Thursday, December 01, 2016
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Monday, November 28, 2016
Insisting The Foretelling Of John The Baptist Is About The Elderly Attending Church Misses The Homiletical Mark
Isn't it a bit of a stretch to invoke the passage regarding the conception of John the Baptist to condemn the ailing elderly that aren't able to get to church as often as they used to?
The text implies that God intervened in regards to the withered reproductive tracts of Zacharias and Elizabeth. So unless God intervenes similarly in regards to dimmed eyesight and crippled legs, isn't He the one to be held responsible regarding this attendance issue?
The pastor insisted that, if an elderly individual can make it to the doctors or the supermarket, they can make it to church.
One is reminded of the line from the movie “Dodgeball”, “If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.”
But doesn't such a imperative analogy postulate a weak God bordering on the heretical?
The decrepit of advanced chronology are forced to go to the doctor's or the grocery store because such services are often physicalized in a singular location.
But doesn't the God of the Christian go out of His way to make it known that He is not confined by a structure built by the hands of man no matter how ornate or well intended such dedicated edifices might happen to be?
By Frederick Meekins
Friday, November 25, 2016
Thursday, November 24, 2016
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Headline Potpourri #92
Because of Trump's questionable remarks, Billy Bush was suspended from The Today Show. What did he say so out of line? It couldn't have been much more offensive than Kathy Lee Gifford's borderline alcoholism. And how is NBC suspending Billy Bush for enthusiastically discussing his preferred modality of sexuality any different than the Christian bakers refusing to bake cakes for gay weddings? If someone is articulating morally questionable remarks, you do not necessarily have an obligation to stop them. What someone needs to do now is to modify the meme featuring that Bahai actor from “The Office” admitting you don't pay taxes in order to finance an assortment of civic minded programs but rather to merely avoid prison. It should read, “You don't refrain from lewd comments out of respect for women but rather for fear of losing your job.”
Regarding those that refuse to vote for Trump on moral grounds but are all gungho for the Libertarians this election. Doesn't that party go out of its way to advocate for legalized prostitution? So who are they to insist that things like those articulated by Trump are never to be said to or about women if that is what the customer and the service provider negotiate as an acceptable component of their carnal transaction? I don't imagine those that go to places like the Bunny Ranch make their selections based upon SAT scores and the size of the gal's moral character.
If Megyn Kelley is so opposed to lewd conversation, why did she go on Howard Stern where the primary topic of discussion was her lactating bosom?
Fascinating how the ones applauding Paul Ryan as a statesman of principle for essentially withdrawing his support for Donald Trump rank among those insinuating that Ted Cruz might not even be a “real Christian” for not wholeheartedly endorsing Donald Trump.
Michael Savage flew into a rampage over Shephard Smith warning that those that did not heed hurricane evacuation warnings would likely die. So how was Smith's distinctively exuberant delivery appreciably different in style than Savage's own tirades?
When a pastor claims that the point of his sermon is not to persuade the listener one way or the other regarding Halloween participation but then proceeds to yell at the top of his lungs as to how wicked Halloween happens to be, isn't that the borderline bearing of false witness? Furthermore, will those found out to hold an opinion different the pastor even if they don't publicly rock the boat to the point of being disruptive be allowed to hold positions of ministry or leadership within the congregation? The ones insisting that Trump is now unfit for the presidency such as Albert Mohler than turn around and insist that a man that as a result of behaving properly around women was never deemed attractive by women and as a result remained single should regularly be berated by a litany of Biblical injunctions pulled out of context and be condemned as unfit for political or ecclesiastical office.
In a tirade against Halloween that turned into one against Christmas as well, a SermonAudio pastor condemned children that await Santa but don't await Jesus coming in the clouds. That's because they are children. Their lives are not yet necessarily so miserable that the joy has been sucked out (often by professional religionists) that they don't have anything else to look forward to. While he is at it, does the pastor also plan to condemn those anticipating life's other commemorative festivities or milestones?
