The Air Quotes Church

What do you think of people who use air quotes?  I wonder how they got stuck in the nineties and forever after think of them as Mr. or Ms. Air Quotes.  Then I feel guilty, but I tell myself that they are reaping what they sowed.  (Isn't it interesting how a Bible reference seems to make a not-so-nice remark less catty?)  

What do you think about the thing being air quoted?  Air quotes denote sarcasm, which is saying something that isn’t true (often in a supposedly witty way).  No wonder Dr. Evil from the Austin Powers movies is so fond of them.

Although I’ve never seen it air quoted, I sometimes wonder if the established church doesn’t deserve to be.  The air quotes church is the official church that has a specific name and a specific identity.  In its struggle to keep its identity, it creates hierarchies, protocols, rituals (and not just liturgical ones) and rules.  It organizes conferences, task forces, seminars, and conventions, often with the best intentions.  Sometimes all this “organization” leads it to become disorganized religion.

If you do any reading about current religion, you are only too aware of the problems of the air quotes church.  People who are not (air quotes) religious mock it and sneer about what a waste of money and effort it is.  People who are religious and even some who are spiritual may make attempts to defend it, but worry that what the critics say is probably true.  If they are angry or disgusted enough, they may agree and offer ways to fix the church.  If they are completely burned out, they may say that the “church” is on its deathbed and the end can’t come soon enough for them.

I have been defensive, worried, angry and disgusted.  I may be on my way to burnout, but something stops me.  It may be the hymns that bring tears to my eyes, or the beautiful words of the service, or my friends in the church.  The air quotes church has enough to offer me that I stay.  Of course, as a parishioner I can ignore a lot, or at least not have to deal with the consequences of the “church”’s flaws.

But besides the air quotes church, there is the church, the people who may or may not be Members, but who strive to live Christ-like lives.  Or they may not even be striving.  The church includes everyone who wants to be part of it, trying to love God, love their neighbors, and love themselves.  The air quotes church may blatantly or covertly exclude people, but the church does not.  The air quotes church may blatantly or covertly judge people, but the church does not.  The air quotes church may have confused priorities (Should financial stability and growth be at the top of the list?), but the church does not. 

The church is an ideal.  I don’t know if it can exist without at least a part of the air quotes church.  But it does exist, even within the  "church".  Maybe if everyone recognized themselves as part of the church and tried to live that way, some or the problems of the air quotes church would be corrected.  Or at least the struggle would be easier.