The Atlantic’s Ridiculous Take on the Social Justice Split Among Evangelicals

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Peter Wehner wrote a piece essentially blaming politically conservative evangelicals for causing division.

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Hey everyone, I know it's dark. Sorry about that. This is the only time I had today to have a few minutes
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To set aside to do this video, but a few people reached out to me About an article that popped up in the
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Atlantic last week by Peter. I think it's winner We h any are maybe wiener
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Anyway, it's called the evangelical church is breaking apart. That's the title and I'm not gonna read the whole thing
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It's kind of long, but I will discuss it. I listened to it earlier I was trying to organize my office. I hopefully it'll be up and running next week
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So I was starting to get some unpacked books and that kind of thing And so I actually had my phone read it to me as I was doing that.
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So I kind of get the gist of it We'll read some sections from it And I also want to let you know a few of you asked me to comment on the
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Virginia election and what just happened there So I'll leave those thoughts till the end after we talk about this article and I think there's one other thing
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Yes tomorrow, I'm gonna get on a plane and fly to Colorado and then drive
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Someone's gonna pick me up actually and take me to Nebraska so if you want to know where I'm gonna be you can go to worldview conversation .com
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and The right hand corner upper right side where the tabs are You can see where I'm gonna be if you're in the area and would like to come out and see me
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I would love that. I'll be speaking. I think a few sessions on Saturday and then also
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Sunday morning and And the last thing last but not least before I would get to this article.
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Alright, so let's get to the main course here We're gonna talk about this article in the Atlantic the evangelical church is breaking apart by Peter winner and Let's just start at the beginning here
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All right, so he starts with David Platt talks about a small group of people inside and outside This church.
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I see. I think he's quoting Platt there. Let me start earlier here Okay so We'll start here
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The election, let's see the election of the elders of an evangelical church is usually an uncontroversial event
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Even a unifying event, but this summer at an influential megachurch in northern,
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Virginia Something went badly wrong a trio of elders didn't receive 75 % of the vote the threshold necessary to be installed
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I'm wondering if is McLean still if someone goes to McLean, please leave a comment. Is it still a megachurch?
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I know that so many people have left. I guess they have it'd be hard. They have multiple campuses. So So he says a small group of people inside and outside the church coordinated a divisive effort to use
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Disinformation in order to persuade others to vote these men down as part of a broader effort to take control of this church and that's a quote from David Platt and Platt said the church members had been mistled
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Having been told among other things that the three individuals nominated to be elders would advocate selling the church building the
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Muslims Who would convert it into a mosque and a second vote on July 18th All three nominees cleared the threshold, but that hardly resolved the conflict members of the church filed a lawsuit
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Claiming that the conduct of the election violated the church's Constitution Platt who is theologically conservative had been accused in the months before the vote by a small but zealous group within his church of wokeness and being left of Center of pushing a social justice agenda and promoting critical race theory and of attempting to purge conservative members a
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Facebook page and a right -wing website have targeted Platt and his leadership for his part Platt speaking to his congregation described an email that was circulating claiming
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McLean Bible Church is no longer McLean Bible Church. It's now melanin Bible Church What happened that McLean Bible Church is happening all over the evangelical world influential figures such as Russell Moore and Beth Moore Felt compelled to leave the
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Southern Baptist Convention. Both were targeted by right -wing elements within the SPC Alright, so I'm gonna actually stop here because this so much of this the way that it's even framed from the beginning it gets much worse, but the way it's framed is
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Very one -sided and The the assumption if you keep reading the article, you'll figure this out really quick The assumption is that there is a misguided
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Group of people and it's a small group. They try to marginalize this group It's really just not that influential but they they have actually
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I shouldn't say they are influential but their influence is beyond Their actual numbers, so there's there's a group of people that's insignificant
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But somehow influential and they are, you know wrecking wreaking havoc in the evangelical world all over the place not just at McLean and They're making all kinds of false accusations and they're politically motivated
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That's the main thing you're gonna see in this article is if you keep reading it, they're all politically motivated This isn't a theological issue that they have.
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It's it's that They're watching too much Fox News, they're listening to too many podcasts
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I kid you not he talks about that They're just not at in church enough, you know if they were in church getting catechized that's the word that's used in the article by Their pastor and people that want them to be godly.
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They wouldn't have this problem, but they're just too political So that's kind of the whole
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You can already see the framing of who the victims are just in the first few paragraphs. It's Russell Moore.