In an interview with Bloomberg.com, Russell Moore lamented Evangelicals that align themselves with Mormons over political issues despite the vast theological differences between the two faiths. But isn't that less of an outrage than the resources of good Christians this Baptist functionary directed to support the building of Islamic mosques?
Too bad the federal government is not as eager to enforce the nation's laws as explicitly written as it is to prosecute Sheriff Joe Arpaio for enforcing the laws that at this particular moment the Obama regime deliberately refuses to uphold.
In a sermon against Halloween, a pastor claimed that there are certain things that man was not meant to know. As an example, the pastor provided the issue of whether or not there is life on Mars. The minister insisted that all that he needed to know is that God created Mars. There is a difference between knowledge that is considered occultic and that which is considered the physically scientific. The average human being is no more able to directly examine the workings of their respective innards as they are the minutiae of the Martian sands. If the pastor's mindset is to be applied to medical care, is there appreciable difference between the implications of this particular Baptist's worldview and that of the rigorous adherent of the Christian Science sect?
President Obama has admonished Donald Trump to stop his whining. One might respond physician heal thyself but one really ought not to overburden the medical system any further because of the doctor shortage caused by the “Affordable Care Act”.
A Hillary campaign commercial categorizes Donald Trump as “America's bully”. As if the Obama regime has allowed Christian bakers to pass on baking cakes for gay weddings because of their religious convictions and allowed those happy with their doctor to keep their doctor.
The leftwing media is insinuating that it is dangerous for Trump to insist that the election is rigged. Then how come the media does not take similar linguistic caution when covering trial verdicts where it is pretty much guaranteed that agitated minorities are going to loot electronics and haircare products?
Hegemonic elites thinking that political power ought to be their's by default like some sort of birthright are outraged and dismayed that in the third presidential debate that Donald Trump did not definitively agree to accept the alleged outcome of the election. But to paraphrase Bill Clinton's equivocation regarding the word “is”, what exactly does “accept” mean? One could “accept” the outcome of the election by not urging riots in the street but continuing to make remarks about the legitimacy of the outcome for years to come. Al Gore has pursued that particular approach for well over a decade now as a side hussle along with yo-yo dieting and fornicating with massage therapists.
If liberal propagandists are going to insist that Trump's allegation that the election is rigged threatens and undermines American democracy or rather the republic, do they intend to speak out as forcefully against Black Lives Matters activists and racialist subversives?
If you are of such diminished capacity that you can't vote on the designated day and can't think ahead to acquire an absentee ballot, perhaps the nation is better off if you don't vote to begin with.
It was insinuated that apparently people that don't smile much are full of themselves. Perhaps people that aren't inclined to smile were made that way by God. Therefore, aren't the ones thinking they know more than God as to what an individual's underlying personality as a reflection of the divine creator the ones that are really full of themselves?
During the debate, Hillary repeatedly mocked the financial support Trump received early in his business career from his father. So are we to assume Chelsea worked and clawed for everything she has in life, starting off mopping vomit from amusement park thrill rides and fetching carts from Walmart parking lots.
Why shouldn't nasty women be called nasty? Given the logic of those jacked out of shape over Trump's comment, are we to assume that Eva Braun should be spoken of in only the utmost of respect?
It has been suggested that, because his father was against Catholics, Donald Trump should not have been at the Al Smith dinner. Given that logic, since his father despised the United States, shouldn't Barack Obama not been allowed to be President. Given this logic, since Cardinal Dolan has undermined Catholic teaching against homosexuality through acts such as issuing statements favorable of gay pride rallies and closing congregations in favor of those attended by homosexuals, perhaps that particular prelate should not have been invited either.
