Taking offense

A true story illustrating a point, a reasonable, responsible, honest, and mature approach to things with which we disagree.

A gentleman from one of the churches of Christ (Disciples of Christ) attended a service with some of his friends at their Baptist Church. When the sermon was concluded, these friends – knowing that their Baptist pastor had preached things strongly and much at variance with what their friend believed – began to make apologies for the sermon. Rather than soak in the apologies, this gentleman rebuked his friends, asserting that he was not offended. He said that when he attended a Baptist Church, he expected Baptist doctrine to be preached! Why would he be offended by that? He explained that if they visit his church of Christ, his church’s doctrine will be preached. They do not have to believe it, but should not be offended by it. Why expect something different?

So, apply this to The Sacred Harp. The book, like it or not, is firmly rooted in Christian (mostly, if not nearly altogether, Protestant) theology. Folks need to deal with that up front, understand it for what it is, and not be offended! Why deliberately come to, join in, participate in a Christian tradition, and then decide to be offended by it?

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Note: In the United States of America (but not here only) we have grown a culture of offense, watering and nurturing it, in which people think it is both their right to be offended and their right to fix the offense & the offender. This post is incited particularly by the recent revision of the 1991 edition of The Sacred Harp (one of 3 editions used) in such a way as to remove certain perceived offenses to people who are not part of “the people of the book.” In a strange case of cultural appropriation, non-Christians who like the style of music in The Sacred Harp have decided it is their right to remake it in their own image, to take our culture and mold it to fit theirs. Strangely, these same people usually oppose cultural appropriation when they think someone else is doing it!