How Do I Know if I Joined an Online Witch-Hunt?

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Salvation in Christ Alone and the Coming Judgment

The message of Christianity is that salvation is found in Christ alone, and any who reject Christ therefore forfeit any hope of salvation, any hope of heaven.

The issue is that humanity is in sin, and the wrath of almighty God is hanging over our heads.

They will hear his words, they will not act upon them, and when the floods of divine judgment, when the fires of wrath come, they will be consumed and they will perish. God wrapped himself in flesh, condescended and became a man, died on the cross for sin, was resurrected on the third day, has ascended to the right hand of the Father, where he sits now to make intercession for us.

Jesus is saying there is a group of people who will hear his words, they will act upon them, and when the floods of divine judgment come in that final day, their house will stand.

What Counts as an Online Witch Hunt?

Alright Tim, the question for today's episode is how do I tell if I've joined an online witch hunt?

Yeah, I mean, if you join like an actual witch hunt, then you're going to be in a situation where, you know, typically like the pitchfork or the torch that you're holding would be a dead giveaway.

Uh-huh, yeah, typically.

Typically, I mean, like typically like in a real witch hunt, you know, you can just kind of look at what you're holding, right? And, you know, ask yourself if you're part of a crowd, but then, you know, honestly like with online witch hunts, it really is one of those things that people can get caught up in online witch hunts pretty quickly, and they really have no idea like who they are in the story because like there is a sense in which like online interactions, they shelter you from reality in a certain way, and they don't allow you to kind of see the broader picture as easily as real life interactions.

But I mean, it's obviously true that, you know, people can do this in real life as well, but then there is something about online interactions that definitely encourage a mob mentality, and then it shelters you from the knowledge that you're even in the midst of a mob and, you know, adopting kind of the assumptions of a mob mentality in general.

So it can be a lot more difficult to identify that you're actually in one in those ways for sure.

How Witch Hunts Create a Mob Mentality

So I guess why don't we start with just what do we mean by internet witch hunt?

It would be helpful to kind of talk about a witch hunt in general, right? Sure. So like if you think about the way a witch hunt actually works, like, you know, in a normal witch hunt, you have a bunch of people who are shouting like, kill the witch, kill the witch, kill the witch, right?

You know, so like they're typically like witch hunts are all about like, like in the sense that we're using it, they're about like generating a bunch of emotion in people and getting people to like stir up strong emotions of like hatred, revulsion, once you identify like the villain or whatever.

So once that villain is identified, then you have basically a crowd who feels some kind of obligation to like shout their approval of what's happened, right? So once you get the crowd worked up, then everyone feels like this internal kind of pull to like denounce the person in question, essentially.

And so like you can just imagine like a scenario where everyone's just, you know, kill the witch, kill the witch, burner, right? Witchcraft is bad. Protect your children, protect your dogs, you know, all that.

So like you have people who are basically, you've identified the target. And then, you know, like in your typical witch trial, there's no mechanism, like in the stereotypical kind of witch trial example, there's no mechanism for the witch to demonstrate their innocence in this way.

So once the target's identified, right, there's no real mechanism for anyone to clear this individual. So like in the classic kind of witch hunt scenario, what you do in order to figure out if they're a witch is you tie them up and you throw them in a lake, right?

Yeah, naturally. Yeah, naturally. So if you tie them up, you throw them in the lake. If they float, right, like if they float, then they're obviously a witch because like they're tied up. They shouldn't be able to just like float there, you know, so something shady is going on.

But then if they drown, then it's like, well, I guess they weren't a witch, right?

All right. We'll get them on the next one, guys. Our bad, our bad on this one.

Yeah. But then the problem actually becomes like if you're just like once the mob gets going, there's no one that can come along and like be reasonable with the crowd at that point, right? So I mean you can imagine the scenario where they're like, you know, throw her in the lake, right, throw her in the lake.

And then you come up and you're just like, you know, hello, fellows, you know, point of order, right? Like so look, we throw her in the lake. She floats. She's a witch. But if she sinks, she's not. And that means she dies.

So, you know, is there a way that we can figure out if she's a witch that doesn't involve killing her if she isn't, right? I'm just putting it out there. I'm just putting it out there. Now you can imagine, though, like in that kind of scenario, like what happens is once the mob is going, right, once the mob is going in like the real witch scenario, then they're going to look at like there's not like a real good mechanism for anyone to shout point of order here, right?

So they're going to look at you and they're going to, you know, and this happened to us in like many of our, you know, online controversies or something like that where, you know, like just as an outside observer who's not emotionally invested in the situation, you can just look at what's happening and something's off about this, right?

