I've sketched out a taxonomy of Christian political action that includes the following:
- Christian Realism
- Christian Revolution
- Leavening Presence
- New World in the Shell of the Old
- Sacramental Witness
Again, to repeat a point made at the start, these forms of political action are neutral with respect to aims. Most Christians, progressive or conservative, Republican or Democrat, engage in politics as Christian realists. That is, they participate, at least in the West, in democratic politics. Simply put: Most Christians vote in elections and work to sway the votes of others.
Another thing to point out is that this taxonomy doesn't take a stand on the theological legitimacy of a given form of political action. For example, one might think the category "Christian revolution" bizarre. No doubt, for most American Christians revolution isn't a live option. But there have been points in history where Christians have engaged in violent revolution against an oppressive state. The liberation theologians who eventually took up arms in South America is an example here. And John Brown is also a case in point.
So, now that the taxonomy has been set before you, I want to consider the question of protests. Where do protests fit in my system?
Protests can show up in in three locations.
Most protests, as I mentioned at one point in this series, are expressions of Christian realism. That is, most protests are attempts to sway democratic politics by expressing dissent and building a movement. The goal of the protest is political change.
Next, some protests can also be revolutionary in nature, as a direct attempt to overthrow a political order.
Lastly, some protests function as sacramental witness. Such protests often have an artistic, performative aspect. Consider, for example, the zombie protests associated with "Buy Nothing Day," held on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, the biggest shopping day of the year. During these protests activists dressed as zombies shuffle through and among all the bustling consumers filling shops and stores on Black Friday. The "point" of this protest is sacramental, as we're using the term, in that it is attempting to make something visible: the spiritual rot and mindlessness of American consumerism. The political "goal" of a zombie walk protest isn't to change a policy but to challenge imaginations. All that to say, some protests can be more sacramental in nature than directly political. To be sure, these things can bleed into each other, but performative and artistic protests are often less about creating a mass political movement than prophetically interrupting our imaginations by making some truth or preferred future visible in the midst of the world. Of course, the hope of many sacramental protests is to prompt some material change in our shared politics. But a precise policy demand or action plan is often missing from sacramental protests.
I think this contrast between sacramental, realistic and revolutionary protests can help us think in creative ways about some recent controversies. Consider the protest to "Defund the Police" in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. As either a realistic or revolutionary political demand, "Defund the Police," for many voting citizens, black and white included, was and remains a non-starter. But we could also look at the request of "Defund the Police" as a sacramental witness, as a challenge to our collective imaginations. Could we create a world where we no longer required police? If so, what would it take to create that world? Personally, even if we don't think the request to be realistic, I think there's value in this sort of prompting and prodding, imagining a newer, more beautiful world.
Basically, within history, where evil is a live reality, a "Defund the Police" sign is similar to a protest sign reading "Beat Your Swords into Plowshares." As policy proposals for those who believe Christians bear some responsibility for history, both demands will be deemed unrealistic. But both signs do sacramentally point us toward the politics of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God becomes visible in such demands. And in my opinion, there's always value in encountering a sacramental challenge to my political imagination as it creates for me an opportunity to think, reflect, question, and imagine. You might disagree with me about this, but I think most Christians would tolerate a "Beat Your Swords into Plowshares" protest sign, seeing it not as a realistic policy request but as a sacramental reminder that our present political order falls far short of the Kingdom of God. I think of a "Defund the Police" sign in a similar way. Of course, there are both pacifists and police abolitionists who believe such demands are realizable within history. So the demand can be debated as a concrete policy proposal. My point is simply that idealized political demands don't have to be realistic to be valuable. The Kingdom of God, as an eschatological imagination sacramentally expressed within history, is always going to appear utopian and impractical. But that is a judgment upon earth, not heaven.
But returning to my main point. Depending upon the goals of the protest, a protest can be found at different locations in my classification scheme--revolutionary protests, realistic protests, and sacramental witness protests--with gradations between.
