Each of the hateful movements you identified have one thing in common. Each was motivated by the desire to maintain the status quo and reflected a fear of change which might somehow destroy traditional values and the quality of life for everyone, thus causing the very fabric of society to unravel. Using the Meyers Briggs Types Indicator personality index statistics, between 9 and 14% of people are ISFJ, by far the most dominant personality type present in the general population. This particular profile reflects the type of person who is nicknamed the “Protector” or ”Defender” under the Meyers Briggs classification system. The name is apt for how they deal with the world. They like structure and organization and are detail oriented. They tend to seem cold and uncaring to those around them because they internalize their feelings. They permeate the ranks of accountants, administrators, and office managers. They are fiercely loyal to their friends and highly protective of the organizations that command their loyalty. To say they are resistant to change would be an understatement.
They tend to be over represented in the memberships of mainstream social organizations such as many churches, especially those that maintain a traditional theology based upon millenniums old social structures and limited scientific understanding—most notably the Roman Catholic Church, but also including most Protestant denominations such as Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and Methodists and, of course, nondenominational fundamentalist organizations. (From God’s mouth to man’s hand anyone?) As a long time Episcopalian, for decades I was heavily invested in the life of the Church, going so far as to complete a 2 year school for ministry program in the Diocese of Southwest Florida 25 years ago. During my studies we each did a personal Meyers Briggs personality inventory. Not surprisingly, a little less than half my class of 300 were ISFJs. They were also the ones resistant to such simple things as moving from the archaic language of the Rite 1 liturgy to Rite 2, even thought substantively there was little theological difference. Somehow using modern language more accessible to the average parishioner rather than words more appropriate to the Elizabethan era was problematic to most of them. Change the color of the carpet? Have the celebrant face the congregation rather then the back wall and the cross? Divert millions of dollars of funds from the pipe organ improvement and maintenance fund to more worthy endeavors such as actually helping the disadvantaged? Introduce some modern renewal music to attract younger people? Have you lost your mind? We have never done that, and we aren’t going to start now. There is an old joke about Episcopalians. “How many Episcopalians does it take to change a light bulb? Change? We don’t do that.” As with many humorous things, it is grounded in a degree of truth.
It is unsurprising that many prominent religious authorities are supporting Putin’s megalomaniacal war of misplaced nationalism and genocide. To them it is merely reflective of a larger battle threatening the primacy of the status quo in Western society as well. The alternative is just too horrible to contemplate. Democracy itself (at least their limited concept of it) is facing the risk of extinction. Change? The world will end and all of humanity will be relegated to a new dark age of chaos and sinfulness. A rather bleak picture isn’t it? But all is not lost. ISFJs may be stubborn and resistant to change, but they are open to logical thinking and will adjust their thoughts and attitudes in the face of new information correcting the fallacies of conventional wisdom. What is required is time and a persistent repeating of the truth.
25 years ago my parish, one of the wealthy powerful churches in my town, was resistant to allowing Integrity (an organization supporting gay people and helping them to more fully participate in the life of the church) to even have a place to meet during the week in our facilities, much less advertise their existence and purpose in parish communications. Today they are not only visible, we have openly gay clergy who are accepted with love and respect. For the most part it has become a nonissue. Transgender people? Not so much, but the battle for visibility and acceptance continues. Progress is being made, no matter how glacial it seems at times.
Like you, I prefer to view the institutionalized bigotry being openly expressed by many religious authorities to be an aberration in the long term. It is driven by the same fear of change as all the other failed movements you described and will ultimately be relegated to the scrap heap of history as well. Democracy is alive and well. It will survive the current challenges facing it, because I believe, like you, that most people are motivated by goodwill. What is primarily required is continuing education. So you and James Finn and all the other people who write about the issues, keep writing. Keep making our voices heard. We will prevail in the end. Dr. Martin Luther King had a vision. I shared it in the 60s during the Civil Rights movement, in the 70s and 80s during the fight for acceptance of gay people and today in the fight for transgender rights. We each have a right to equal protection under the law, to live our lives unmolested, to access the same kind of health care as everyone else—ultimately for respect and acknowledgment of the right to exist. Like Dr King, I too have a dream…
