The Jetsons
"The Jetsons" is a cartoon that envisions a future which idealized the cultural era in which it was created. (Fair Use from Wikimedia Commons)
Have you ever seen the Jetsons? It is a cartoon set in the future and has teleconference. The protagonist is a heterosexual, cisgender Anglo male, George Jetson who literally works to make mindless sprockets. He works a couple hours a week, has two kids, a sassy robot maid, an a wife who has “future” version of white pearls around her neck. The mother is still the primary keeper of the home and the father is still the primary breadwinner. Se even if there are flying cars that fold up into brief cases, the Jetsons represent the idealized version of the current values of the day it was created.
The Jetsons is still consumeristic, patriarchal, monochromatic, with very invasive technology. The imagination that made the Jetsons was limited in imagination because even as the facade is different the underlying values and assumptions are still present.
That is the trouble with being a futurist. Those who think about the future tend to think about the future as an idealized version of the present. Without addressing the underlying conditions of the moment, in due time the future will look like the Jetsons.
There are many in the UMC who believe that the UMC is broken on all fronts. It is an organization that is top heavy and too stuck for it to do much of anything. For many, the future of the UMC is being painted as a future that will be better, shiner, sleek, streamlined, and efficient – it may even have flying cars!
There are many who want to jettison the denomination for a future that seem rosier (fans of the Jetsons will know that the robot in the home is named “Rosie”). Ironically, the desire to jettison the denomination for an idealized version of the present is not a progressive or traditional temptation – it is thinking that impacts all.
Beware that a desire to jettison is not just ""Jetsonsing.”