Neutral, according the Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology, is dated from 1471 and taken directly from the Latin neutralis "of neuter gender". It was first recorded in English in 1549 and was used to identify those on neither side of a quarrel or war!
There are, perhaps, occasions when "staying neutral" is justified - or at least warranted.
Most times, however, its use is more a reflection of moral cowardice!
Could one justify "claiming neutrality" when confronted by the Holocaust? Genocide in Rwanda? Pedophilia?
Since those examples are, on their surface, so abhorent a purported "neutrality" is often posed politically today with reference to "being innocent until proved guilty". It is as if "legal" guilt is one's only justification for making a moral judgment!
These thoughts were provoked by the responses from so many politicians to the scandal involving our Illinois Governor. Of course he deserves his day in court! But that should not deter one from assessing how his words are recorded on tape. That kind of public discourse, regardless of its intent, is not compatible with the level of morality required in being the Governor of any state.
That same approach to "neutrality" has too often even creeped into our news reporting. Believing that both sides of an issue ought to be reported equally, reporters are often 'neutered'. Example: "Source A says it is raining outside. Soiurce B says it is not raining." But the reporter never sticks her/his head out the window and tells us whether or not it is raining! All in the name of appearing neutral. Instead, they usually seem less intelligent.
Have we allowed the same problem to guide us in our churches? Is that, perhaps, why Karl Menninger wrote his book "Whatever became of Sin". Naming something a "sin" does not [at least in my Lutheran theology] place the sinner outside God's love. In truth, in my Lutheran theology, sin is involved in everything I do - so what's the sense of labeling if its only purpose is to suggest one might live sinless?
Living in a neutered world would not be joyful. I am no less respectful of my Jewish friends if I wish them a Merry Christmas rather than a Happy Holiday.
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