The Unbearable Weight of Thinking We're Right
There’s a fascinating phenomenon ongoing in white evangelical influencer culture. They appear to be getting talking points from a common source that is politically connected. It is hard to miss if you pay attention to several of the influencers. There are exact soundbites, edited clips. and arguments they are making within their very narrow and fundamentalist understanding of Christianity. It is infuriating more than sad, because those voices are discipling so many people who do not have the knowledge to understand how bad the disinformation being spread is. But this is really a tale as old as time. The people of God are often led around by the ignorant, the attention seeking, the influence seeking, and the wolves. Ironically, many who accuse others of being wolves sure look a lot like wolves when you look closely. Wolves are a metaphor for those who sneak and deceive to gain trust and then destroy just to be clear.
Here’s what the wolves have been up to:
First there were claims that Democrats are satanic, demonic, and evil. But that’s been going a round for a while. Of course, their reasons are usually a mishmash of contradictions. But, they usually involve positions in opposition to current Republican and administration policies. Opposing wanton violence overreach, and overly violent tactics is somehow demonic. That’s a bit of a head scratcher. I do understand the inclination to assume that Democratic abortion policy is demonic, but it may help to understand that abortion rates typically go down during Democratic administrations. In fact abortion rates were plummeting overall until 2016.
But now, they have turned their sites on James Telarico, a senatorial candidate from Texas. Once again, there are soundbites, edited clips, and wild claims. I would accuse the influencers of lying, but I suspect they are being given these materials since they are exactly the same across all influencers. One claim is about Telarico’s position on immigration. The video they share and comment upon is highly misleading. If they took the time to see the whole comment, they would not be able to make their claims. The video they all share has Telarico saying that he believes immigration policy “should be like a front porch with a welcome mat...” The clip stops and the influencers go on and on about how evil this thinking is. Let that sit for a moment. But it gets worse. If you are at all familiar with southern religious rhetorical cadence you notice the pitch in Telarico’s voice and expect a second comment to come after “mat.” There is more to that comment. It is spoken in a homiletic cadence expecting an “and.” That’s what happens. The actual quote is “like a front porch with a welcome mat, and a lock on the door.” That really changes the idea behind the quote and exposes the disinformation spread by Christian influencers. Why? James Telarico scares the Republicans who attempt to claim that Christians must be Republican.
Now that last part is obviously false. No human political party or system is “Christian” in reality. Christians can vote and participate within all sort of systems, but none of them are explicitly Christian or have a monopoly on Christian thought. I have seen the influencers claim Telarico is a heretic, not a real Christian, using Jesus as a mascot, and demonic. I see irony, because the influencers are acting like wolves, using Jesus as a mascot, and sometimes promote ancient heresy like Gnosticism. Honestly, James Telarico is just a candidate we don’t see very often - the white mainline Protestant Christian Democratic candidate. Christians are not rare in the Democratic party, but there are fewer white mainline Christians than in the past. Mainline Protestant Christians are not heretics. They are not evangelicals, but evangelical does not define orthodoxy. Telarico is a seminary student and current Texas State Representative. He’s a Presbyterian and currently pursuing a Masters in Divinity at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, a Presbyterian (USA) affiliated school. Not heretics, not demons, but the are Presbyterians.
Telarico sounds like a Christian in the mainline tradition. But he also is within the stream of prophetic voices like Isaiah and Jeremiah who continually call the people of God back to their calling. The idea that God desires mercy, not sacrifice. The tradition that calls upon us to let go of the idols of self and empire and have hearts broken open for holiness. What Tim Gaines calls becoming undone in like Isaiah.
I am ruined!” is not something we expect someone to say when something good is taking place. It is, however, the only thing Isaiah can seem to say when he is encountered by God. “Being undone” is how some translations put this destabilizing exclamation. It is a phrase that can be read in different ways with a different tone each time our eyes fall on it. On one pass, it may be Isaiah lamenting. On another it may be a breakthrough of discovery. Often, in the theological life, both are happening at the same time. There is virtue to be found here, because the undoneness of a person is a signpost of theological virtue. (Walking)
The attacks against Telarico are similar to the attacks that come when Christians who desire power encounter Christians who desire mercy. Those who want power tend to act with disdain toward those who desire mercy. People have completely gone overboard because James Telarico said that God is non-binary. But that is correct. You may not liek the terms he uses, but God is neither male nor female. God is spirit, not flesh. Yes, Jesus was distinctly male, but the First Person of the Trinity is neither. If we go back to Genesis, we can see that male and female both reflect the image of God. Therefore God is non-binary. I guess if you are a dualist, God could be a binary with Satan as the opposite, but that’s heresy.
There is a fair bit of irony in the way the influencers are going after James Telarico considering their unfettered support of the current U.S. administration. So much so that they are contradicting their own statements day to day based upon administration messaging. Who is the wolf now? That is the danger of placing trust in empire or human beings - those tend to not be Christian at the core.
Of course the main point here is that Christians can be involved in politics in all sort of systems and parties. When we start claiming Christians cannot be or vote certain ways, we put ourselves in a place that is not for us. The Church catholic (universal) prays, fasts, and seeks guidance from God when determining orthodoxy and heresy. The great ecumenical creeds are outgrowths of this careful and measured response. Modern evangelicals are just a small piece of the grand story of God and so they do not speak for Christianity in general, nor do they define historic Christianity. Another great irony is that fundamentalist evangelicals share more in common with liberal theology than they want to believe. They do reject some historic credal ideas. They also tend to create a dualistic Gnosticism which labels the physical world as evil and the spiritual world as good.
A little acceptance that we might be wrong and a tremendous dose of humility would really help us avoid the current crisis. But those are hard and require work. They also don’t play well in this current marketplace of outrage. It is is far easier to demonize those with whom you disagree. Calling human beings who are simply expressing a difference in political opinion and middle of the road Christian thought exposes the lack of any real thinking or argument. It is schoolyard bully tactics and it is wearing incredibly thin.
This also exposes how incredibly ignorant of historic and orthodox Christianity most influencers are. You can disagree with interpretations, but unless they are actual heresy, you cannot label disagreement as heresy, demonic, or satanic. The latest rumblings place liberation theology and the traditional American Black Church outside orthodoxy. This has led to truly racist language and proposed policies from pastors and politicians. Clergy in my denomination have freely used the language of religious bigotry even though that is forbidden in our now essential doctrines of our covenants.
The bigotry is not a fringe thing either. It is weaving its way into mainstream evangelical speech and thought. But when you see God as an angry dude (usually white) you tend to see the actions of angry dudes as godly rather than ungodly. The Church is more of a mycelial* network of love and mercy spreading throughout the world in constant connection and relationship. But too many see the Church as a martial organization moving in conquering action throughout the world. The former leads to life in peaceful and connected love, the latter to hatred and death.
We Christians claim that human beings are made in the image of God, maybe we should start acting like we actually believe that.
fungal networks like mushrooms, etc.
Gaines Timothy. Walking The Theological Life: Discovering Method for Theology in the Lives of Biblical Characters. IVP, 2024.