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Hello there, this is A .D. Robles, and you're listening to A .D. on the Fight, Laugh, Feast Network. All right, well, listen, I just heard that the Fight, Laugh, Feast Network conference is gonna go on as scheduled.
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A lot of people think I'm white, but I'm actually Latino. You can't say Hispanic anymore, that's racist, I'm Latino. And so, or you can say Latinx, Latinx, that way it's not gendered, because that's sexist.
Anyway, let's jump right into this show. I wanted to, look, I'll be honest, I'll be honest, I've been doing a bit of trolling on Twitter lately, the last few weeks, I've been doing a little bit of trolling, I've been trolling Joe Carter because the dude deserves it, let's just be honest, he deserves it.
But that's actually not the reason I'm doing it, I'm doing it to expose, you know, essentially his position, which I find it to be so pharisaical, it's ridiculous. And what I want to do is I want to talk about, so I've been trolling some people, I've been criticizing the words of some people, Jonathan Lehman, that dude who wrote the article about how it's too dangerous to sing in church, that was a bad one, I got triggered on that one, if you haven't seen that video, watch that video, I got triggered.
Joe Carter, of course, and then actually the sacred cow of reformed circles, Kosti Hinn, he had a video about conspiracy theories and Romans 13 that I criticized, but it was a very loving critique. But I've been, you know, I've been criticizing a lot of personalities, so what I figured I'd do to make it fair is just to criticize every evangelical in general, including myself because I am guilty of the things I'm about to criticize right now.
I had this idea because I was thinking about evangelicalese, you know, evangelical phrases that only evangelicals say, and we were talking about it last night on the ReformJellicle show and I've been thinking about it, and then I saw this tweet a second ago from Alex Cockman, and this, yes, I came up with the idea for this show like a minute ago, and Alex Cockman, he's actually a person who's connected in evangelical circles, but he's refused to disavow, you know, your boy, he's refused to disavow the miscreants like me.
Anyway, here's what his tweet says, he says, do you use corporate office speak? And here's a couple examples of corporate office speak. Quote, consider it done equals I didn't do it yet. That's so true, because when you think about it, every time you said consider it done, that basically means that it'll be done soon, but I haven't done it yet, but what you're saying is that it's done.
That's pretty funny. Then he said, then there's the second one, quote, I saw your email equals I didn't read it yet. I've definitely done this one too, I've said this, because the reality is when I say I saw your email, what I mean is I saw you sent me one, but I definitely didn't read it.
This is corporate office speak. Here's another one, quote, can you put that in an email? Can you put that to me in an email equals I plan on forgetting whatever you just said. These are very true, and the thing is, like, corporate office speak, there is definitely corporate office speak, and corporate life has its own cringe that you can explore.
In fact, there's a YouTube channel that I really like called Joshua Fluke. Joshua Fluke's YouTube channel is hilarious. I don't agree with everything he says. He says a lot of very suspect things, but his channel is so funny.
Basically, what he does pretty much all day, every day is explore corporate cringe, and it's just really funny. He goes on LinkedIn and finds the cringiest posts. He's a funny guy. Anyway, but evangelicals have their own speak as well, and I wanted to talk about it, and again, if you use these phrases, I'm going to be making fun of you a little bit, but don't feel bad because I've used these phrases.
These are phrases that I use, and so I just want to make you aware of them and also maybe try to caution you a little bit when you're using them because I think sometimes we use these phrases in a way that's inappropriate and actually kind of lazy and actually tries to manipulate your hearer, and I don't think we're doing it intentionally, but we are doing it, and I want to start off with an example from Kosti Hinn.
So in the video I did about Kosti Hinn, it's a 40-minute video, so if you don't have time to watch the whole thing, I get it. I've been doing long-form videos. In fact, in that video, I said, a lot of times I do 40-minute videos, but really, the content could have taken 10 minutes.
I just am not smart enough to say it in a short amount of time. But anyway, one of the things he said was that he said, Christians aren't called to nerd out on conspiracy theories. That's what Kosti Hinn said.
Christians aren't called to nerd out on conspiracy theories. And there's a couple of problems with that, the way he said it, because on the one hand, he's 100 right. You can't say that a Christian is called to nerd out on conspiracy theory, and that's a very Christian evangelical-ese phrase.
Christians called to this, a Christian's not called to that, a Christian's called to this. And it's like, well, yeah, I know I'm not called to it. But the problem with this phrase is that Kosti Hinn is actually trying to smuggle in an argument that he's not defending, but he thinks that he can put it into your mind by saying something as simple as, a Christian is not called to conspiracy theories, and I think he's trying to manipulate you.
Maybe he's not doing it intentionally, but he's manipulating people, because the hidden argument there is, a Christian's not called to nerd out on conspiracy theories, and the hidden argument is, and it's inappropriate to nerd out on conspiracy theories.
And that needs to be proven. I'm not saying that it is or isn't right here, but what I'm saying is, when you say a Christian's not called to it, that's actually not enough. You actually need to argue for the thing that you're essentially saying.