In a Washington Post column, Southern Baptist functionary Albert Mohler reflected upon the moral quandary of Evangelical electoral support for Donald Trump. Interesting how he did not publish a similar column in the Washington Post critical of the Evangelical support remaining behind C.J. Mahaney despite the denomination he headed not only falling into a child sex abuse scandal but also in light of the claims that Mahaney's former congregation Covenant Life Church was administered along the lines of a quasi-cultic philosophy. Mohler's support for Mahaney went far beyond holding one's nose and voting for the lesser of two evils at a recent conference to a sickening display of ecclesiastical brown-nosing where Mohler assured Mahaney that the disgraced minister was there with the support of a thousand of his closest friends.
If assorted leftwing academics (of the sort that usually vote Democratic) insist that objective truth does not exist and to maintain that it does is an imposition of heteronormantive Eurocentricism, why are they getting so jacked out of shape if Trump creates his own cognitive milieu where the election results are not legitimate?
A webinar was titled “Cultivating Diversity and Inclusion at Museums and Historic Sites”. In other words, how to alienate your primary visitors and wonder why they don't come back.
The ultrapious in regards to this election have posted that “America is getting what it deserves”. The person making such a comment is an American. As such, if, in the future, police state goons bust the door in to drag this person off to a reeducation camp or a Muslim gangs rapes his wife and hacks off his head, as an American would he be getting exactly what he deserves?
Regarding those that have praised the President of the Philippines as a refreshingly strong leader for giving Obama the proverbial finger. Fine, let us leave and allow the Chinese to take over and brutalize them. Just make sure that it's made explicitly known that this time MacArthur isn't returning.
In a pastoral round table discussion posted on SermonAudio, one of the multiple clergy on staff at Berean Baptist Church remarked that he was not all that impressed with pundit Todd Barnes because the frequent Fox News contributor was often “over the top”. How is that different than numerous pronouncements broadcast by this particular church? For example, in the cover photo posted to the church's SermonAudio profile, the church building is surrounded by a perimeter of flags like the Washington Monument. Yet the church administrators have uploaded multiple podcasts to SermonAudio insisting that flags in the church and Fourth of July services are a form of idolatry. Isn't this akin to preaching a sermon against carnality while have a cage or pole dancer on either side of the pulpit?
It was asked in a podcast what do you do if in a Bible study group you have one set of parents whose children are allowed to Trick or Treat and a set of parents whose children are not allowed to do so. The solution is simple. Perhaps one ought not to attend these Bible studies nowhere mandated in Scripture. Secondly, if you still have a desire to attend, perhaps it is best not to tell the others in attendance what your family does it its free time and for you not to ask questions of others in attendance if the response could possibly cause you to come unhinged. Furthermore, shouldn't people be so tired at the end of the day that they don't need to be going to all of these group functions if they have already found a mate and procreated?
In a homily posted at SermonAudio against the evils of pragmatism, it was insisted that certain Americans are drawn to Trump because they are angry about not getting what they want. However, the matter goes deeper than an Obama voter demanding their free smartphone or a Sanders partisan rampaging for free college. The average Trump supporter is dismayed by a litany of elected officials repeatedly putting the nation's enemies ahead of our own particular wellbeing. As evidence, the pastor cited Trump's suggestion to ban the entrance of Muslims into the United States. Admittedly, such a proposal might have been too broad in its original enunciation. However, where is it elaborated in the Constitution that non-citizens are entitled to admission if they have not met certain predetermined criteria? Should mass numbers of have Germans been allowed entrance without considerable certainty as to where their loyalties were during World War II?
It was said in a sermon that, if a young man comes to church every week with a different girl, such ought to be condemned. But so long as he is not fornicating with her, is it really any of the church's business?
In an address at Ocean City Tabernacle, columnist Cal Thomas remarked that Muslims in their private schools should not be allowed to teach hatred of Jews and Christians. The American people ought to know what the adherents of the so-called religion of peace believe and are up to. However, does Thomas really want government bureaucrats to determine and decree what private educators may or may not teach in terms of doctrine and ideology? For what is to prevent such technocrats from declaring that Jesus is the only way or the superiority of heterosexual marriage as the ideal family arrangement in which to raise children as hateful beyond acceptability?
