Talking with the Gorilla

You all know the phrase about the "800 pound Gorilla in the middle of the living room," an allusion to something big which cannot be ignored but which is being ignored. 

I have been thinking about such a gorilla lately, in relation to how we, as liberal religious communities, are called to function. 

Here are my preliminary thoughts - subject to revision by the gorilla:

if there is some overwhelming presence in any situation we have three options:

• we can talk about what the gorilla represents, but not about the gorilla.  So, for example, we could say "I am concerned about wastewater treatment," but not "I don't like what the Gorilla has to say about wastewater."  
• we can talk with the gorilla. "Gorilla, tell me more about wastewater," or "Gorilla, I don't agree with your understanding."
• we can not talk about either the Gorilla or what the Gorilla represents. "Say, how about those Marlins!" However, we can still hear the Gorilla muttering.

But, I think there is also another option which is rarely recognized by us liberals.  We can decide that it is our living room and if we don't invite the Gorilla in, the Gorilla doesn't belong.  

For example, just because someone tries to demand that we address our lack of woodworking classes doesn't mean that we need to address our lack of woodworking classes.  If we have decided that we, as a congregation, are not about woodworking, then we don't have to invite that Gorilla in. 

The only Gorillas who can be in our living rooms are the ones we allow in, or allow to stay in. In our polity (governance), by the way, it is the congregation, not the Gorilla nor a Bishop nor the press, that decides who stays in the living room. 

I remember a few years back, in a congregation with which I was consulting, one gadfly member decided that the congregation had to deal in a certain way with a specific social issue.  The social action committee did not agree.  The Board did not agree.  Eventually, the congregation as a whole decided to not include the issue on the agenda at its annual meeting. In other words, no one invited that Gorilla to come in.   

Better than trying to figure out if we will or will not talk with a 800 pounder in our midst, we need to be clear about how our living room will be used.  And clearly, if we don't want an uninvited guest, we don't serve bananas. 

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