If anyone is causing divisions among you, give a first and second warning. After that, have nothing more to do with the person. For people like that have turned away from the truth. They are sinning and they condemn themselves.--The Apostle Paul, Letter to Titus, Chapter 3:I0-II, NLT
When you have something against another Christian, why do you file a lawsuit and ask a secular court to decide the matter instead of taking it to other Christians to decide who is right?--The Apostle Paul, First Letter to the Church at Corinth, Chapter 6:I, NLT
The Wheels are Coming Off
The incongruity between some Evangelical Christians and their leaders, and Trump's lifestyle, which reflects a total lack of the kind of values and morals Evangelicals believe are the product of, and evidence of a Christian lifestyle, has always been difficult to explain. I've never bought the claim some Evangelicals make, that they aren't voting for a "pastor-in-chief", to excuse or explain their Trump support, mainly because it is not consistent with multiple passages found in the Bible, which Evangelicals claim is their sole authority over their theology and doctrine. Nor do I accept the reasoning that Trump, in spite of his own clear testimony to the contrary, at some point "converted." In most Evangelical doctrine, a conversion experience involves conviction and repentance, leading to spiritual transformation and conversion. Trump denies having to "repent" or ask forgiveness, claiming he has not done anything to require it.
In a previous post, entitled Behind the Scenes, Among Trump Supporting Evangelicals, It's a Mess, similarities between the behavior of the leadership and Trump's behavior pattern were noted. In the Southern Baptist Convention, not all of the issues are directly tied to Trump support, though the pressure put on Dr. Russell Moore, because he was an outspoken "Never Trumper," amounted to what he called "psychological terror." He was the object of two SBC executive committee "investigations" aimed at ousting him from the directorship of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.
Moore, in a letter written prior to his resignation from the ERLC and his leaving the Southern Baptist Convention, said, "I have been attacked with the most vicious guerilla tactics on such matters, and have been told to keep quiet about it by others." What he is referencing is the ERLC's activity in response to a massive sexual abuse scandal among Southern Baptist pastors, church staff and denominational employees reported in an expose released by The Houston Chronicle in 20I9. But his "never Trumper" stance, based on Christian convictions supported by Biblical doctrine, also caused a round of what he calls "intimidation tactics" including death threats to him and his family. Russell Moore Resignation from the SBC ERLC, Washington Post Religion News Service Story on Moore's Resignation
"Vicious guerilla tactics" and "psychological terror"? Is this a Christian denomination of which we are speaking? And though it was the sexual abuse scandal to which Moore directed most of the activity of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission over the past three years, the attacks on his leadership started when he expressed his convictions about Trump's candidacy, which are completely consistent with a conservative Biblical interpretation of the Bible.
Now, the conservative group which has leveled its criticism at Moore is supporting a "documentary film" that levels accusations at one of the six seminaries owned by the convention, claiming it is becoming "woke," LGBTQ friendly, and is teaching "Marxist" ideology in its classrooms. That's because one of the group's founders is the former president of that seminary, ousted for his multiple failures, at both seminaries where he served as President, to handle charges of sexual abuse and rape in accordance with seminary policy and with the law. The conservative group claims that "though we did not produce the film," in an attempt to absolve them of responsibility, but they're OK with promoting its showing at a seminary they recently endorsed. I've seen the trailer, and if this film meets the Christian standard of "glorifying God" and "lifting up the name of Jesus," I'll post a link. It looks like trash and fits the Trumpian lack of ethical standards perfectly.
New Developments: Pastor who Chaired Executive Committee Investigations into Moore is Suing Him
Pastor Sues Russell Moore for Defamation
Taking note of one of the Bible verses cited at the beginning of this post, Mike Stone, the Georgia pastor who was chair of the SBC executive committee, and who recommended launching two investigations into Moore's leadership at the ERLC, is suing Moore after being named in letters he wrote prior to tendering his resignation. Both letters were "leaked," by whom it is not clear, since there are those on both sides who could benefit from such an action.
Stone ran for President of the SBC at the 202I annual convention in Nashville this past June, and was defeated on a second-ballot election by Ed Litton, an Alabama pastor who has been supportive of the ERLC's efforts under Moore regarding the handling of the sexual abuse scandal. The character assassination and attacks on Litton, his character, ministry and family, have been vicious and merciless. Stone supporters and members of a group he helped organize, in part to help his campaign for the SBC presidency, have also come out with a whole new perspective on interpreting the Apostle Paul's words about lawsuits. Granted, we live in a much different time, and under a much different court system than he did, but I've seen a lot of complete reversals in previous hard-line, literal interpretations of this verse, held by conservative Southern Baptists, until now, of course. It looks like Trumpism is changing the mission and purpose of the SBC.