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It's Beth Moore It's Ed Stetzer. If you keep reading, it's David Platt. It's it's the social justice minded Advocates in evangelicalism that are the victims of a mob after them now, of course
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It's it's kind of like the opposite of that actually This is the interesting thing to me.
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So there's a there's a pass given if it's a conservative that gets Kind of the mob treatment right if it's a
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Paige Patterson, it doesn't matter if it's a John MacArthur It doesn't really matter if it's in this case
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I'm thinking of the gentleman who just ran for the Southern Baptist Convention president Mike Stone That doesn't really matter.
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There's not going to be stories about him. It was Tom Askew. That doesn't really matter It really only matters if it's someone who is on the left more within Evangelicalism then it's a mob and it's not like the mob if there is such a thing brought this up It's it's the leaders like Platt who started changing the message you started
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Introducing things in church that had not been introduced before and they were the political things
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That's the irony of this whole article is the political things didn't start with this small group of people who?
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Is you know insignificant but yet influential it's not that it's people responding and reacting to the politics that's coming into their pulpit and so The problem is with an article like this there's a standard that there's an assumed standard that One must if one is to be a
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Christian a good faithful Christian one must not be catechized by Fox News or podcasts or political influences one must be more spiritual and theological and Push for unity in their church and all these kinds of things
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That's the the real attitude that winsomeness is what we really want and people who are devoid of this because They're listening to these outside angry voices fearful voices are causing all the problems
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The shoe is never put on the other foot there. There is There's the hard questions aren't asked of David Platt the the benefit of the doubt is forever given to them and And this is it proves the point that I think myself and a number of others have been making for quite some time which is that These folks that are going leftward in evangelicalism are on the same side as the secular elites
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They're actually signaling to them their Their allegiance in a sense and the secular elites reward them for this
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They're they're not actually practicing journalism, and we've seen a few articles like this So I am saying that there is a group of people like this there
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They don't practice journalism. They just take the side of the Evangelical elites who are pushing the social justice agenda and they don't really care to hear from the other side
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And it reminds me a little bit of when Jesus told the Pharisees that you bind these burdens on other people
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But you don't carry them yourselves You're not willing to lift your own finger But you're telling them that they have to do this that and the other thing and it's the same kind of double standard you see
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In articles like this. I realize there's probably a lot more I could I should read from this but it's so long
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I I just I wanted to let you know at least I read it and at least I'm giving some comment on it
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Let let me see if I can find you a few more Good sound bites from this article that illustrates some of what
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I'm saying Talks they talked to George Marston How is that evangelical
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Christianity has become for for too many of its adherents a political religion? the historian
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George Marston told me that political loyalties can sometimes be so strong that they can Create a religious like faith that overrides or even transforms a more traditional religious faith
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The United States has largely avoided the most virulent expressions of such political Religions none has succeeded for very long at least until now
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The first step was the cultivation of the idea within the religious right that certain political positions were deeply
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Christian According to Marston still such claims were not at all unprecedented in American history through the 2000s even through the religious right though the religious right drew its energy from the culture wars as it had for decades it abided by Some civil restraints then came
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Donald Trump. Here's the thing It's actually the opposite. The social justice movement is a religion.
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That's what I argue in so Christianity and social justice you can go to Christianity and social justice calm if you want a copy of that and I think
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I effectively argue it that actually the religion has come the political religion is coming from the left It's not coming from the right.
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Is it possible to have? Right wing elements in a political religion. Sure, but the situation this is a big misreading of the situation the situation right now is
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Christians going to church doing what they've always done Operating by by their habits and then there's a wrench thrown into the year system and it's the social justice religion and then they react
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To it and they're immediately Vilified for this reaction and they're the ones that are told that they have a political religion
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And and it's the cultivation of ideas Within the religious right that certain political positions are deeply
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Christian Well, here's the thing Some and that's not even the right way to frame this some political positions are in keeping with or consistent with Christianity while others are not that who argues with that but apparently the framing of this is that It's the politics first then the
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Christianity. That's why this is all happening It's it's there's a group of people that have their allegiance is to Donald Trump first Then to Jesus right and and this has been going on if you read my book social justice goes to church
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This has been going on since at least the 60s This is same Arguments over and over and over again just repackaged again this it's a civil religion the right wing is creating this civil religion and They're not being true to the religion of Jesus Christ, which we leftists who
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We just take all our political ideas and we couch them in gospel terminology and call them gospel issues
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You know, we don't have that problem. That's the assumption and this reporter seems to be incapable or perhaps unwilling to actually
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Look under the hood at the theological issues that are actually at play here It's totally surface level this whole article and it's totally for one purpose and one purpose alone vilify those who would raise any kind of cry against social justice and he quotes the usual The same group of people at Tim Keller's quoted of course in this and Tim Keller, you know
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And they're all they're basically all saying the same thing. Look, there's this this tendency this political idolization the conspiracy theories fanatical ideas
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You listen to the words that are being used about folks probably like you probably some of you who are listening to this right now
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Hey, you think that maybe there's something a little funny about what Fauci's been saying and the contradictions
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You think there maybe was something funny about that election you think? perhaps Something doesn't add up Well, hey, you know, you're just this it's really kind of an extended commentary on The phrase
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Obama used a few years ago the bitterly clinging to guns and religion people That's that's what this article is dripping with just that's what explains the motive behind people against social justice
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They're just they're fearful and they're afraid and they're they're prone to conspiracies Which is which means they're dumb at the same time.
