Left-Wing Evangelicals Condemn Unidentified Christian White Supremacists
Remnant Review
The left-wing, New Social Gospel crowd is at it again. What they have always lacked in numbers, they have tried to offset by audacity. Their strategy never changes.
The movement has now identified Trump supporters -- tens of millions of them -- as white supremacists. This is another example of the New Social Gospel promoters' strategy: create guilt in the minds of conservative evangelicals. I have watched this all of my adult life. It has yet to work.
One of the promoters of this latest attempt to demonize Republican conservatives is Ronald J. Sider. Back in 1981, I hired David Chilton to write a book against Sider's book on the supposed biblical requirement of socialism -- and maybe even Marxism: Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger (1977). I selected the title: Successful Christians in an Age of Guilt-Manipulators: A Biblical Response to Ronald J. Sider. You can download a free copy here.
Predictably, another supporter is Jim Wallis. I have an entire department devoted to his welfare state economics: https://www.garynorth.com/public/department61.cfm.
Sider has never responded publicly to Chilton. Wallis has never responded publicly to me.
In their latest attack on conservative evangelicals, the movement has adopted a three-stage argument. They have written a document for their followers to sign. First, it says that the people who broke into the Capitol were Christian nationalists. Second, it says that Christian nationalism is ungodly. The document does not define it, but it says it is ungodly. Third, it argues that Christian nationalism is a form of white supremacy.
Are you ready to sign?
Two words occur to me: "virtue signaling."
THE GREAT COMMISSION
Jesus said this to His disciples after the resurrection.
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen (Matthew 28:18-20).
That seems clear. We are to preach the gospel and baptize converts in all nations (peoples). This will change their lives. They will henceforth obey God's laws. But it is not clear to politically left-wing activists and pastors. They reject the entire concept of Christian nationalism.
They have a problem. Their Social Gospel teachings on wealth redistribution by political action are not acceptable to most evangelical Protestants. Social Gospel Protestants who claim to be evangelicals have always been few in number. So, they have a marketing problem.
For over a century, they have presented themselves as the "true" evangelicals. The strategy has worked . . . among anti-Christian atheists in the media. But few evangelicals have been taken in.
In their latest attempt to enlist evangelicals -- at least evangelicals who voted for Biden -- they equate Donald Trump, revolution, Christian nationalism, and white supremacy.
Anything that can be tarred and feathered – white feathers – with white supremacy is like a flame to a moth. Leftists cannot resist.
CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM (BOO!)
Here is the document: Sign on: Evangelical Leaders Statement Condemning Christian Nationalism's role in the January 6th Insurrection.
It begins with the appropriation theft of the word “evangelical”: Evangelical Leaders Statement. (No, there is no apostrophe.)
The document condemns something called “Christian nationalism.” It is not defined.
As leaders in the broad evangelical community, we recognize and condemn the role Christian Nationalism played in the violent, racist, anti-American insurrection at the United States Capitol on January 6.We recognize the damage done by radicalized Christian Nationalism in the world, the church, and in the lives of individuals and communities.
When you attack something as evil, it is a good idea to define it . . . unless by defining it, you show that it is not evil after all. Even worse in this case, it is something that members in your targeted audience believe in.
We know from experts on radicalization that one of the key elements is a belief that your actions are "blessed by God" and ordained by your faith. This is what allows so many people who hold to a Christian Nationalism view to be radicalized.
Who are these “experts on radicalism”? Who employs them? Where do they publish?
While we come from varied backgrounds and political stances, we stand together against the perversion of the Christian faith as we saw on January 6, 2021. We also stand against the theology and the conditions that led to the insurrection.
A handful of people entered the Capitol building. They were arrested. Was this a mass movement? No.
Now comes a leap of faith: connecting this event with a long history of evil people
Over the centuries, there are moments when the Church, the trans-national Body of Christ-followers, has seen distortions of the faith that warranted a response. In ages past, the Church has responded by holding emergency councils in order to unilaterally denounce mutations of the Christian faith, and to affirm the core values at the heart of Christianity. It is in that spirit that we unite our voices to declare that there is a version of American nationalism that is trying to camouflage itself as Christianity -- and it is a heretical version of our faith.
What distortions? Who proclaimed them? When? Where? What emergency councils? When? Where?
It is all vague. There is a reason for this. Nothing connecting these hypothetical councils with January 6 exists.
This is propaganda targeting people with little understanding of Christianity’s history or its theology.
Just as many Muslim leaders have felt the need to denounce distorted, violent versions of their faith, we feel the urgent need to denounce this violent mutation of our faith. What we saw manifest itself in the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, is a threat to our democracy, but it is also a threat to orthodox Christian faith. The word “Christian” means “Christ-like.” As leaders in the Church, we do not agree on everything, but we can agree on this -- Christians should live in a way that honors Jesus, and reminds the world of Him.
This is an empty phrase: “honors Jesus, and reminds the world of Him.”