In a podcast griping about the status of youth in America, a group of pastors in a discussion uploaded to SermonAudio complained how quickly things are produced these days. Instead, they celebrated the pace from the hypothetical era of their grandfathers that relished true craftsmanship. Perhaps they'd also like to return to the conditions of their grandparents' era when people dropped dead from infected blackheads or from appendicitis in their 40's (don't tell me it didn't happen as two of my great grandparents befell such scenarios).
In a podcast regarding sermon preparation, Sean Harris of Berean Baptist Church said that the bivocational pastor is doing his congregation a disservice with two occupations competing for his attention. Unlike Berean Baptist Church, not every congregation is so rich that they can surround their church building with a perimeter of flags despite uploading numerous homilies to SermonAudio insinuating that it is an act of idolatry to have a flag in the church or even an occasional worship service incorporating patriotic elements into the liturgy. Regarding the denigration of bivocatioalism, it's interesting how some ministers seem to now exist on a level surpassing Peter, Paul, and apparently even Jesus.
Fuss is being made that the majority of Whites voting for Donald Trump lacked college degrees. As if the minorities voting for Obama for free cellphones and for thinking they would no longer be required to pay their mortgages because such would be taken care of from the President's stash were fonts of common sense and accumulated learning?
Fuss is being made that the majority of Whites voting for Donald Trump lacked college degrees. Given that those needing psychological intervention in the form of play-doh to deal with the election returns and rioting in the streets are primarily those in pursuit of formalized higher learning, it seems these programs aren't necessarily the measurement of education that they used to be.
Hillary in her concession speech says that America owes the Obama's an enormous debt. Wasn't the record debt accumulated under his regime enough already?
If DC residents are so outraged over the state of their Congressional representation, why don't they move elsewhere or might that disrupt receipt of whatever public assistance program they are on?
Multiculturalism holds all societies are equal with no country being better than any other. If so, why is it that the leftist deadbeats so exasperated over Trump's election victory insist upon fleeing to Canada (which is probably even more lily White than America) as their first destination of refuge rather than Mexico (which we are assured contains a population of only hardworking, law-abiding, family-oriented people).
So if California secession is to be encouraged, why were Southerners threatened, coerced, and intimidated into taking down their Confederate battle flags in the name of national unity?
The sad thing is how people comport themselves intellectually they are so dimwitted that they cannot run their own lives without a President. The government might need a President. Do you really need one directly telling you what to do if you do not work for the national government?
Propagandist Van Jones categorized Trump's election victory as a “whitelash”. If he speaks out against citizens working for change within the established system, is he as condemnatory of those that vocalize their alleged political disapproval through the looting of electronics and haircare products?
Van Jones excused Hillary for not making her concession speech election night because it was well past 2 AM when the winner was determined. But didn't Hillary advertise herself as being the candidate you could reach in the middle of the night if the situation warranted?
A caller to the Chris Plante Show remarked she never felt as proud of her nation as when Trump was elected President. Isn't that as bad a Michelle Obama saying nearly the same thing? The sad thing is that the greatest political investment is now made into the office that should really mean the least in terms of the influence that it ought to exert over our daily lives.
Countering the observation that there were no riots when Obama was elected it was claimed that's because “President Obama wasn't a sexist, racist, knee jerk kind of guy..Trump is not Presidential material and never will be.” That that justifies beating unsuspecting White motorists and destroying private property?
On an episode of “Jay Leno's Garage”, Vice President Joe Biden an Colin Powell made an appearance to drag race their Corvettes. Powell admitted that this was his third Corvette in eight years. I myself have never owned a new vehicle and the used one I purchased in 1999 functions just fine. Yet these are the same establishmentarian globalists that condemn those skeptical of climate change policy propaganda decreeing that private vehicular ownership ought to be discouraged for everyday needs to say nothing of recreational drag racing or as ostentatious replacements for a diminished masculinity.
