Scott’s Column: Welcome Everyone? Feb 28, 2018 | News Welcome Everyone? Six years ago a young adult couple was meeting with me to discuss joining the church. They said, “Okay, many churches say they welcome everyone, but then they don’t actually. So, who is not welcome at First Central?” Fortunately, I had an answer to share with them, and it was provided by Janet Bouma, whose death we mourned last week. Early in my pastorate Janet came into my office one day to talk and so we could get to know each other better. But she also had something she wanted to tell me. “Our church welcomes everyone, but there’s one set of people who aren’t welcome.” I looked at her a little surprised, because the church so proudly proclaimed its inclusivity. She then continued, “People who aren’t open to welcoming others. They aren’t welcome because they exclude themselves.” She went on to explain that some people came and joined the church but ultimately didn’t feel comfortable because of their discomfort with inclusivity. This answer, by way of story, satisfied the young couple, who joined the church and became very active. Janet’s wisdom approximated an idea of the great twentieth century philosopher Karl Popper. In 1945 in The Open Society and It’s Enemies Popper wrote about the paradox of tolerance: “Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them. ” Popper spoke from experience, as he watched his native Austria overcome by the Nazis. Popper argued that tolerance could only be extended to viewpoints that engaged in rational discourse, otherwise tolerance itself would be undermined. Some philosophers since have disagreed with Popper and have argued that a tolerant society can tolerate the intolerant even when they refuse to participate in the standards of rational discourse. This remains a live debate for democratic societies. A few years ago I had an interesting conversation with the pastor of our one of UCC churches in Iowa. That church had refused membership to a white supremacist who had sought to join. They had struggled with the UCC’s value of radical inclusion and whether it had limits, deciding that it did. I informed that pastor that it had once been the policy of the Congregationalists to deny mission funds to any church with a slaveholder as a member. Our own founding pastor, Reuben Gaylord, played a role in that becoming the denomination’s policy. One hopes that being welcoming and inclusive will inspire people to adopt those values. But it is also true that to be genuinely welcoming and inclusive a community must be composed of people who value those things. Peace, Scott