As Jesus himself said, "They will know that you are my disciples by the way you love” (John 13:35). No Christian can defend the unChristlike behavior of those who committed the violence on January 6. Not only was it anti-democratic, but it was also anti-Christian.
Notice the strategy: connecting January 6 with something undefined and far larger: "Christian nationalism.” This is third-rate propaganda: mostly rhetoric, few facts.
On January 6 we saw the flags claiming Trump's name, calling for violence, and raising the name of Jesus. We saw images of a police officer being beaten with an American flag and another being crushed in a doorway. We know an officer was murdered in the act of insurrection. We witnessed the cross and the gallow being erected. We saw and heard the prayer the insurrectionists prayed from the Senate desk in Jesus' name. Many of us recognized the content, the structure, and the style of that prayer as matching our own churches and faith.But we reject this prayer being used to justify the violent act and attempted overthrow of the Government.
I heard a prayer by a man wearing antlers and smeared with paint. He was known as a shaman. What has this to do with Christian nationalism – so far undefined?
We have witnessed the rise of violent acts by radicalized extremists using the name of Christ for its validity in the past, including the deadly actions in Charlottesville in 2017. We join our voices to condemn it publicly and theologically.
Now we are told that Charlottesville’s riot was based on Christian nationalism. I am unaware of any such connection. The media described the rioters as members of neo-Nazi groups. ABC News cited a group crying “blood and soil.” This has nothing to do with Christianity.
So far, it is guilt by association, except there is no association.
WHITE CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM (DOUBLE BOO!)
Having presented an implausible, undocumented series of connections, they now add a new factor: white supremacy. If you think the previous arguments were convoluted, wait until you read this.
We recognize that evangelicalism, and white evangelicalism in particular, has been susceptible to the heresy of Christian nationalism because of a long history of faith leaders accommodating white supremacy. We choose to speak out now because we do not want to be quiet accomplices in this on-going sin. But we also want to celebrate the long tradition of prophetic Christian witness in this nation that has challenged white supremacy and violent Christian nationalism. Though the KKK in the South claimed the symbol of a Christain [sic] cross, prophetic Black Christians formed and discipled children in Birmingham, Alabama who led a nonviolent witness in the face of dogs and firehoses.
The manifesto brings in the KKK, an occult, oath-bound secret society that is governed by leaders called wizards and dragons -- anti-Christian to the core. The manifesto refers to the Klan’s use of the cross. This is accurate. The Klan ritually burned these crosses as liturgical negative sanctions against private citizens. Was this Baptist liturgy? Methodist, perhaps?
They seem to think they are showing tremendous moral courage by speaking out against the long-impotent Klan and the long-dead racist South. But it was not Social Gospel evangelicals from the North who ended the old South. Far more influential was college football. The old South ended at about the same time as the all-white backfield. It was either integrate or else get whipped by Yankees in January's bowl games. (See "Crimson Tide" roster.)
They see white Christian nationalism all around them.
Though an appeal to "biblical values" has been used to demonize immigrants, undocumented Christians in America today have led a movement that insists upon the dignity and full humanity of all undocumented people. There is a powerful Christian witness for the common good in our past and in our present. White evangelicals in America can grow in faithfulness by following this cloud of witnesses, including the many white freedom-fighters who risked their lives standing up for love in the face of violence and hatred.
The phrase "undocmented Christians" is leftist evangelicalism's code for "illegal aliens."
Evangelical Christians who believe in the legitimacy of national borders do not demonize illegal aliens, but they do insist that immigrants seeking entry into the United States should go through the same immigration procedures as legal immigrants have. They want controls on immigration. They want the southern border policed. On this point, two-thirds of American Hispanics agree. This fact makes the manifesto's rhetorical outrage look ridiculous, so the authors ignored it.
We urge all pastors, ministers, and priests to boldly make it clear that a commitment to Jesus Christ is incompatible with calls to violence, support of white Christian nationalism, conspiracy theories, and all religious and racial prejudice.Just as it was tragically inconsistent for Christians in the 20th Century to support the Ku Klux Klan and Nazi ideology, it is unthinkable for Christians to support the Proud Boys, Oathkeepers, QAnon, 3 Percenters, America Firsters, and similar groups.
Excuse me? Which Christians support these clearly non-Christian groups? (By the way, does “America Firsters” refer to the non-interventionist, anti-war movement prior to December 7, 1941? Millions of Christians supported it.)
We urge faith leaders to engage pastorally with those who support or sympathize with these groups, and make it clear that our churches are not neutral about these matters: we are on the side of democracy, equality for all people, anti-racism, and the common good of all people.
These people also support mom and gluten-free apple pie.
BAIT AND SWITCH
What is all this really about? This: hostility to the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20. They are appalled by the idea that a nation should confess Christ . . . especially the United States of America. Let it never be!
