Life In the Negative World

A LDS Application of An Evangelical Book

A few years ago, I ran across the newsletter of a Christian writer by the name of Aaron Renn and I’m glad I did! In the years since, I’ve enjoyed Aaron’s insight on men’s issues and Christianity in 21st century America.

He was one of several writers and thinkers who helped me crystalize my thoughts when writing my own book, Only The Weird Will Survive, where I postively quote Aaron several times.

A couple of months ago, I was privileged to get a signed copy of Aaron’s new book: “Life in the Negative World: Confronting Challenges In An Anti-Christian Culture.”

The basic premise of the book is an expansion and exploration of a framework Aaron developed called: The Three Worlds of Evangelicalism. From the postwar world until today, Aaron suggests that Christianity has gone through 3 different phases in its relationship to broader culture and society. Quoting from that article:

• Positive World (Post War-1994): Society at large retains a mostly positive view of Christianity. To be known as a good, churchgoing man remains part of being an upstanding citizen. Publicly being a Christian is a status-enhancer. Christian moral norms are the basic moral norms of society and violating them can bring negative consequences.

• Neutral World (1994–2014): Society takes a neutral stance toward Christianity. Christianity no longer has privileged status but is not disfavored. Being publicly known as a Christian has neither a positive nor a negative impact on one’s social status. Christianity is a valid option within a pluralistic public square. Christian moral norms retain some residual effect.

• Negative World (2014–Present): Society has come to have a negative view of Christianity. Being known as a Christian is a social negative, particularly in the elite domains of ­society. Christian morality is expressly repudiated and seen as a threat to the public good and the new public moral order. Subscribing to Christian moral views or violating the secular moral order brings negative consequences.

One can debate the years Aaron Renn chooses but this framework is, on the whole, undeniably correct. At least for Christians at large. Latter-day Saint history in the United States would look a little bit different. While it has nothing to do with Aaron’s book or his message, the book did remind me that most mainstream, creedal Christians do not consider Latter-day Saints as peers, as part of the same cultural narratives.

If I were to make a similar framework for Latter-day Saints, it might look something like this. (This is not thought out nearly as much as Renn’s framework… this is more like back of the envelope math.)

• Very Negative World: 1830-1945. Americans largely had a negative view of the LDS church and it existed very much a part from mainstream society. Laws were passed specifically targeting the church and its membership both in state legislatures and in Congress. Members were intentionally removed or banned from certain circles. Many had their property seized by the government or mobs. At one point in his book, Renn writes, “Most American Christians have not been in danger of losing all they have for the sake of Christ.” But for Mormons of this time, this was something they faced.

• Negative Trending toward Neutral World 1945-1994: Postwar Latter-day Saints began in earnest to try to fit into normal society. And slowly over the decades we were seen less and less often as dangerous weirdos and more like sincere and nice weirdos. We had high membership growth rates, we expanded all around the world. In the eyes of the average American, we transformed from desert outcasts into the stereotypical suburban family with a gaggle of well-behaved kids and a plate of cookies. I came of age in the early 90s in Texas and while I still caught a few stray “how many moms do you have?” or “don’t Mormons have horns"?” jokes, my world was one where most normal people and most political leaders just didn’t care that much that I was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

• True Neutral World: 1994-2012: Since mainstream Christianity was itself viewed neutrally, there was finally room for us! The Mormon Peak. The Mormon Moment. Whatever you want to call it. There were outrageous worldwide growth projections. Prop 8, Mitt Romney, Harry Reid, Clay Christensen, South Park saying “It was the Mormons!”, a Church President who was viewed positively and as very skilled with the media. Members of our church excelling publicly in many fields. This was it. We arrived. It took 160+ years to claw from under ground into the daylight. But the stay wasn’t long.

• Back To the Negative World, but this time with a whole bunch of new friends: 2012-Present: Actively and publicly subscribing to LDS views and morals usually brings about negative consequences in elite settings. Again.

What Aaron Renn Can Teach Latter-day Saints

While our history resides almost entirely within the negative world, many American Latter-day Saints don’t seem to want to accept that the Negative World might also be our future and indeed is already our present. The desire to be a normie who enjoys all the same status as a therapeutic deist is understandable; after all, we worked really hard to integrate into the mainstream of a pluralistic society and now that the goal posts have again moved far outside our doctrine and practices, we can have this sinking feeling of “but we just got here!!”

Denial will not serve us. In what has to be one of the most hilarious survey results of all time, we Latter-day Saints apparently universally approve of all other religions and atheists, but none of these groups, especially areligious ones, have a particular affection for us.

What Aaron Renn’s book offers most to Latter-day Saints in my opinion is a wake up call. If members of mainstream Christian sects, the ones which built most of the American infrastructure we’ve worked so hard to be a part of, are now being forced to rethink their relationship with that infrastructure, how much more urgent is our task to do the same?

In the book, Aaron Renn discusses various positive and neutral world strategies that Evangelical and Protestant churches used to successfully, (at times), engage society before 2014:

• Culture War: Use the political and media powers available to fight against unfriendly cultural change (i.e. like abortion or no fault divorce, prayer in schools, etc.)

• Seeker Sensitivity: Renn calls this the “business school approach to Christianity”; marketing the church using popular music & culture; making services more engaging and informal. “It’s cool to go to church! Right? Let me tell you how the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are actually a Biblical allegory.”