Planet Fitness has produced a campaign featuring its anti-bullying campaign for the purposes of indoctrinating a “judgment free generation”. It's one thing to prevent bullying behavior. However, its quite another to condition people to be “judgment free”. For such would result in individuals unable to differentiate between right or wrong and unprotected against being taken advantage of.
In a SermonAudio homily, Sean Harris of Berean Baptist Church condemned those whom the extent of their church participation consisted solely of showing up for the service. Maybe he'd prefer they not even do that. Furthermore, how does he know what these folks do the rest of the time? Don't they at least get a few points for Christian character if they don't slap their spouses and go to work or something similarly constructive on a reasonably consistent basis?
In a sermon, it was said that a woman should marry a man to move her out of poverty. Will it be said from the same pulpit that a man should marry a woman to get someone to scrub the toilet or wash laundry?
In light of slurs against Catholics on the part of Clinton campaign functionaries, the Federalist is urging Americans of conscience to adopt the phrase “We are all Catholics now” as a sign of solidarity. Interesting how little is being said how those email exchanges were less than complimentary regarding Evangelicals as well. It must be remembered that this very same conservative website not long ago posted a headline, even though done in the name of humor, referring to Protestants as “heretic scum”. Maybe Podesta found his remarks against Catholics to be similarly mirthful and said in jest.
If deadbeat Europeans burn their own cities over the Trump victory, why should we feel shame about it? Such is the result of their own stupidity.
So why is Steve Bannon's wanting to limit the “Jewish influence” over his children a form of antisemiticism that must be eliminated but we are supposed to open our borders wide open to those advocating the kind of antisemitism that advocates outright violence against a particular group of people?
About the harshest punishment for students from the DC suburbs will face for walking out in protest over the Trump electoral victory will be an excused absence. Would educators go as lightly if students had bolted out of class to pray around the flagpole, to march in solidarity with prolife activists, or chanting “Build the wall”?
Attending the University of Virginia while being driven into your safe space at the sight of a Jefferson quote is nearly the same thing as attending Liberty University and insisting that the mention of Jerry Falwell sickens you.
Apparently with Trump's electoral victory radical leftists now insist that states' rights and local control are the ways in which America was intended to be governed.
If Californians wanting to secede and urban centers vowing to remain sanctuary cities in defiant of presidential order are to be applauded as expressions of robust localism, shouldn't the rest of America remind its own business as to what one hillbilly mayor from West Virginia posts online about Michelle Obama?
A Maryland school is being commended for allowing for the selection of a “gender neutral” homecoming court. But shouldn't these pedagogues still be condemned for the continuation of this practice promoting non-egalitarian classism?
Was the establishmentarian media as ever concerned about Van Jones' profession of being an avowed Communist, Anita Dunn's confession of Mao being her favorite political philosopher, and Barack Obama's political career beginning in the living room of convicted terrorist Bill Ayers as they are regarding Steve Bannon's alleged ties to the “alt right”?
Much hullabaloo is being made over the “60 Minutes” video in which Donald Trump urges his supporters to stop heckling minorities. Is “60 Minutes” as concerned about the candidate's opponents and detractors destroying property, blocking roadways, and beating unsuspecting citizens on the basis of their electoral decision deduced primarily from the basis of race?
Clothing designer Sophie Theallett, who has designed for Michelle Obama, has announced her refusal to dress Melania Trump primarily for ideological reasons. So shouldn't she be destroyed financially in a way similar to the Christian bakers refusing to bake wedding cakes for gay nuptials?
The cast of the play "Hamilton" chewed out Vice President Elect Mike Pence for being in the audience. Could a Christian baker be allowed to bake the gay cake anyway and tell the couple off as the cake and money are exchanged with there being no legal repercussions?
