Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
History and Religion
Chapter 13: The Quest for the Spear of Truth

Chapter 13: The Quest for the Spear of Truth

Last updated on: July 21, 2026 at 3:01 pm by Dorian Scott Cole

0 Comments

Chapter 13: The Quest for the Spear of Truth 2026-07-21T15:01:57-06:00 Dorian Scott Cole

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Open and Relational Theology & Social Psychology

The Quest So Far: Making meaningful change is a gauntlet. Throughout this series, we are tracking the specific, frustrating obstacles that derail well-intentioned movements and learning how to break through them.

If you are new to this quest series, you can begin the quest with Chapter 2: The Stress Test.

The 60-Second Read
Chapter 13: The Quest for the Spear of Truth

In Chapter 13, the group faces a critical ultimatum: the University threatens to shut down their project and deport foreign students if they continue their civic advocacy. Rather than reacting with fear or partisan aggression, the students, each applying their unique academic discipline, realize that the “authority” arrayed against them is structurally brittle. They adopt a strategy of “Social Liquefaction,” using a chorus of diverse voices to make the ground beneath the status quo feel unsteady.

Torn guides them through a profound shift in mindset: stop viewing their opponents as enemies to be defeated, and start seeing them as participants in a broken system that needs restoration. By identifying the specific “pinpoint” stress factors, like the misalignment between party rhetoric and the actual needs of the manufacturing labor base, they learn how to force the power structure to adapt or reveal its own decay. The chapter concludes with the team transforming from a group of individual researchers into a cohesive, interdisciplinary ecosystem, ready to expose the truth with radical, peaceful precision.

The Insight: Rigid systems do not necessarily need to be broken by a sledgehammer. By identifying a structure’s “stress concentration point,” such as the tiny crack between its stated promises and its actual actions, and applying persistent pressure from multiple perspectives, the entire system can be led toward transformation.

The Action: When faced with an “insidious” ideological threat, do not attack it frontally. Instead, identify the one area where their internal logic is inconsistent. Use the “mirror” of your own core values, such as Justice, Mercy, and Faithfulness, to allow them to see the reality of their own structural failure.

The Task: Identify a system in your life or community that feels rigid and unyielding. Do not look for a way to “fight” it. Look for the “pinpoint,” the small, logical inconsistency in its operation, and focus your energy on shining a light on that specific gap.

Themes: Mechanical Advantage, Social Liquefaction, and Structural Restoration.

The Series:

The Group. Gemini Generated Image

Chapter 13: The Quest for the Spear of Truth

Loki picked them up but looked dour and was silent through most of the ride to the Vault. They wondered what was bugging him.

After they took their seats and Professor Torn greeted them, Loki rose to speak. “I was ushering the dean yesterday. I think he actually meant for me to overhear. Someone called him; he listened quietly, then said, ‘Understood,’ and then he called another person. He said he was going to have to pull the plug on our project and cancel the grades, and they were going to deport foreign students, not just ours, for unruly behavior. I think we’re about to encounter the mountain’s volcanic eruption.”

Everyone looked concerned, but especially Zaid, Tane, and Chaac.

Torn said, “I’ve heard rumblings. The question is, how do we deal with it? I personally am not going to run and hide.”

Madison said heatedly, “This is anathema, at least as I understand the Bible. I mean…” Her voice trailed off, unable to find the words to express her frustration.

Torn squeezed her arm and smiled weakly at her in support. “We’ve handled opposition all the way through this and come out on top. Even if the dean shuts us down, we still have a voice. Let’s start with the Five Whys.”

“I think the bottom line is we are confronting an ideology.”

“What is the ideology?” Zaid asked.

“We don’t consent to be ruled; we consent to be protected,” Tane said. The government’s job is to maintain the checks and balances that keep us free to participate. If it’s not doing that, it’s not an agent of the people—it’s just another concentration of power. Rather than ruling over citizens, the government exists by the consent of the governed to uphold the rule of law and maintain a framework where citizens can freely participate in civic life.”

“That sounds like every politician I ever heard,” Jared said.

“Well, the other ideology is a ‘protector of civil liberties,’ an engine for economic opportunity, and a provider of a social safety net to ensure equality for all citizens,” Torn said.