• Culture Engagement: Gain relevance and status among elites by downplaying any controversial issues, emphasizing alignment with secular values and hope the embarrassing culture warriors eventually go away.

However those worked out before, Renn rightly makes the case that these strategies are now of limited effectiveness. For now that they reside within a Negative World, Evangelicals 1) have de facto lost the culture war, 2) cannot hope to make church cool to outsiders by appealing to a culture which is itself suspicious of and competing with the church. 3) would have to strip Christian (and LDS) theology down to the bone marrow to make it acceptable to Negative World elites.

While Latter-day Saints didn’t use these strategies per se, the principle remains that this is no longer the ascendent 80s and 90s for the church and its members. The “Mormon Moment” is over. We are tolerated, mostly, but not accepted. But this isn’t new. If we wish to carry on our faith, if we wish to grow it into future generations, we have to be willing to try new strategies. New times call for new ways for us to live out our old principles.

Rethinking Risk & Ownership

In the Negative World, risk is inverted. What was once a desirable life path, is now exposure to great personal risk. And what was once considered risky now has the most potential to shield you and your family from the fallout of the Negative World. No where is that more apparent than in education and employment.

For several generations now, Latter-day Saints aspired to get a solid, accredited education, integrate and excel at the highest levels of business, academia and in government. For a long time, this made sense and it was a good deal to give these institutions our human capital if they in return could be relied upon to at least kind of, sort of, advance our interests and morals.

Of course, in the Negative World, the institutions are not holding up their end of the deal. This path is not completely closed off to us, and shouldn’t be wholly abandoned, but it now comes with substantial risk that wasn’t present before. Namely, being financially or educationally dependent upon hostile institutions. A believing Latter-day Saint will find it difficult to speak out if his paycheck requires him to remain silent or actively support; or if his kids school district gets all their funding and educational direction from far away bureaucrats and activists. It’s possible to make a great living, support your family and be essentially powerless. There are tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of Latter-day Saint families who could do great good for their local communities and make a huge difference in cementing and spreading Christian values, but they either have an HR overlord or their kids attend schools in which they have almost no influence. Or both.

To use Aaron Renn’s phrasing, they, or we, lack ownership. A great project of exploration and experimentation lies before our generation. Can we build some alternative institutions to educate our children and launch them successfully, (spiritually, mentally, physically and socially) into adulthood? Can we build independent businesses which offer alternative means of making a living? not just for ourselves but for our fellow believers; forms of employment which don’t require approaching the innermost halls and bowing before the idols of the Negative World?

Can’t Invite Others into A Community We Don’t Have

Inevitably when these kinds of topics come up, people will accuse me or others advocating for new strategies as withdrawing from the world, or wanting to abandon missionary work or whatever. I don’t believe in either of those things. I only believe you can’t invite others into a community that doesn’t exist. You can’t offer an alternative to the Negative World if you’re neck deep in it. It’s plain kidding yourself to think you still have power there. To quote Aaron on page 121-122:

“Being a minority that’s no longer in charge means that the mainstream institutions of society are now the responsibility of the people who actually are in charge and leading them. The problems we see today in the public schools and other institutions of American culture are a reflection of the ideas, convictions, and capabilities of those in charge. And unfortunately, the values of those running these institutions are often opposed to Christianity, and their general competence level is low. I stress this point because recognizing this reality necessitates making a psychological shift. Majorities naturally think about how to transform, influence, and shape the key organizations and institutions of society because they’re so used to being in charge of them or identifying with them at some level. But minorities, who almost by definition aren’t in charge and who may not identify strong with those institutions, must think differently. As American Protestants recognize this shift from dominant majority to unpopular majority, they must make shift from majority to minority mindset. This won’t be easy - or popular…. the idea of the “common good” works to keep evangelicals [or Latter-day Saints] invested in mainstream systems and not tend to our own community specifically.”

The vast majority of the tiny minority group of Latter-day Saints are not in a position to save school districts, the college system or corporate employment. They are in a position to build alternatives that attract others, both in and out of our faith.

At one point, Aaron Renn mentions the idea of a “counter-catechesis”… the idea that you can’t just teach your faith to your children, you have to equip them to do battle with and understand what we don’t believe. I’ll quote Aaron again:

“Children and adult Christians need to be taught what society at large unbiblically believes and why we, as Christians, don’t believe those things. Again, minority groups have long had to do this. For example, Jews in America have to explain what Christmas is and why they don’t celebrate it to their children. And in the Negative World, Christians will have to do similar things.”

Latter-day Saints have practice with this when it comes to stuff like alcohol or coffee. In the Negative World, that list expands. Just last week, I wrote on living with smartphones, which is a good example of this. Modern tech, while itself not against any Christian teachings, is nevertheless used often in a manner counter to many Christian beliefs. In order to instill good online stewardship on the next generation, it will be necessary to explicitly point out that the broader culture will take none of the same precautions, and may not respect you for doing so.

Counter-catechesis equips our kids to know not only what we do, but why we do it differently than everyone else.

Conclusion

There’s a lot more good stuff for Latter-day Saints to consider in Aaron’s book than I can talk about in one post. He covers many topics specific to men’s struggles in the church which I’ve touched on before as well. He writes about the importance of speaking truth and being a light in the Negative World.

I can whole-heartedly recommend the book, as well as Aaron's substack.

---