In responding to the Trump electoral victory, President Obama admonished that we must be cautious of a tribalism that promotes a mentality of Us vs. Them. Does he intend to make similar pronouncements against the Occupy Movement, Black Lives Matter, La Raza, and even his own presidency?
by Frederick Meekins
Monday, November 21, 2016
Saturday, November 19, 2016
Friday, November 18, 2016
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Supergirl Condemned For Being Insufficiently Perky Regarding Sister’s Lesbianism
Monday, November 14, 2016
Friday, November 11, 2016
Thursday, November 10, 2016
Wednesday, November 09, 2016
Tuesday, November 08, 2016
Monday, November 07, 2016
Saturday, November 05, 2016
Friday, November 04, 2016
Thursday, November 03, 2016
Wednesday, November 02, 2016
Russell Moore Elevates White Guilt As Religious Sacrament
Moore commences his analysis by detailing the plight of an Alabama church in decline as the vicinity of the congregation's physical locality transitions from a predominantly White to Black population. Moore blames the decline on the fact that during the tumultuous years of the civil rights movement, often marked by shocking and noteworthy acts of violence, the church decided to focus on its primary mission of “simple gospel preaching”.
But how was the activism Moore would hope for in that historic setting appreciably different than the cultural Christianity that this theologian now explicitly celebrates the demise of? Interesting how Moore calls for the law and justice imperatives heralded in Scripture when it is minority lives and property on the line but seemingly downplays the physicalized expression of outage when it is Whitey's or a capitalist's window being shattered.
In mentioning this tragic violence, Russell Moore hopes to link its perpetrators with Donald Trump and any that might vote for the blunt real estate tycoon. As I have mentioned in previous columns, if we are to pursue this line of reasoning, why shouldn't we conclude that Russell Moore through his assorted ecclesiastical relationships must believe pedophile pastors and the churches that shelter them haven't done anything all that wrong and shouldn't be sanctioned so severely?
For at a recent pastor's conference, Moore's mentor and close colleague Albert Mohler did not chastise C.J. Mahaney for allowing a sex abuse scandal to spiral out of control. Instead, Mohler instead assured the megachurch minister that he was in the company of thousands of his closest friends. Mind you, these are the very same kinds of people that will call the validity of your faith into question if you are not in church multiple nights per week or aren't married by the time you are 23 years old.
In the indictment of Trump that reads reminiscent of the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal, Moore writes, “This election has cast light on the darkness of pent-up nativism and bigotry ...There are not-so-coded messages denouncing African-Americans and immigrants; concerns about racial justice and national unity is ridiculed as 'political correctness'. Religious minorities are scapegoated for the sins of others, with basic religious freedoms for them called into question.”
Daniel Patrick Moniyhan (a Democrat actually) was credited with popularizing the concept of the bigotry of low expectations. Dr. Moore craves nothing more than to be applauded as a Southerner that has come around to the perspective of the Yankee elite regarding racial issues. However, given that he does not apply the same standard to all individuals irrespective of skin color, it must be asked does Brother Moore view minorities as fully human in the same manner as he would his fellow Caucasians?
If Dr. Moore is so concerned about the causes of national unity and racial justice, why doesn't he resign his position from the board of the National Hispanic Leadership Conference? For by the organization's very name, the National Hispanic Leadership Conference is exclusionary of the interests of Caucasians of a non-Iberian ethnography. If Caucasians of a more northern European extraction are not worthy of status and privilege (to invoke the parlance of these crypto-Marxists) on the basis of what color they emerge from the birth canals of their respective mothers, why are Hispanics deserving of such on the basis of Scripture which says that before God there is neither Greek nor Jew?
Despite whatever errors he might have made in terms of his presentation on the Fox News Channel, Glenn Beck is to be lauded for making the public aware that the notion of “social justice” is not about justice at all but rather about in the name of socialism downplaying the rights and protections afforded to the individual in favor of the collective and what is allegedly better for specific groups as determined by largely unaccountable technocrats. That is the kind of threat posed by Russell Moore in his raising the battle cry of “racial justice”.