So I understand that like you're all, everyone's all worked up here. But can I ask a question about like, are we thinking through what we're doing here, right? Are we thinking through what we're saying here?

And if you ask any question along those lines, what's going to happen is like anyone who's caught up in the mob mentality, they're going to look at you and they're going to be like, I don't understand where this question is coming from, right?

Like that's kind of the, like if they're trying to think charitably about you at all, it's just like, I don't know what to make of what you just said there. Like, what do you mean? Like, is there a better way to determine if she's a witch or not?

Like, witches are bad. Witches are bad. I don't know if you knew that. I don't know. Like, do you, you know, so, so it kind of starts out like that. Like, you know, don't you realize like, like what is going on here?

Like, like, what are you doing? Like, are you supporting, like, are you, are you a witch supporter? You know, like what's going on, you know? Are you a sympathizer? Are you a witch sympathizer? You know, it's like, well, no, I just, I'm just, I'm trying to ask a question about like, is this the best way to figure out whether or not they're a witch?

Right. And it's like, well, what are you saying? Like, you know, are you saying that witchcraft is okay? You know, are you, are you trying to downplay it? Right. Are you, are you a witch sympathizer? Are you, you know, and then like pretty soon it's like, well, you must be practicing witchcraft too.

Right. Like, like, like you're a witch, you know? And it's like, well, no, hold on. Hold on guys. Easy, easy, easy. I'm just trying to figure out if there's a better way to do this or if what we're doing is right.

Right. Like here. And then it's just like, so the mob, like the issue is the mob can't handle any kind of self-corrective in that way.

Mike Winger, the SBC List, and Procedure in Controversy

Right. Well, you know, you know, I saw, I saw an example of this. And what's the guy's name? Mike winger. He there's this controversy as if it, you could even call it a controversy right now where someone in the SBC got together a list of churches in the SB, who are on the SBC directory right now who have female pastors at their church, which is a direct violation of the Baptist faith and message 2000.

And so he puts the list out and everyone gets angry at him. Everyone's coming after him. And so Mike winger and everyone's mad because it's like, Hey, you doxxed a bunch of women, Mike stone, Mike stone's the one who put out the list.

Mike winger, Mike winger put out a poll asking, asking a question basically saying, you know, would you, if like Calvinists, would you feel uncomfortable? If a man, you know, if someone came along and put together a list of churches that had Calvinist pastors along with like their, you know, church website or whatever.

And the response was like, overwhelmingly, no, I wouldn't be bothered by that. You know? And he, he was, he was trying to see like, Hey, our people ups, you know, our people are people being consistent in this category.

He wasn't necessarily coming after, even though he, you know, he obviously doesn't agree with Calvinism. He was, he stated, I'm not like, this is not about Calvinism. I'm just trying to use something, you know, that, that I know a large portion of people who interact with me do believe in to see where's the problem in all of this controversy.

And there are so many people, even after he had said all that coming after him saying like, you're just trying to go after Calvinism. You're just trying to go after Calvinism. You're just trying to go after Calvinism.

It's like, like, look, man, I, I said right up front in the beginning, this is not about Calvinism. I'm not trying, this is not coming after Calvinism, you know, but then he just had relentlessly these people.

That's yeah. That's a good example of just like what I'm talking about. So once the mob's going, then you have, you know, someone like Mike Winger in that kind of scenario, just saying point of order.

Why Mob Mentality Silences Reasonable Questions

Right. Point of order. Like, so can we talk about what we're doing here? Right. And so what, what, what happens though, is once the mob's going, you can't have a reasonable discussion about procedure.

Right. So in this, this happens like in every single kind of internet controversy that you can imagine, like whether, like, whether you're talking about like, you know, the hands up, don't shoot like all the racial stuff.

Right. So once the narrative gets going and the mob is going, then if you say, Hey, can we wait to see, like, can we wait a little bit, you know, on this? Like, do we need to start burning down stores right now?

Can we, like, do we need to fire, you know, these police officers right now? Do we,.

Do we need to hang them? One dismantle society. Or can we, can we have at least like one other step before that one? Right. Right. Right.

So, so you're thinking about along those lines, like they're like this. So the impulse there is just to say that person, whoever that person is, who's saying, Hey, point of order. Right. Like two, once the mob's going, they don't want to hear like, let's talk about it.

Right. Yeah.

They're like, they're hearing like a, Oh, so you think police should just kill all black people? Right. Right.