And so that hidden argument there, it's kind of a lazy way to make an argument, and I think it's quite manipulative. I've done this. I've done this. Maybe you have as well. The example I gave the other day, I did an off-the-cuff sort of video where I was just kind of explaining, imagine if I said that a man came into my house, and he came into my house to kidnap my kids, right?
God forbid that a man would do that. And I killed him, right? I killed the man that came in to kidnap my children, and I was telling a Christian about this story, and the Christian said to me, well, you know, Adam, but the thing is there, Christians aren't called to kill people.
And it's like, I mean, how could I disagree? I mean, yeah, a Christian's not called to kill people, but the hidden argument that you're trying to make is, and it was inappropriate for you to kill that man in that situation.
That actually needs to be defended. You can't just say stuff like that. That actually needs to be defended. It's lazy to just say a Christian's not called. Oh, yeah, a Christian's not called to do anything.
In fact, in the video with Kostya, I said, Kostya, Christians aren't called to make YouTube videos, and I'd be right. Christians aren't called to make YouTube videos, but the hidden argument there would be, and it's inappropriate to make a YouTube video, which that's a little bit of a tall order.
So that's one of those phrases that Christians love to use, a Christian's called to this, a Christian's not called to that. But we got to be careful how we use it because we don't want to be seen manipulating people and making hidden arguments that are really hard to defend.
It would be very difficult, I think, for Kostya Hin to defend the idea that it is a sin or if it's wrong to look into anything that's labeled a conspiracy theory. That would be a very tall order. Joe Carter's attempting, Joe Carter's attempting to make that, but he has definitely not proven his case.
And so let's be careful, I think, as Christians, because again, I'm basically, I'm probably talking to all of you because I'm willing to bet every single person who's listening to me right now has said something like this, a Christian is not called to eat honey roasted peanuts, you know, something like that.
And it's like, well, there might be a good use of that phrase called to, you know, there might be some good uses of that, but just be careful that you're not manipulating people with a hidden argument that you're not making.
Similarly, there's another one that Kostya Hin used. He's like, a Christian shouldn't, shouldn't have a heart. A Christian should have a heart for this. A Christian shouldn't have a heart for that. And that's another one where it's like, you got to be careful how you use that because that could be very manipulative.
I think it would be, I think it would be very easy to imagine a conversation that goes something like this. Well, I'm against the, I'm against the death penalty. And then someone will say to you, well, how could you be against the death penalty?
The Bible seems to indicate that the death penalty is, you know, required for, you know, cases of murder or stuff like that. And then the person would say in return, he would say, yeah, but I have a heart for evangelizing.
And how could you evangelize if you kill somebody? It's like, well, it's irrelevant. Like you're making a hidden argument there. The hidden argument is that we need to have a heart for evangelizing and that trumps everything else that the Bible says.
And it's like, well, it really doesn't though. I mean, again, if you want to use the phrase, I have a heart for something, I find it super cringe. I think a lot of men find it very cringe. I've used that phrase before.
So again, I'm not, I'm not, I'm preaching to myself here. That's another phrase. I'm preaching to myself. But yeah, like if you're going to use those phrases, if you're going to say, I have a heart for this, Christians ought to have a heart for this or Christians aren't called or are called or something, just make sure you're not manipulating people by smuggling in a hidden argument that you're really not taking the time to unpack and make, because that can be a very, a very sneaky thing to do.
Like, let's not argue that way. You know what I mean? Where it's like, well, a Christian should have a heart for people. It's like, yeah, I know. I mean, yeah, who cares? And that goes for other kinds of things, other kinds of truisms as well.
Like you see it all the time. You see it all the time. I was going to go after Kosti again, what something he said about the Ahmaud Arbery situation, but I think I've had enough criticizing Kosti Hinn.
Look, based on the video of Kosti Hinn, I think he seems like a cool guy. He seems like a good guy. So like I'm criticizing Kosti's words, but I'm not saying he's a bad guy. He seems like a good guy. I think he's wrong about some things, which is fine.
I'm sure he thinks I'm wrong about things. But what I want to talk about is something Russell Moore said, because Russell Moore the other day said this. He said, there is no Christian vision of justice situation in which the mob murder of a person can be morally right.
And he's talking about this Ahmaud Arbery situation. And this is what I'm talking about. This is, it's not Christianese, but it uses the same principle as, you know, those two Christianese phrases that I mentioned, because he's saying something that just everyone would agree with, but he's trying to smuggle in an entire argument that he's too lazy to make or incapable of making.
So here's the idea. So what he's trying to get you to do is to say, well, I can't disagree with that. I mean, mob murder, that's always wrong. Obviously mob murder. I mean, who could disagree with that?
But what he's trying to do is say, and the two men who had been arrested for the death of Ahmaud Arbery were mob murderers. That's a lot of stuff to smuggle into one sentence. That's a lot of stuff to smuggle in without defending.
And this is a manipulative statement. This is a manipulative statement. Mika Edmondson is the one who shared this, but Mika Edmondson is the king of manipulative statements. Let me, let me, let me share with you a bunch of manipulative statements about Ahmaud Arbery.