If persons are not to be considered as individuals and the totality of their accomplishments but rather upon the shortcomings inflicted by and/or on certain groups, what if Dr. Moore's string of highly prestigious positions were seized from him and bestowed upon someone that has hardly cracked a book open a day in their lives but instead knocked over a few liquor stores and sired a number of out of wedlock children by as many women because a life of study and delayed gratification were categorized as acting just “too White”? By the very standards advocated by Dr. Moore, wouldn't a response other than affirmative agreement to such a course of action not only undermine social cohesion but also negate a number of Biblical imperatives such as submitting to authority and turning the other cheek?
Dr. Moore goes on to lament, “The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's 'I Have A Dream Speech' did not envision that more than 50 years later 'Go back to Africa' would be screamed at black protesters.” Probably because, as someone enamored in part with the delusions of socialism, Martin Luther King might not have been able to fathom Black people often lavished with a standard of living enviable by world standards descending into debaucheries most of them avoided when the status of this demographic was at its lowest in terms of material prosperity.
Perhaps Dr. Moore should have provided additional context such as where and to what particular group this directional imperative was being directed. For example, could these have been the sorts of protesters that express their disagreement with particular trial verdicts or police actions by appropriating the latest electronics or haircare products unencumbered by medium of exchange after the proprietors of such establishments have left the premises for the evening or in fear of the repercussions the mob might decide to inflict upon bystanding property owners?
Russell Moore is making quite a reputation for himself regularly publishing tirades against what academics such as himself might lament or denounce as White majoritarian culture. Does he ever intend to speak out as eloquently against outrages such as the knockout game?
In Moore's column, one is given the impression that the remark “Go back to Africa” is a negative or bad thing. Yet doesn't fostering this impression expose Moore's own ethnocentricism or White privilege?
For in a world where, as Moore writes, “The man on the throne in heaven is a dark-skinned, Aramaic-speaking 'foreigner' who is probably not all that impressed by chants of 'Make America great again', who is to suggest America is a more desirable place to live than Africa?
Moore continues, “The center of gravity for both orthodoxy is not among Anglo suburban evangelicals but among African Anglicans and Asian Calvinists and Latin American Pentecostals.”
The first part of that statement that ought to be like fingernails across a chalkboard to the mind of the discerning reader is the way in which “Anglo suburban” is articulated like a slur. What it means is that Moore has a problem with Whites that work hard and save their resources to provide for a reasonably comfortable dwelling where the occupants are able to stay to themselves and their individual families.
What the communitarian new urbanists of whom Moore is probably an enthusiast prefer is to chorale people into congested population centers where the residents probably don't even own their property, where they are more easily controlled, and where it is easy to snoop into someone's private affairs. For nowhere in his comments did Dr. Moore condemn the largely White beatnik hipsters that prefer to habitate in largely metropolitan settings.
While we are at it, even if he does not provide his address outright, perhaps Dr. Moore should describe in which manner of dwelling he hangs his own ecclesiastical robes or clerical collars. It is doubtful it is in a rundown apartment project where English is about as dead as Latin.
For in the mind of this theologian under scrutiny in this particular analysis, Mrs. Moore and the little ones are no doubt deserving of a safe and spacious place in which to live and thrive. It is your obligation, dear pewfiller, however to put your own family at risk for reasons little more than because some pulpit blowhard tells you to in order to assuage his ever expanding sense of racialist guilt.
What must be asked next about this assertion that contends that the center of theological gravity is to be found among African Anglicans, Asian Calvinists and Latin American Pentecostals is why is it acceptable for Christians of these particular phenotypes to clump together for the purposes of religious identity and affiliation but not acceptable for White believers to do so? And if you were to grill members of each of these demographics they would probably admit that they are no more eager for their traditional way of doing things to be overwhelmed by the nebulous “other” postmodernist sociologists are always droning on about as those attending the aging Caucasian congregation.
Furthermore, just how much doctrinal compromise ought the Christian to agree to in pursuit of Russell Moore's demographic amalgamation before we are verbally reamed for abandoning those ballyhooed “Baptist distinctives”? After all, the problem with the church initially mentioned by Moore was not necessarily doctrine but rather because it was “too White”.