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It's every kind of evil kind of categorization They're gonna put people who oppose a social justice movement into that.
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They're sexist they're anyway, so Alan Jacobs Interviewed for this a distinguished professor of humanities and honors at Baylor Says culture catechizes and this is this is where I want to really drive home the point about hypocrisy and tying burdens on to people that the elites will not bear themselves
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Our current political culture Jacobs argued has multiple technologies and platforms for catechizing
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Television radio Facebook Twitter and podcasts among them People who want to be connected to their political tribe that people they think are like them and the people they think are on their side subject themselves to its catechesis all day long every single day hour after hour
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On the flip side many churches aren't interested in catechesis at all They focus instead on entertainment because entertainment is what keeps people in their seats and coins in the offering plate
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But as Jacobs points out even those pastors who really are committed to catechesis Get to spend on average less than an hour a week teaching their people sermons are short only some churchgoers attend adult education classes and even fewer attend
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Bible study and Small groups cable news, however is always on So if people are getting one kind of catechesis for half an hour per week
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Jacobs asked and another for dozens of hours per week, which one do you think will win out? So this is the whole this is
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Ed Stetzer's whole line And I'm convinced some of these guys call each other and they get there, you know Here's what we're gonna come out with.
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This is what we're gonna use to explain everything. It's Fox News's fault. It's Tucker Carlson It's me. It's the podcast.
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It's It's anything but them they are not to blame the social justice teachers.
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It's not their fault They just you know happen to be the victims that helpless passive victims of a
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Mob that's after them because they're getting catechized by cable news.
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Oh, isn't this so horrible now? Here's the thing what they're doing is they're ascribing this political motive to people and they're saying that It's the culture that's causing them to be this way
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This is what I want to point out in this whole article and I pointed this out many times before I think I pointed out in both my books on social justice
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The evangelical left and neo -evangelicalism in general has this posture where they think that there's this thing called culture
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But they are always outside of it trying to engage it from the outside They're not part of culture now
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The world if we're talking about the world right the world of flesh and the devil the the world system Of course
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Christians are outside of that But when you think about culture and you think about all the many different ingredients that go into culture actually churches are part of that You're singing your architecture everything about it.
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There's there's cultural elements and there's nothing wrong with that. That's actually a good thing now
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The left this is what the left does they exempt themselves from cultural influence we're not influenced by our culture
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We we are we stand above it outside of it beyond it.
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But those Those peasants that are causing us such an uproar.
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They are part of culture culture is controlling them They are not strong like we are to be outside of culture
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They can't engage culture because they are they're in the midst of it. They're drinking deep from its well and Therefore they are not objective like we are that's the kind of attitude
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That I've seen over and over and over and this article is no exception it you see it again the whole posturing is that you know,
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Jacob's thanks and George Marsden things and I don't know whoever else is quoted in this
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They tend to think that they're on the outside they exempt themselves from the forces that they believe are dividing the church
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And it's not them. It's kind of this you know, we're going to this whole burden is put on the
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Working -class people who tend to be political conservative that they ought not be political But there's an exception made if you are on the right side of the social justice fight
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You know, you're really not influenced by culture There's so many things I'm not even like probably like 10 % through this article.