So like, that's where it's, it's like immediately. It's just like, well, no, I'm just trying to, um, we have to figure out what the Bible says to do in this scenario. Okay. Can we talk about what the Bible says to do with this kind of scenario?

Uh, what I, so, you know, if, you know, the police officer shot Michael Brown, that would be bad. Right. I mean, like if he, if he, if he, um, if he was, if he, if he had his hands up and he was saying, don't shoot.

And he just pulled the trigger and executed him. That would have been bad. Did that happen though? Can we wait a little bit and figure out like what actually happened here? You know, what does the Bible say about how we should, the first to plead their case seems right until another one comes along to examine them.

So like the issue is once the mob is going, it doesn't tolerate any questions. Right. Right. So, so like, and that's the way witch hunts work. So once the mob's going, there's no, you can't, um, you can't say point of order.

You can't say, Hey, can we talk about this first? Or Hey, are we being reasonable here? Or do we know like all the facts here? Right. Or, you know, are we being consistent here? Right. So, or, you know, how does that relate to this other situation?

You can't say anything like that. And if you do like, what's going to happen is it's like, like you'll have the people who are like confused. So like, I don't know where you're going with this. Right.

And that, that kind of response that I don't know where this is going with, I don't know where you're going with this kind of response. That's a response that's basically just saying, Hey, we're like, like the mob has decided we should be killing the witch.

So if you're trying to police the rules, I don't know which team you're on. Does that make sense? Yeah. Like, so the issue at that point is once the mob gets going, it's all about you being on one side or the other, instead of just saying like, so there's no ability to just step in and say, Hey, can we talk about what we're doing first?

So, um, like in that way, then, you know, like the way the witch hunt works is, you know, the guy says point of order, right? Like, uh, is this the best way to handle it? And then it's like, I don't know where you're going with this.

And then, well, you must be a witch sympathizer and you know, maybe you even practice witchcraft, right? Like, uh, only a witch would say that, right?

Are you about to turn my dog into a frog?

The only kind of person who would say like, no, we shouldn't do this as a person who must be practicing black magic themselves. Right. You know? So then at that point, then it's just like, and then the mob turns on you.

Right. So then it's like, kill, like, kill the witch you right now. Right. So you're getting rounded up and you're, and it's just like, Hey, I'm just asking a question here. Right. I'm just trying to talk about it.

Like I've tried to talk, like what are we doing? And so like, you know, all that, like, that's just kind of, that's how witch hunts work in general. And when you think about it, how it relates to just online interactions once like, like typically like just some ways, you know that you're getting worked up into a witch hunt kind of mob is like first, like when one of those things happen, you can kind of tell the people who are, are worked up into a frenzy, like more than others, because typically they're the ones who feel like they need to make these performative statements like performative denunciations.

Performative Denunciations and Fear of the Mob

Right. If that makes sense. So, so like you take some of the racial issues, right. You know what, this is one of those things that big Eva did, you know, all the big Eva guys would do every single time there was a police shooting.

Like the first thing they would say is I condemn racism in all of its forms and all of its manifestations. Right. Let us, let us be clear, you know, let us be clear that police brutality is always wrong and there's no excuse for it.

It's anti gospel, you know? Yeah. So help me God. Here I stand,.

The stunning, the stunning and brave isms. Right. Right. And so,.

But like if you feel like it's always kind of embarrassing to watch that kind of thing, because it's like, that's the very point that's under dispute in the moment. Like the very point that's under dispute is what actually happened here.

Right. Right. So like, is this an example of police brutality here? Is this a example of targeting black people here? Or is this an example of a narrative that's gotten spun out of control to where, you know, you have officers who are legitimately doing their job and, you know, now they're the ones who are the victim.

So who is the victim in this scenario and if you're not really allowed to ask, right. And so like, like now the individuals who are coming along, they feel like they need to make these denunciations. They're the ones who, they're the ones who are basically like, that's the online equivalent of the crowd shouting, you know, witchcraft is bad.

Witchcraft is bad. Witchcraft is bad. Right. We got to do something. Right. So all the, like you, like when you feel that need, like when like a situation happens to jump on the side and start making authoritative denunciations of certain principles, like you shouldn't trust yourself.

Does that make sense? Yeah. Yeah. Like you shouldn't trust your impulses in that kind of way, because why are you feeling compelled to do that?

That should just be obvious. You don't have to come out and say it every single time. Yeah. I mean, this was so bizarre about it. Like,.