The Anglicans no doubt practice infant baptism and don't fly into a frenzy as to whether or not adults seeking membership have been dunked or sprinkled in what is considered this Christian act of initiation. This particular modality of ecclesiology also tends to follow a highly ritualized liturgy many Baptists would denounce for stifling the move of the Spirit.
With the Latin American Pentecostals, at the bare minimum the problem would arise at the opposite end of the decorum spectrum from the Anglicans. For an old joke describing how to tell the difference between Baptists and Pentecostals observes that Pentecostals jump over the pews while Baptists sleep in them.
Wanting to look as multicultural as possible, those such as Russell Moore will respond that Whites more uptight in church will just have to adopt the more exuberant forms of religious expression often practiced in minority communities. For if you ask the overly rambunctious to tone it down a bit, you will be accused of demanding that these other groups “act White” before their worship is deemed acceptable in the eyes of God.
But who was it that taught these aging White Baptists so despised by Moore to stifle the expression of their feelings in favor of an order of worship that emphasizes the rationally didactic over emotionalism? Why none other than the professional religionists and denominational functionaries once holding the kinds of prestigious positions now occupied by the likes of Russell Moore! It is amazing how these leaders seldom take responsibility for the policies or decisions of their particular class without first blaming it on the mere pewfillers and concocting ways to make the common church goer feel that they are nothing more than someone obligated to keep the collection plate filled.
Beyond the Pentecostal tendency towards emotional outbursts, for the sake of ethnographic solidarity, just how much Charismatic buffoonery is the average Baptist expected to put up with to placate the honchos flagellating themselves on the floor of the annual convention? Kenneth Copeland has insinuated off and on over the course of his ministry that those of his theological persuasion can resurrect the dead both feline and human. Joyce Meyers believes that she is so important that she shouldn't have to do her own housework. Todd Bently socked an alleged cancer patient in the stomach in the name of curing that particular affliction.
Critics will respond that each of these is White. Fine, if you want to play the game that character is indeed determined by the color of skin, I will be more happy to comply with such a silly standard.
T.D. Jakes has denied that the Godhead is a unity composed of three distinct persons known as the Trinity. Instead, this particular televangelist holds that the verbal identifiers of “Father”, “Son”, and “Holy Spirit” are rather masks or roles assumed by the singular unitary God.
Frederick Price is yet another Black pastor that espouses doctrinal notions nearly as aberrant. The website LetUsReason.org in an article titled “Fred Price: Is The Price Right Or Is The Price Wrong” examines a number of these. Among these rank the idea that we enjoyed a preincarnate existence (not unlike Mormonism) and that Jesus was rich while He dwelt upon the Earth despite Scripture teaching that he didn't even have a place to lay his head.
As errant as these happen to be, Prince propagates others that are even more dangerous. According to Price, the believer is so assured of bodily healing in this life that the truly faithful can even forbid sickness to enter into one's home, meaning that the Christian is in no need of medical interventions such as surgery. Unless of course you are Mrs. Price who had a cancer operation despite similar procedures being frowned upon for the less prominent amongst their flock.
But hey, that's no big deal. If Russell Moore wants to remain consistent, doesn't he have to assure us that compromise for the sake of superficial appearances and heartwarming photo op is more important than sending the wrong impression resulting from standing for the faith once delivered unto the saints.
Galatians 3:28 says that before God there is neither Greek nor Jew. It is also through the providence of the Almighty that all of humanity that traces its origin back to one single family now finds itself distilled into a variety of nations, tongues, ethnicities, and races largely to prevent for the time being the equivalent of another Tower of Babel. As such, a church should extend kindness and courtesy to anyone showing up on its doorstep sincerely seeking the Lord. Yet if particular varieties of people show up more at certain congregations more than others, there is no reason for controlling snobs at denominational headquarters (whose own offices are described nowhere in the pages of Scripture) to hand down pronouncements as to how ungodly such natural affiliation happens to be in their particular eyes.
By Frederick Meekins