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Like I said, it's so long let's just skip ahead it talks about fear fear has played a central role in the
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Explosion of conflict with the American Evangelical Church dwelling on fear and outrage is spiritually deforming
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So saying that he's again, it's casting every negative motive at anyone who would take a stand against the social justice movement
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That's pretty much that's pretty much it I don't really have a lot more I think I want to say about this piece Let's go to the last the conclusion here
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I believe the portrait I painted in this essay is accurate, but it is also a necessary incomplete countless acts of kindness generosity and self -giving
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Love are performed every day by people precisely because they are Christians. This is kind of like the escape hatch at the end
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Hey, I said all these horrible things, but at the end like look listen, you know, there's some you know
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I'm not all all one -sided on this their lives have been changed in some cases transformed by their faith
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My own life has been immeasurably blessed by people of faith who have walked the journey With me who have shown me grace and encouraged me in difficult moments
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But I can recognize that while while also recognizing the wreckage around us something has gone amiss pastors know it as well as anyone and better than most the
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Jesus of the Gospels the Jesus who won their hearts and who long ago won My needs to be reclaimed.
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So that's the assumption is look he's accusing him of not being Christians on some level
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They are they don't have Jesus, right? I mean, that's pretty strong accusations They don't have Jesus these people that are taking these stands against social justice
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They're they're not on the right side. I mean, it's just there's so many disgusting things in this Mark Knowles 1994 book
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Evangelical the scandal of the evangelical mind is going to be re -released and he's gonna add stuff about apparently among other things
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Covid yes You have let's see what else there's this whole section in here just railing against the south and that you know
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This it's the southern culture has basically influenced evangelicals and too much and that's what's created sexism and racism
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Which and in fundamentalism is part of this and it's it's just it's written by someone who has no clue what they're talking about Historically, it's just it's nonsense
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There's actually a good lecture you can probably go where you find you might be going to go the Abba Institute website and find it
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Sam Smith does a great he has a great talk on Fundamentalism and how it's actually
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Fundamentalism is a it comes out of revivalism, but it was actually more of a northern Tradition that eventually went south because of cheaper
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Bible schools were established in the south because there was cheaper land and that kind of thing But it's not it's actually traces more back to Puritanism Which is a more northeastern thing
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It's not you it's not like a uniquely southern thing at all and and to think you know It talks about like white supremacy that's affecting evangelicals from the south
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Yeah, that wasn't that never was something that was unique to the south though. That was North and south so it's just historically.
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This is a mess the Jesus and John Wayne stuff comes up He's that by the way, some people have asked me about it
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I did start reading that book and I got like two pages in and I was like this is one of the most Ridiculous things I've ever read
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Now and that was that was probably I don't know six months ago at least Now I realized it's become really popular
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Which I was kind of almost surprised about because I thought it was just written kind of poorly I thought it was Terrible just there were so many errors just in the two pages
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I read I may have to read it and do a review. So if people want that leave a comment, maybe I'll do a review of Jesus and John Wayne, but But anyways,
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I mean he it's like this guy kind of knows what's up this this reporter He kind of he's got the major leftist players are in this
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And and he got you know, the the quotes from them and he frames this whole thing. Like I said to blame the conservatives
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Peter Peter Wenner or Wiener I'm not sure how you pronounce his name But he seems to know something a little something about the battle that's going on and he's enlisting his help with mainstream media support
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For the evangelical leftist and that should come as no surprise They're on the same basic side
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So that's all I have to say about that article Okay, the election some people ask me about what do you think about the election in Virginia?
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Here's the thing Because I was kind of critical of Glenn Youngkin months ago The and the reason for those who are new listeners, the reason
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I was critical is because Glenn Youngkin signed a statement He was the first signature at his church that he committed to reading be the bridge
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Which is critical race theory and I have a whole podcast on be the bridge. It's critical race theory. No doubt about it and He gave to the
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Southern Poverty Law Center last year and the Equal Justice Initiative both Blatantly pro
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CRT and I realized Glenn Young can keep saying, you know, we're not gonna have CRT in the schools
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And it's like I hope he changed his mind But we're talking only about a year ago a little over a year ago that he was
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Had a completely different tune people usually don't change that quick and of course, he's never He's never like actually given an explanation for why?
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For the other things including I mean even the Breitbart piece where they're trying to do his campaigns defending the whole thing with the
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Southern Poverty Law Center they forget about the Equal Justice Initiative and it they have to kind of assume that Glenn Young can as a
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CEO at Carlisle just was so ignorant and dumb like he just Somehow escaped his notice.