“But is their framework of freely participating in civic life working for the homeless?” Gerard asked. “Or is it harming them? Aren’t we all equal under our constitution? Isn’t erecting boundaries to responsibility illogical?”

“Gerard’s right. What is this ‘we don’t get involved in humanitarian issues?’” Chaac asked. “Is the Constitution somehow cut up into little pieces for each group to decide which ones they support?”

“Yes, avoiding social issues doesn’t make any sense,” Tane said. “You have social security, Medicare, Medicaid, housing finance … the list goes on and on.”

“Yes, and a number of those people are fighting against these things,” Madison said. “Government isn’t unified around ideologies. It’s made up of strange bedfellows, which are coalitions of people for power.”

“Then is that our Achilles heel?” Chaac asked.

“That’s an interesting idea,” Gerard said. “They think they’re unified and rigid in their ideology. But what if they aren’t? I just saw a documentary that Christian denominations, which were once unified, are now splintering into interest groups again. The pattern goes back and forth over history. Unity is just a perception, not reality.” He looked to Madison. “What do you think?”

Madison shrugged. “Yeah, it happens.”

Zaid said, “In biology, what we’ve seen from Darwin on is that the plant that is biologically unable to change, or rigid, loses the war. The plants that can bend with the wind and can adapt are the ones that win survival. Rigid always loses. It’s proven by biology.”

Chaac said, “From an engineering point of view, if you have a rigid substance, it’s usually brittle. Strike it at the right place and it breaks. It may be strong, but it has an Achilles heel.”

“Where do we strike? “Tane asked, a bitter and determined look on her face.

Torn interjected, “We’re thinking like enemies again. Let’s keep this an exercise in working together to solve a problem.”

“Then let’s help them keep their edge without losing their place in power,” Tane replied. “But how?”

Madison said, “Maybe by attracting those people in their group who don’t drink all the cool aid. And letting them sway their people. But we have to keep their cost down or they won’t go along and might oppose us even more.”

“Golden parachute,” Zaid said. “Give them a comfortable place to go.”

“I was thinking something like God said the second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. He looked at the Sadducees, the ruling class who were very rigid and only cared about maintaining the status quo in religion, and called them hypocrites. In their book, God was finished speaking 500 years before when the prophets stopped speaking. All they had to do now was keep the Temple going and keep peace with the Romans. Everything else was irrelevant.”

“Yeah, but they seem to think humanitarian things are something done by religious organizations who start hospitals and food banks,” Tane said.

Madison laughed. “Most churches are broke, and thousands close every year. If we had to depend on churches for those things, we would all be dead. It’s a dream. An excuse. A way to dodge responsibility.”

“And they say government can’t do these things,” Gerard said.

“Guess what?” Madison said. “Redirecting just 2% of our defense spending to cover those who can’t afford medical care would cover them just like most countries do. Just 3% of defense spending would cover higher education for those who want it, just like most countries do. It’s a matter of priorities and which squeaky wheel gets the grease. People need to stand up for themselves.”

“They will always point to the National Debt as an excuse,” Gerard said.

“Then what we have to point to is a slide in priorities and stewardship,” Madison said. She charged on, “Jesus talked about this in tithing mint and dill, which is the bureaucratic attitude, while neglecting ‘justice, mercy, and faithfulness,’ which is the structural integrity of our nation. The Pharisees didn’t hate Jesus because he was a radical; they hated him because he threatened the ‘Pax Romana’, that is, the Roman Peace that kept them in power.”

“Not to mention perpetuating their grip on power,” Zaid said.

“Yes, but let’s not lock heads on that,” Madison said. “Let’s not fight the power battle.”

“But why aren’t people already up in arms about this?” Chaac asked.

Tane responded, “People are used to it, and the cost is too high to fight the status quo. Jefferson noted this in the Declaration of Independence when he said, ‘All experience has shown that people are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.’”

Gerard looked at her. “I didn’t know that. How is it you know more about our Declaration of Independence than I do?”

Tane smiled back at him. “And according to your Constitution, it’s the role of government to promote the general wellbeing.”

“If I’d only known,” Gerard said, shaking his head.

