would have taken off the polite gloves and asked this person what their theological credentials were, And when they couldn’t provide a college level education in theology, I probably would have dismissed their knowledge as nothing to their face, just as cruelly as they had done mine.

But, as the saying goes, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Doing so would have ruined any credibility I had left in the conversation, and lessened the person’s opinion of not only myself, but the school I was attending and Jesuit schools in general.

Truth be told, if we’re going to use Liberal and Conservative to describe theology, both types are needed. Conservative theology gives us an understanding of where we are coming from, and an understanding of the theology and theologians past. However, practicing conservative theology alone leads to stagnation; and as new problems and concerns develop in the world, will keep us from developing a human approach to said problems and concerns. (Galileo, anyone?)
Liberal theology alone is likewise dangerous; it can spin out of control and lead us to shaky theology ground that has little backing in trusted and established norms and methods. (Catholics for a Free Choice, for example, a group that is not based in Catholic teachings)

However, without Liberal theology, people would still be using Christianity to justify slavery, and not to mention denying women any sort of power, and input in the theological process. It was Liberal Theology (Deism, practiced by most of the Founding Fathers in the 1700s) that proposed the radical idea that all people, regardless of belief or status in society have equal consideration under the law, and equal rights.

The Puritans of New England in this era didn’t like this ideal, thinking that only members of their society, and those who had encountered Christ (but with unclear standards of what that meant) deserved any civil and sometimes even human rights. And because they could not accept the terms of the fledgling United States, they either changed their view or died out.