This latter point about pluralism all the way down and a refusal to allow a dominant voice a victory is an important one as we ponder the "local tradition" of the church in the U.S. empire. In recent religious discourse in the United States, the quarrelsome voice of sectarian exclusiveness has been sounded on all sides, left and right. But what could be more foolish (or unfaithful?) than to be busy excommunicating others in faith when the community is under deep imperial duress. The contemporary church amid empire may be instructed by the evidence of the Old Testament canon.