Everyone laughed.

Madison continued, “If we can help people in their group see these things and go with it, this could make the group stronger. Or alternately could prove a boon to their competition.”

“Then by all means, throw the Bible at them,” Tane said, determination in her voice and expression.

Zaid muttered, “Government is just a tool. Human flourishing is the goal.”

Torn nodded at Zaid. “Let’s encapsulate this strategy this way. They aren’t threatening us because our politics are wrong; they’re threatening us because our presence is inconvenient. They give the perception of rigid unity, but it is nothing but an assembled coalition of very different groups for power. That is the definition of an idol: a system that demands human sacrifice to maintain its status. Let’s help them change that.”

Loki, who had disappeared for a restroom break, bust through the door. “A donor just threatened to pull funding by the amount dedicated to offsetting expenses for foreign students and the cost of this class.”

A look of worry spread across everyone’s face.

Gerard said, “What are the implications?”

Madison said, “If a lot of donors stop giving, the university could be in trouble. This is not good.”

Torn thought about that for a moment while the class was hit by the shockwave. He took out a pencil and pad of paper and handed a page to each student. “Please write a handwritten note thanking the donor for their past support and inviting them to visit the site to see the ‘fruit’ of their investment. Perhaps we can use our skill to help you make more money. That’s about the best response we can make.” They began to write.

“Speaking of messages,” Tane said, “I think we should now think in terms of Social Liquefaction. Mixed messages make the ground unsteady for those who think they are on firm ground. We can be harmless as doves and multiply the complexity of messages so those who oppose us can’t create a strategy because the ground keeps shifting.”

Chaac said, “We have a lot of voices in the community. What if we ask them to focus on different things? All with the same objective, but very different approaches. This way they don’t know which one to counter.”

“Yes, like when Tane speaks Māori. ‘Whakapapa’ and ‘mana!’” Chaac said.

“I’ll whak a papa you,” Tane said with a smile. “My ancestors will come out of the woodwork and get you.”

“They can really do that?” Loki asked.

Everyone laughed.

Torn said, “If we speak with one voice, we’re a target. Let the business students talk about the economic cost of homelessness. Let the theology students and churches talk about the moral cost of neglect. Let the youth speak about the future they are inheriting and the inhumanity of homelessness and how they’ll vote for the other party. When the mayor tries to silence one, the others keep speaking. It’s not a useless effort; it’s a chorus, a five-part harmony. You are cancelling his ability to control the narrative.”

Tane said, “We need to emphasize this isn’t ‘political fighting’; it’s social education.” It’s civics that has been suppressed in schools because of polarization.”

“It’s not “Attacking the Mayor,” Madison said. “It’s widening the conversation and helping them lead. It’s not ‘us vs. them,’ it’s natural law and wisdom.”

“They’ll accuse you of being ‘political.’ Loki said. “That’s their shield, not your reality. But if ‘political’ means standing for the dignity of the neighbor, then Jesus was the most political man in Judea.”

“Let’s not give them the satisfaction of a political fight,” Madison said. “Give them a mirror. If they hate the image they see, that’s their conscience. If the shoe fits….”

“You see?” Torn began. “None of you holds the whole blueprint. Madison sees the past, Gerard sees the structure, Chaac sees the stress point, Zaid sees the life cycle and survival, Tane sees the mind, and Loki is the agent of chaos that keeps everyone off balance and stretches them to think outside the box. If you acted alone, you’d be mildly effective. Together, you are an ecosystem. You aren’t just pressuring a mayor; you’re restoring a broken social organism. Even the mayor is part of this body. He’s just a limb that’s forgotten how to function in sync with the rest. We’re not here to cut him off; we’re here to help him remember his role in the whole.”

“Let’s get to work,” Madison said. “I can’t wait for this to become real.”

“I wonder what new obstacles we’re going to face,” Loki wondered aloud. He saw the others’ reactions. “Oh, sorry, I wasn’t trying to undermine us. I’m trying to prepare for the future.”

They all breathed a sigh of relief. They had learned to listen when Loki spoke.

Our answer is God. God’s answer is us. Together we make the world better.

Author’s Website with life and spiritual resources: Dorian Scott Cole .com