Christians Must Rediscover Democracy
The desire among many for a society less influenced by “woke” culture may, perhaps, trump long-term thinking about what truly grants us freedom and the opportunity to live good lives. We need to rediscover-and also renew-the system of governance that the Haugeans played such a vital role in building.
An increasing number of Christians no longer seem to value democracy-at least if we are to believe the new public discourse taking place on social media. It appears that we no longer fully understand what we have in democracy, or how society would look without it. Belief in God is, after all, no guarantee of a deeper insight into the societal system our Haugean forebears fought hard to establish.
We first saw this among our American, believing friends. The line of thought seems to be as follows: Something is disturbingly wrong in the USA. The established elite (especially those connected to the Democratic Party) has failed and is not solving the increasingly visible societal problems: rising drug abuse, neglected public infrastructure, value relativism, and confusion about gender, sexuality, and family. In addition, America’s national debt is rising dramatically year by year, while the country continues to bear the cost of being the world’s police force.
I can understand this reasoning, but I do not fully accept it. A brash, self-absorbed, and unpredictable but decisive businessman may, of course, seem like a better option to vote for than more of the same. We hold our noses at his boorish behavior but hope for change-for the better. That seems to be the thinking.
Young Men Who Fear “Woke”
I increasingly notice the same tendencies here at home. Perhaps most among young men in blue shirts (or, more commonly now, with well-trained muscles from hours at the gym, striving to meet social media’s body ideals), who have realized that Norway’s growing public sector is unsustainable, who rightly feel the stifling grip of wokism, and who think there are far too many rainbow flags flying everywhere, and for far too long, across the country. Who feel that Christian faith and thought are marginalized, and that secularism controls almost everything in this land.
Every entrepreneur feels a knot in their stomach these days. Why should we run our country inefficiently and wastefully, when we could do so much better-and with lower taxes than today? Add to this the strong conservative wave among podcast-listening young men without a single subscription to an editor-controlled medium, and it explains why an openness to a disruptive, Trump-lite form of politics is slowly but surely spreading, also in Christian circles.
Perhaps we need strong (male) political leaders who can shake things up a bit? It can be tempting to think so. Yet I believe there is a better and wiser path. Is it really true that we cannot influence the development of our own democracy? Are we truly muzzled and forced to become submissive subjects of the secular majority? I do not believe so. I think we are simply not making enough use of our opportunity to influence and innovate, both through politics and in broader society.
Gradual Change-Not Revolution
On the one hand: Perhaps we should not go straight on the defensive without listening to the frustration and discontent that populist politicians in the USA and Europe are tapping into. Globalization, political liberalism, and established parties and institutions have not adequately addressed some of our era’s major challenges. Declining purchasing power and a lack of optimism about the future in many Western countries are making people think that something must change. We cannot continue exactly as before.
On the other hand: In the field of innovation, we talk about disruptive innovation (rapid, dramatic, and powerful changes in how something is organized or a need is met through a product or service) and incremental (slow, developmental) innovation. In politics, I believe most in the latter. This also most closely resembles classic conservatism, which advocates for gradual change so that we preserve the best of the old while introducing some of the new.
In his book “Regime Change: Towards A Postliberal Future,” American professor and political scientist Patrick J. Deneen describes in strong terms how the current social structure, governed by left-wing elites, in his view, hinders human flourishing and good societies. His idea is that the USA should be governed by a combination of an enlightened elite and “the people,” which he calls “aristopopulism.” And “the people” are the forgotten working middle class (which, incidentally, is much smaller than before). The book, published in 2023, serves as a vision for Trump’s new America, and current Vice President J.D. Vance also writes that it “articulates a vision for a populist politics that can rebuild what has been torn down.” In other words, a recipe book for the MAGA movement.
The problem for the MAGA movement and Trump, as New York Times conservative columnist and author David Brooks so clearly pointed out at the very conservative Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) conference in London this winter, is that the MAGA movement’s only goal is to tear down-without a clear vision for what should be built in its place. Paul Dans, one of the main authors behind the Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025” (which also guides Trump’s policies), confirms this in his recent guest commentary in The Economist. With the title “Trump’s revolution is the only way to save America,” he champions the idea that it is time to shake up current power structures-without saying anything about what comes next.
We Need New Haugeans
I would argue that what we need instead, whether we look at the USA or Europe, is two things: First, new society-building Haugeans, who, without focusing on personal gain, are willing to enter the public sector and politics to contribute to renewal. And second: to use tools from innovation theory that foster fresh thinking, a willingness to reorganize, increase efficiency, and confront waste-what is called incremental innovation. Where we preserve the good, but also gradually shake things up-to improve.
If we fully understood that it is precisely liberal democracy that has given us the freedom to believe, think, live, and act freely, and with great opportunity to influence both in and through the political sphere, we would fight for it. The recipe Trump promotes could quickly lead us to modern forms of autocracy, much like what Norway lived under in Hans Nielsen Hauge’s time. Raise your hand if you truly want to live under something like that.
Democracy is not a dilapidated house that should be torn down in a day. It is a beautiful villa that needs a new coat of paint, perhaps new curtains-and perhaps even some replacement of the deepest pipes. May all, young and old, men and women, believers and non-believers, be inspired by that vision rather than the one that only seeks to tear down.
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