In all fairness, there are many Southern Baptists, at this point a majority of those who participated as messengers at the 202I convention meeting, who are still rejecting the influence and relevance of right-wing, Trumpian politics into their Christian denomination. They elected a president committed to veer far, far away from those influences and to get to the bottom of the sexual abuse scandal. The new chairman of the Executive Committee, Dr. Rolland Slade, a member of the SBC's African American fellowship and pastor of Meridian Baptist Church in San Diego, California, has completely refocused the executive committee, a task made easier by the resignation of multiple members over issues associated with the independent task force investigation now looking into the executive committee's response to specific incidents of sexual abuse. There is also evidence of "never Trump" support for Moore.
The Liberty University Mess
The moral schizophrenia that has become the M.O. at Liberty University is also working its way through a sexual abuse scandal, mainly a campus culture that suppressed attempts at supporting victims, blamed them for causing the incident and exonerated the perpetrators. This isn't something new that's just popped up there since Trump, it's been going on for a long time but the repressive rules and policies of the school, which literally protect the property boundaries from any outside intrusion on the claim that what they do is all covered by "religious liberty" have prevented any awareness of what has been happening on the campus.
David French: The Moral Collapse of America's Largest Christian University
You can't make this stuff up.
Growing up Baptist, I could see that there were different sets of rules for "clergy" and certain self-appointed, prominent leaders, and "laity" even though Baptist churches frown on using those terms. Grady Nutt, a Texas Baptist pastor/evangelist who used humor as a communication tool would tell about his experiences at a conservative Baptist university in West Texas, where he said you had to sign a pledge card stating that you wouldn't smoke, drink, dance or "want to." Liberty's students must sign a similar, strict code called "The Liberty Way," that, among other things, forbids the drinking of alcohol, and any sexual activity outside of marriage.
But clearly, that did not apply to Liberty's President, Jerry Falwell, Jr., who took the reins when his father, Jerry Sr., the founder, passed away. The senior Falwell had many friends and lots of influence in conservative Republican circles, though I'd be curious to see how he would have handled Trump, since the latter had publicly mocked Falwell Sr. on more than one occasion. Nor did it apply to trustee board members seen drinking and having a good time at lavish parties. Some have had to step down during the current atmosphere.
It was difficult to understand, in light of the strictness of the expectations of "The Liberty Way," how Falwell Jr. rationalized his support for Trump. Trump's multiple adulterous affairs were things he bragged about and used to enhance is public image. Just prior to Falwell Jr's embrace of his candidacy, he had emerged from an affair with a porn star, something else that "The Liberty Way" prohibits among its students. How can you stand in front of a student body you are trying to teach disciplines of the Christian faith by practice and yet fail to set a good moral example by holding up a moral degenerate like Trump, who also has a potty mouth, lies through his teeth, cheats his way to financial gain, loves money, and would never qualify to be admitted to Liberty as a student?
Falwell, Jr., as it turns out, and his wife, weren't exactly role models for the students, and they clearly did not take "The Liberty Way" seriously. As stories about other public displays of crude behavior by Junior emerge, some documented by video and photography, it almost looks like he is mocking the University's code of behavior, and also the stern Baptist faith of his own father. But he supports Trump.
See more of the words of the Apostle Paul from the book of Titus that I posted at the beginning of this article. These are words that Evangelical Christians claim to be inerrant, infallible, verbally inspired and the "sole authority for the faith and practice of the church."
You cannot serve both Jesus and Trump.
Is this Trumpian influence, or is it the reason Trumpism resonates with many--not all--Evangelicals?
Churches, denominations, ministry organizations, missionary-sending agencies are all human institutions and they are not perfect. There are always those within any group who have selfish motives and see a way to manipulate a system that is often based on trust for their own personal benefit. Such scandals are not new. Some are spectacular, huge and get a lot of attention, like Jim Bakker or Jimmy Swaggart. Most are only known to a small group of people within the entity where the scandal takes place.
In my previous post, I leaned toward the idea that these scandals have resulted from Evangelical leaders venturing too close to the flame of Trumpism, and their support for his candidacy and presidency has led to their compromising their Christian values, abandoning the faith in some cases, in order to be able to hang on to his coat-tails. Their support for him has created an "ownership" of everything that comes with him, almost all of which runs contrary to Christian morals, ethics and values.
Getting caught between a rock and a hard place on the issue of sexual abuse, which is the most prominent theme running through these examples, is something they have in common with the guy who bragged about being able to "grab a woman's ......" because he was a celebrity and they let him do it. In both of the examples used here, there has been a lot of support for sweeping incidents of sexual abuse under the table, ignoring it, claiming it is a ruse aimed at eliminating conservatives from leadership, while persecuting and blaming the victims. Falwell Jr, several staff members and at least two Trustees are gone at Liberty as a result. So are several executive committee members in the SBC, and its executive director, after just two years of leadership.
Trump got rich and was able to gain political standing and power in spite of his abysmal values and complete lack of ethics and morals. He had affairs, humiliated his wives, paid off prostitutes and porn stars and got elected to the Presidency with the help of conservative, Evangelical leadership. He succeeded in spite of his moral behavior. The support he gets from many of their followers may convince them that this stuff doesn't really matter and they can follow his example and get away with it too. The temptations have always been there. The alliance with Trump simply serves to justify giving in to them.
No comments:
Post a Comment