Here's what he says. He says, here are some unbiblical responses to Ahmaud's death. Ready? Listen to this because he's going to give you a bunch of things that he's saying are unbiblical, which it's, it's another way of saying it's a sin.
These responses are sinful in Mika Edmondson, PCA pastor. Thank God he's out of the OPC. Thank God he's out of the OPC. That's called addition by subtraction, by the way. So he was traded to the PCA for players to be named later.
Listen to this. This is exactly the same kind of thing as, as what I've been talking about. Think about how much is smuggled into these statements in an attempt to manipulate. This is, I think Mika does this intentionally.
He's a smart man. Russell Moore, smart man. He tries to manipulate intentionally. I don't think though that everyone who uses the phrase have a heart for and Christians aren't called to. I don't think everyone's doing it manipulatively.
That's why I'm warning you. I'm saying try not to be manipulative when you use these phrases because it's very easy to manipulate people with those phrases. Here's, listen to what Mika says. These are sinful responses to Ahmaud Arbery's death quote.
What was he doing on that construction site? Anyway, let's just read him. What about black on black crime? What about abortion? What about his checkered past? What about left-wing media and SJW agenda?
Isn't this injecting race into everything? More unbiblical responses. He says, these are, these are some more sinful responses to Ahmaud Arbery's death. Think about the arguments that are being injected into the, into these statements.
Here's one silence. If you don't say anything, that's a sinful response. Here's another one. People who speak out are just virtue signaling. We should wait until the trial before we say anything. This has nothing to do with lynching.
The McMichaels are the real victims here. This is media hype. Think about this, man. How much is he injecting into these, you know, one-liners that have to just be assumed in order for you to accept that these are sinful responses to Ahmaud Arbery's death.
Mika Edmondson doesn't have any more information than you and I do about Ahmaud Arbery's death. This is what I'm talking about. Like, if I killed someone who came into my house to steal my children, he happened to be black.
And you asked, and you, and you, and everyone got all up in arms about how racist I was. And then somebody asked, yeah, but what was he doing in AD's house anyway? That would be a completely legitimate question to ask.
In fact, a necessary question to ask. But Mika is saying, well, no, no, no, no. We already know what's happened here. That's a sinful question to ask. How is he determined that that's a sinful question to ask?
Well, he doesn't tell you, but he's injecting all kinds of meaning into this one statement to attempt to manipulate you. He's not defending it. He would never defend that it's a sinful response to ask, what was he doing on that construction site anyway?
He would never attempt to defend that because it's impossible to defend that, biblically speaking. Same thing about silence, right? Same thing about silence. So it's sinful to be silent about Ahmaud Arbery's death.
Sinful. It's unbiblical. And it's like, well, what if I don't know about it? What if I do know about it, but I don't know what happened? Like all of us. Some people are going to choose to talk about it, and that's totally fine.
Others like myself, I've talked about it very little because I know very little. Just like Micah, Micah. I think it's Micah, Micah. Silence is not a sin. Think about that. How could he possibly defend that silence at this moment on May 22nd, when we know so little about the case?
Silence is a sinful response to his death. How would he make that argument? He would never even attempt to. All he wants to do is say this and wants you to accept it as a legitimate argument. That's not an argument, Micah.
This is not how Christians should communicate. This is manipulative. And you know this, Micah. You know this is manipulative. Listen to this one. Isn't this injecting race into everything? That's a sinful response, according to Micah.
Again, how would he defend that biblically? How would he defend that biblically? Yes, the perpetrators, the alleged perpetrators were white. The victim was black. So there's no way for a white man to kill a black man and not be about race.
That's what you're telling me, Micah? How would you ever defend such a thing? Logically, rationally, biblically, in any way. How could you ever defend it? You couldn't, Micah. And that's why this stuff is so manipulative.
Guys, let's be careful. When we're using Christianese, like, I have a heart for this. You should have a heart for this. You should, you're not called to this. You can use those phrases if you like them.
I've used those phrases. It's true. When you say these truisms, like, nobody should be killed for the color of their skin. That's true, fine. But make sure you're not using it, those phrases, those words, those ideas as a manipulation.
Because when you say something like that about the Ahmaud Arbery situation, you're injecting into that truism that nobody could deny all kinds of facts that you have no idea if they're facts or not. Nobody at this point has any idea except for the two men, the two men who were arrested.
Nobody knows if they're actually killing him because they're racist. Nobody knows. Anyone who says that is lying to you. He's a manipulator. They're trying to manipulate you. Don't consent to manipulation like that.
If somebody says one of these kinds of things, what was he doing on that construction site? That's a sin to say that. Always ask him to defend it. Don't let people make arguments, hidden arguments, without defending them.
They have to defend that. Micah Edmondson has just made up a bunch of sins right here. He's made up sins. This is really twisted. Don't let people get away with that. Anyway, I hope you found this video helpful, this podcast rather helpful.
God bless. Don't forget to tune in next week on Thursday for AD on the Fight Laugh Feast Network.