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It's like, okay. Well, even if that's true Why did he commit to reading be the bridge like there's something off with Glenn Young Kim So then
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I find out that not only the NRA but another gun rights Organization reached out to him in the primary and the general for hey, we want to know your position on guns
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He won't give it then he's caught on a hot mic telling someone look I can't really come out as like too pro -life because I want to win the election.
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But yeah, it was a pro -life person Yeah, you know I am pro -life Ashamed of that Then you go to YouTube and you type in Glenn Young in World Economic Forum and you find out he's at Davos He's in I think it was
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Davos. He's at the World Economic Forum meeting in like 2018 or 19 pretty recently Talking about how the
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United States needs to be dependent on China and that's a good thing It's like okay.
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That's the opposite of what Trump said when he went there Then you find out that Glenn Young Kim was trying his best to He didn't want
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Trump to come and campaign for him he wanted to distance himself He was completely silent on the monument stuff going on just recently in Virginia and then unfortunately,
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I know a little bit about the behind the scenes and that stuff's even worse and so Here's the thing about Glenn Young Kim He has ambitions to run for president
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He has already said this apparently if that's true Then I would expect him to not go as far left as he probably believes
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I mean look he was praising Terry McAuliffe who he ran against up until very recently. They use that in attack ads against him
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So he he may have even been a Democrat who I don't know up until recently And of course the
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Carlisle groups not not even I know Trump said it was a great group But the little go look up Carlisle group online and just see if you think it's a great group
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I I suspect Glenn Young Kim's kind of a corrupt guy. I it's not it's more than a suspicion
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It just it seems obvious to me. This this guy is not a principled guy. He's not a consistent guy He may be a charming guy
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But he's he may be a great reset governor Now if he has ambitions to run for president, he may not go as far left as he otherwise would that's maybe the silver lining in all this but I expect him
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I the effect of this I think is That the Republican Party of Virginia is going to go left as a whole
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They you're not going to have a conservative presence as much anymore I think that's it's going to And it sends this signal across the country and by the way
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I already read an article in the blaze that basically was to this effect. It sends a signal across the country that We don't need on the
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Donald Trump types anymore. We need the Glenn Young Kim types We need you know that moderate kind of Republican that nice Republican In fact this article in the blaze was like, you know,
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Glenn Young Kim's a strong Christian this person Well, he goes to a church that performs gay weddings that praised
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Ruth Bader Ginsburg on their social media when she died because she fought against injustice is a very liberal church that Glenn Young Kim goes to and and so The the idea that he's just a strong Christian and his
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Christianity was what kept him Respectful and Donald Trump doesn't have any of that. We need more
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Glenn Young Kim's unless Donald Trump's this person doesn't understand It probably hasn't done the research on Young Kim to realize yeah, maybe his he's more charming with his words, but It's it's not an orthodox
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Christianity that he's advocating I mean at best it's just as you know, he's good as Trump's version of Christianity, which you know is
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Is not really much of a Christianity at all. It's it's a tradition. It's a cultural Christianity They both have a cultural
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Christianity Glenn Young Kim's is more on the left so This the idea is already out there and conservative
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Political pundits and then moderates, of course in the Republican Party are loving that we need more Glenn Young Kim's Well, Glenn Young Kim can win and that's kind of what
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I fear about this Like I said, though there is a silver lining maybe he won't govern as far left as he actually is because He does have ambitions to run for president and and you know, certainly on some things
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I'm sure he'll probably be better than Terry McAuliffe would have been but you may still get your great reset Republican governor in Virginia I hate to break that some people have asked me about what about the lieutenant governor, right?
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She's more conservative. I don't know as much about her. I'm assuming so here's the thing though Lieutenant governors in Virginia generally don't have a lot of influence or power unless the governor uses them for certain things
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So it's really dependent on Glenn Young Kim what winsome Sears, you know is gonna do
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I did see one person posted something. Hey, why doesn't the evangelical left like winsome Sears? I mean literally she's a black female and her name is winsome and I thought that was pretty funny
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But it does that does show you that Republicans in Virginia They're not these horrible racist people that they're made out to be they just voted in a black female lieutenant governor
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So just think about that for a moment. So I could be wrong. Maybe maybe it'll be better than you know let's let's hope it's better than the
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Based on what I know what it could be but you know, I do have some concerns about what happened in Virginia and You know,
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I either way I knew it wasn't going to be a great Outcome so we'll just have to see and the gods in control and we just have to trust him through it
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And if you're in Virginia, then hey try to hold young can speak to the fire wherever you can remind him
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About some of the things he even said on the campaign that were more conservative. So That's all I have to say about that.