Instead of seeing the United States as God's chosen nation we thank God for the church around the world that calls people of all races, tongues and nations to the knowledge and love of God. Instead of seeing any particular political leader or party as divinely appointed, we believe in the prophetic and pastoral ministry of the church to all political leaders and parties. Instead of power through violence, we believe in and seek to imitate the powerful, servant love practiced by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
These people have conveniently short historical memories. What they say they favor is the opposite of the Social Gospel movement from 1914 to 1918, when the movement first gained national political power. The Progressive movement and the Social Gospel movement joined forces to promote America’s entry into World War I. Woodrow Wilson's government imprisoned leaders who publicly opposed the war in 1917 and 1918. It was the Progressives who pushed American nationalism in foreign affairs. That was the origin of foreign policy interventionism in 1914 through 1917. That was what William Jennings Bryan, the nation’s most famous evangelist, opposed. He was the Secretary of State from 1913 to 1915. He resigned in protest in 1915. He was an opponent of American empire, which the Social Gospel movement viewed as extending the kingdom of God on earth.
Saying that America is God’s chosen nation is not the same as saying that America is God’s only chosen nation. Christians in almost every nation want to view their nation as God’s chosen nation. There is nothing unique about this. They have been told by Jesus to work toward the creation of a Christian nation. Every institution is supposed to be reformed in terms of the gospel. Christ died for the sins of mankind, and there are plenty of sins of mankind in every institution. Christ taught comprehensive redemption. That was what Kenneth Gentry calls the greatness of the Great Commission. You can download his book here.
Our faith will not allow us to remain silent at such a time as this. We are also aware that our world needs more than a statement right now… we need action.
What kind of action? The manifesto does not say.
It is risky to call people to action without specifying what action, and also specifying actions to avoid. You never know what people with poor judgment will do in your name.
Every one of the signers of this declaration is committed to taking concrete steps to put flesh on our words. We will combat bad theology with better theology. We will resist fear with love. We will tell the truth about our nation’s history.We will seek to repair and heal the wounds of the past. We will seek racial justice on a personal, ecclesial, and systemic level. We will support organizations led by people of color. We will listen to and amplify the voices of people of faith who have been marginalized by the colonizing force of white supremacy and Christian Nationalism.
We will do our best to be faithful to Jesus, and to those Christ called “the least of these.”
Notice the bait and switch here. They have moved from undefined Christian nationalism to undefined white supremacy. If they can tar and feather Christians who voted for Trump with white supremacy, they think they will have smooth sailing politically.
Christianity has always taught Christian supremacy. That is why Jesus called his disciples to evangelize the world. He wanted to convert the world to Christianity.
Today, the greatest evangelism explosion in the history of the church is taking place in sub-Saharan Africa. In second place is Communist China. These are not white people. White American Protestant evangelicals and white American Catholic evangelicals send money to foreign missions in sub-Saharan Africa. Why is that? It is not because they think that the Blacks are going to turn white, and thereby become supreme.
A white supremacist Christian is somebody who says that if whites in Western Europe continue to be pagan, and sub-Saharan Africa embraces Christianity, Western Europe will nevertheless remain supreme culturally, politically, technologically, and economically, despite the steady disappearance of whites in Western Europe due to low birth rates. In short, a Christian white supremacist will argue that Christianity is not the basis of supremacy; whiteness is. I do not recall ever hearing any Protestant evangelical make such a statement.
CONCLUSION
With this manifesto, these people are virtue-signaling to each other. "Sign the petition. Publicly join our tiny band. Become part of a fringe movement inside evangelicalism that gets to sit in the back of the Democratic Party's electoral bus."
Seating arrangements on this bus are established by the size of a group's vote-delivering potential. As a voting bloc, Social Gospel evangelicals are neck and neck with Marine Corps Veterans for Gun Control.
The manifesto is here: https://saynotochristiannationalism.org. You can view the names of the people who have signed it. I recommend that you do this. The list is here: https://saynotochristiannationalism.org/#signers.
What amazed me is this: the names are alphabetical -- by first name. I have never seen this before. Usually, alphabetical name lists are by last name.
I recognized almost none of these people. I recognized Ron Sider, Jim Wallis, and Tony Campolo. I refer to them as the usual suspects in every supporters' list of leftist manifestos issued in the name of evangelicalism. I debated Sider at Gordon-Conwell Seminary in 1981. I recognized Richard Mouw. I debated him in 1978 at Reformed Seminary in Mississippi.
The Social Gospel movement is based on exceedingly bad theology: commitment to the messianic (healing) state. A good book on this is C. Gregg Singer's history of the National Council of Churches, The Unholy Alliance, which you can download here. The movement has been confined to mainline American Protestantism. It has failed to attract more than a handful of evangelical Protestants from 1885 until today. But it keeps trying. It uses the language of conservative evangelicalism in an effort to recruit evangelicals into its mainline Protestant denominational ranks.
The mainline denominations have been shrinking ever since 1960. The strategy of recruiting from evangelical churches is not working. The evangelical left's leadership is aging. Sider, Campolo, and Mouw are in their eighties. Wallis is 72. There is no one in the ranks to replace them who possesses anything like their name identification. The digital clock is ticking for leftist evangelicalism.