White Evangelicals’ Un-Christian Attacks on Raphael Warnock Attacks Say It All
With the advent of a large section of the Evangelical population in the US supporting Trump, it stands to reason that much of the ire that went towards Trump is now going toward those that supported him.
The accusation in the article is that evangelicals are unchristian as it centers on recently elected Congressman Warnock in Georgia as the focal point.
Here are the charges
1. It condemned Christians for criticizing Warnock for supporting condemnation on the recent election law passed by the state legislature of Gerogia citing the law as "racist". The article did not debate the racism of the new law, it just assumed it was so.
2. It condemned Christians having an issue with Warnock's position on abortion, as Warnock calls it "reproductive justice".
3. It took issue with evangelicals having an issue with Warnock posting this, “the meaning of Easter is more transcendent than the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Whether you are Christian or not, through a commitment to helping others we are able to save ourselves”. Warnock quickly deleted it but evangelicals ran with it and quick to criticize him for the post. The article states, "so enraged very-online white evangelicals that they spent the holiest day in the Christian calendar casting judgment, labeling Warnock a “heretic,” a “narcissistic heretic,”
4. The article pointed out how Warnock is criticized by Evangelical as being more concerned about the politics of social justice than the gospel of Christ, with many saying he should have the title "Reverend" removed from his name.
5. Makes the assertion that with Evangelical support of the new Georgia law, that they are racist and want to delegitimize the black vote and deradicalize the message of MLK, the church that Warnock was a preacher. This quote pretty much sums it all up. "Those attacks are at their core about the fundamental conflict between white evangelical Christianity in America, which is both steeped in and deeply protective of the white supremacist capitalist status quo, and the traditional Black Christian church, a site of transformative racial justice."
6. The article then begins to demonize Christianity as a whole. "American Christianity’s theological core has been thoroughly structured by an interest in protecting white supremacy… not only among Evangelicals in the South but also along mainline Protestants in the Midwest and Catholics in the Northeast.”
7. It then makes the assertion that the closest thing to true Christianity is what is referred to as Black Liberation Theology. “Even though folks wanted them to preach that they’d be blessed in “the great by and by,” they went to Exodus, and the story of Moses, and that laid the basis of what James Cone called “Liberation Theology”—that God stands most closely with the oppressed, and that God actively works to free the oppressed. If we love God, then we have to do the same thing. So that's woven into the Black church. There's a rejection of rugged individualism, and a sense that we have to make sure that everybody's OK. And if that means fighting for justice and fairness and equity, you have to do that. It ain't about ‘the sweet by and by,’ it's about what you're going to do while you're here.”
8. It makes the charge the Christians view the suffering of Blacks as them not trying. "Indeed, white Christianity retains the attitudes of its founders. A 2018 study by the Public Religion Research Institute found most white Christians across the board—53 percent of white evangelicals, 52 percent of white Catholics and 51 percent of white mainline Protestants—believe “socioeconomic disparities between black and white Americans are due to lack of effort by black Americans.”
Where to begin?
With the advent of a large section of the Evangelical population in the US supporting Trump, it stands to reason that much of the ire that went towards Trump is now going toward those that supported him.
The accusation in the article is that evangelicals are unchristian as it centers on recently elected Congressman Warnock in Georgia as the focal point.
Here are the charges
1. It condemned Christians for criticizing Warnock for supporting condemnation on the recent election law passed by the state legislature of Gerogia citing the law as "racist". The article did not debate the racism of the new law, it just assumed it was so.
2. It condemned Christians having an issue with Warnock's position on abortion, as Warnock calls it "reproductive justice".
3. It took issue with evangelicals having an issue with Warnock posting this, “the meaning of Easter is more transcendent than the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Whether you are Christian or not, through a commitment to helping others we are able to save ourselves”. Warnock quickly deleted it but evangelicals ran with it and quick to criticize him for the post. The article states, "so enraged very-online white evangelicals that they spent the holiest day in the Christian calendar casting judgment, labeling Warnock a “heretic,” a “narcissistic heretic,”
4. The article pointed out how Warnock is criticized by Evangelical as being more concerned about the politics of social justice than the gospel of Christ, with many saying he should have the title "Reverend" removed from his name.
5. Makes the assertion that with Evangelical support of the new Georgia law, that they are racist and want to delegitimize the black vote and deradicalize the message of MLK, the church that Warnock was a preacher. This quote pretty much sums it all up. "Those attacks are at their core about the fundamental conflict between white evangelical Christianity in America, which is both steeped in and deeply protective of the white supremacist capitalist status quo, and the traditional Black Christian church, a site of transformative racial justice."
6. The article then begins to demonize Christianity as a whole. "American Christianity’s theological core has been thoroughly structured by an interest in protecting white supremacy… not only among Evangelicals in the South but also along mainline Protestants in the Midwest and Catholics in the Northeast.”
7. It then makes the assertion that the closest thing to true Christianity is what is referred to as Black Liberation Theology. “Even though folks wanted them to preach that they’d be blessed in “the great by and by,” they went to Exodus, and the story of Moses, and that laid the basis of what James Cone called “Liberation Theology”—that God stands most closely with the oppressed, and that God actively works to free the oppressed. If we love God, then we have to do the same thing. So that's woven into the Black church. There's a rejection of rugged individualism, and a sense that we have to make sure that everybody's OK. And if that means fighting for justice and fairness and equity, you have to do that. It ain't about ‘the sweet by and by,’ it's about what you're going to do while you're here.”
8. It makes the charge the Christians view the suffering of Blacks as them not trying. "Indeed, white Christianity retains the attitudes of its founders. A 2018 study by the Public Religion Research Institute found most white Christians across the board—53 percent of white evangelicals, 52 percent of white Catholics and 51 percent of white mainline Protestants—believe “socioeconomic disparities between black and white Americans are due to lack of effort by black Americans.”
Where to begin?