Why We Should Not Join the Online Denunciation Frenzy

So this was so bizarre about it. Like, you know, like if you, you know, some kind of like, you know, like with the Duggar kind of situation or something like that, where all that all that comes out and you have like, why do you feel the need to get online and say rape is wrong in all of its forms?

Right. Like, what do you, like, do you think that people don't think that you already think that.

It's kind of weird that you actually think that people think you're okay with it? Yeah. I mean, you,.

You don't think that like you have a long track record of condemning that kind of thing that now you need to do it just because the crowd is demanding that you make these statements. And so the kind of people who feel the need to make these kinds of statements are the kind of people who are getting swept along in this witch hunt kind of mob mentality.

Out of like a need to please other people. Right.

Right. Right. So it's all about like, and that's the whole thing about the witch hunt mob is once they set their eyes on the target, everyone's afraid that those eyes are going to get turned on to them.

Right. Sure. Yeah. Because they know how the procedure works. So you know how the procedure works once the mob has identified the target, everyone has to approve and then point their finger and scream condemnations about the topic in general and about this person, you know, and so you just have, you feel this pressure, you have to say it because you're scared if you don't, then they're going to come for you.

Right. And then people will demand that you say things in those moments to where like, and this is just, you know, you just watch every internet controversy that happens and there's going to be people who are demanding that like individuals make a statement, you know, very quickly, you know, once the mob has set on people.

And so, like it's just good practice to not make those statements, to not say those things, to not bow down to that pressure, to just ignore it because you don't want to, you don't want to be in some kind of spot where you're just feeding like fire on a, you know, throwing fuel on a fire that's just going to get out of control.

Like you, like, so it's better just to not say anything and not feel any need to say anything because it's all just nonsense. It's all garbage. You're you don't, um, like don't, you know, obviously you're going to get cheap applause if you say that kind of thing and you'll get a bunch of likes if you say that kind of thing, but that's not what actually needs to happen.

What actually needs to happen is we need to obey God in these moments. And when you ask, what is he saying in these moments? We need to make sure that we're, you know, honoring him and not just getting swept up in a bunch of emotion.

So part of, part of it's that part of it's like, you know, if you feel that you, if you feel this pressure and I mean all the big name guys, they feel this pressure. You can tell you just watch them. They're like circus monkeys.

They'll, you know, something happens and they'll go out and, you know, make a statement, you know? And it's like, you know, the, you know, that they're the, those guys are, um, you know, what's motivating him.

And I don't trust anyone who feels the pressure to go out and, you know, categorically denounce, you know, whatever sin is currently being discussed. It's just like, I don't trust you. You're, you're being swept up in emotion right now.

Like that isn't, you should be calm and clear headed and reliable, you know, in that way. So part of it's that, and part of it's like, you know, that you're not when instantaneously like people that you've trusted your whole life, like you instantaneously look on them with suspicion.

If they say something that you don't quite understand, does that make sense? Like, so if, if a person has like a long track record of, I mean, I saw these like in some of our recent controversies where, you know, individuals will look at other people who like, um, they're just swept up in this mob mentality.

And then it's just like, you know, are you one of them? It's like, no, man, I'm just, I just liked the post, you know, that's all that happened. You know? So, you know, once you start looking at people with suspicion and just jumping to the most uncharitable assumptions imaginable and then totally,.

Totally unwilling to hear any question. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Where you're just like, you know, you're looking at, you know, the person like the Mike Winger in that kind of scenario and it's just like, oh, well you're, you know, you're evil, you know, you're a Calvinist hater and a woman lover, you know, you know, I mean, it's just like, well, I mean, maybe he is, but I mean, I would like to hear him out first for sure.

Right. I don't want to be just responding in a, you know, an emotional frenzy here, you know? So I mean, I think everyone would just do well to remember what the Bible says. The first to plead their case seems right till another one comes along to examine them.

Right. Uh, it's foolish to, you know, uh, the Bible says if man gives an answer before he hears his folly and shame and people could realize that, um, like they really need to realize that in it, like particularly in internet discussions that, you know, it's very easy to jump to a bunch of assumptions and, you know, crucify people and just get worked up.

And, you know, we, we ought, we ought to be able to have ability to, you know, talk about these things. And there's a lot of topics that really just are not that are off limits to discuss, um, that, you know, the, that are deeply, deeply, you know, there's topics that, you know, no one, like in the broader evangelical world will, we'll talk about because they know that, you know, they're, um, the mob would come after him.

And so everyone makes their, you know, the same kind of performative statements, uh, along these lines. But, you know, we would just do well to do everything we can to stay out of the witch hunt.

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