Is all hope for common ground gone?

Carl. R. Trueman, "When Pastoral Language becomes Political Rhetoric" (First Things, March 24, 2015). Excerpts:

[Hope] for common ground and co-existence {in todays culture wars] is sadly misplaced. There is the fact noted above that the language of political correctness and the language of pastoral Christianity overlap only at the level of phonetics. Conceptually, they are built on different notions of virtue. It is also clear that this strategy underestimates the ambitions of the identity politicians. Common ground with an opponent is only of real interest to those who are on the losing side. The PC lobbyists are increasingly in control of the political and legal environment and will thus see the linguistic games of the Christian establishment for what they are: Signs of fatal weakness. Ultimately, they will present such institutions with a straightforward choice: Abandon the common language or adopt the common concepts... As the language of traditional Christian pastoral concern is taken from us and turned on its head, we are left with no language ... the very language by which we understand virtues, well-being, and concern becomes not a tool for care but a barrier preventing us from caring.

Overly academic? Unduly pessimistic? For disturbing confirmation watch this video and ask yourself: wait a sec, did I just fall asleep and wake up in the Interfaith Observers Booth at the Synod on the Family next to Tim Tim Keller and Robert McAfee Brown?



Conservative Evangelical celebrity Tim Keller discusses homosexuality, and after dodging all the bullets he can, finally agrees the gay sex is not optimal for "human flourishing," but also crows this jaw dropper that “It’s misleading to call homosexuality a sin”! [Hat tip to JM]