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Russell Moore, Exhibit One in Ingratiation of Gospel Hipsterness

Do not hate your instinct to restrict Islam in the United States.  You should dandle that in your mind like the ambulation of a lozenge in your mouth.  At the 2016 annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the public-policy arm of the SBC, intelligence shames common sense for the cool guys at school.

As I write this post, I go to the Russell Moore twitter page for a very typical sample from him.

Modern evangelicalism promotes such sycophantic navel gazing.

If I were to evaluate based on my observation of Moore, I would see the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commision as the division of pandering for the Southern Baptist Convention.  Moore has the not very difficult task of finding a way to present the SBC in the most politically and theologically correct fashion, left leaning and effeminate.   To the beavis giddiness of his culturally relevant fanboys, his zeal for the Southern Baptist house erupts on the old right with its regional twang.  He saves his indignation for gay reception refusals, confederate flag waving, and Muslim mosque opposition.   With no shame, he retweets, “This week, we talk with hip-hop duo @socialclubmsfts.” This constitutes a new kind of courage, one that chooses to “stand” where it’s obvious he’ll receive the greatest amount of applause.

I don’t believe the Muslim mosque issue in the video above correlates to either a Baptist distinctive or the gospel. Baptists support freedom of religion, but Islam is a difficult decision, contrary to Moore’s pandering.   It’s not a Baptist distinctive to support Mosque building.   Moore received a lot of publicity for this answer.  I saw references to it all over.  I watched the second half of his answer at least ten times.  I still don’t know what he’s talking about.  It was biblical and theological gibberish.  I can only interpret the crowd as cheering for expert political fawning.  They remind me of the crowds at a Bernie or Hillary rally.

Moore said, “the bigger issue is that we’ve been called to the gospel of Jesus Christ.”  I can only guess here.   Regulating Mosque building undermines the gospel, and fully tolerating Mosque building promotes the gospel?

A mosque in your neighborhood might mean people are there plotting violence where you live. People blown up by a bomb can’t be saved any more.  I’ve noticed that.  I can’t preach the gospel to strewn body parts.  You have to be able to breathe to hear the gospel.  If you try to preach the gospel at a mosque in the United States, several mosque adherents will threaten your life.  If they kill you while you preach to them, you can’t preach the gospel to anyone any more.  I can find a crowd of saved people, ones who preach the gospel every week, who would clap loud and long for this paragraph.

A greater enemy of the gospel in the SBC is its hunger for relevance.  The gospel and its real effects are replaced by the pretend Christianity of which Moore speaks.  The gospel doesn’t need designer glass frames.  It doesn’t need the perfect stance on mosques and their construction.


14 Comments

  1. John,

    What's the point? How does this relate to what I wrote here? Is this implication that you agree with Moore's answer to the man in the video? Do you think you know what Moore meant on the gospel in the video?

    We know what's wrong with Trump. That's been very well proclaimed by everyone, especially the Washington Post, the NY Times, CBS, NBC, and ABC. I understand that you think he's taking everyone for a ride, so Hillary is an equal or better alternative. I get it. Hillary is a safer position for you. I understand. It would be better to use her four years to blow up the Republican Party, etc. etc. rather than have Trump. Maybe 8 years. Maybe 16, and the three or so lifetime appointments to the Supreme Court. I get it.

    I saw Hillary, the equal and better alternative, in a picture at the Gay Pride parade in NY City this weekend. She's the girl we're getting with your strategy. You should own it. It's what you're getting. She's your girl in your strategy. Lap up four years of Hillary, because this is what we're going to get from what you are doing.

    You should understand that you've made your point on how bad Trump is. Everyone long ago got that argument. You know we don't think Trump is moral. He's not a moral man. I don't believe he "got saved" as James Dobson said.

    You actually though don't and haven't dealt with the argument, which would be respectful on your part. Or maybe you just don't get it.

  2. The point is the there's a million evangelicals to go after and you pick a never Trumper. Maybe you think folks don't notice that.

    Youre for Brexit but fear monger like Remainers if Hillary is elected. Of course, I don't want her or Trump, I guess that makes me #NeverReprobate.

    SCOTUS threats don't work either. Who nominated the folks that approved Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, King V. Burwell, and of course today's decision?

    We've made it through almost of 8 yrs of Obama, 2 of which when they hate the House and Senate. The republic will endure if the Lord wills.

    A vote is an action, like writing down a name or pulling a lever. If you don't do it, a tally mark doesn't show in the other side. Do all the D's that don't like Hillary count for Trump?

    I'm not going to spend much time with this because Trump threads disappear here sometimes.

  3. John,

    Your comment isn't about the post, which means you've trolled this post. It's not the first time. It seems your comment takes whatever I'm writing and either makes it about Trump or it makes it about women's headcoverings.

    I don't know if Moore's support of Islam is part of his anti-Trump position. I think it's a separate issue, perhaps more notable because of Trump's statements. Moore joined the hipsters against another Moore, Roy Moore. Muslim terrorism happens to be occurring regardless of Trump. That it dovetails with some of his support is obvious, but it's not the point.

    The election is "which reprobate," and you are choosing Hillary as your reprobate. We're not supposed to be aiding the Republic to go under. I don't think you are more against reprobates, just because you choose Hillary as yours. Democrats who don't vote for Hillary will find their counterpart, who might help her stay afloat.

  4. John,

    Like you said, when you pull that lever, something happens — there's a consequence. Your consequence is Hillary is president. You know this. It's the strategy. You know your person won't win, but the result, as you know — I know you're not ignorant — is her winning. Whatever vote doesn't go for the only other candidate can win, is a vote for her, just like in 2012 with Romney. You know this. The net effect is you want her. You will get her and her three Supreme Court justices for the next thirty years. That's not all but you will get the globalism that brexit rejected. You are also a globalist supporter.

  5. That's not what i said.

    I voted for Romney.

    Trump will lose because he's the worst republican candidate in the history of the party. It's sad because we could have won with Elmer Fudd because Hillary is the worst Democratic candidate in history.

    Thanks for telling me what I am.

    If you didn't know Moore was NeverTrump before you posted this please erase all my comments.

  6. John,

    My Moore evaluation has nothing to do with the presidential election. Nothing. It has to do with his "gospel hipsterness."

    You voted for Romney, so you are saying you support Mormonism, doctrinal perverseness, and Romneycare? You pulled the lever for that?

    We've got to be consistent here. If we vote for someone, it means we support everything about them. It has nothing to do with issues and certain ideas. It must be an all or nothing kind of support. That's your argument.

    The anti-Trump, never-Trump movement, is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Never-Trump tries to make him lose to fulfill their own prophesy, at the same time not taking responsibility for Hillary. No, you also own Hillary and globalism and open borders and her Supreme Court choices.

    If choosing Trump means supporting his moral positions, then supporting Romney meant supporting his doctrinal positions. Actually, neither is correct, but that's the logic of nevertrump. OR, blow up the Republican Party. I'm saying that neither of those two gets it nor understands what kind of condition America is in already. If they can't get their brand of constitutional conservatism, they are willing to put Hillary in to make a point. You'll make a point. That's true. Hillary is the point you will make.

  7. John,

    You won't find one statement that says I've been for him since Winter. It was at a certain point that I knew he was going to win. I knew people like you didn't get it. I was merely explaining why to vote for him or why people supported him. I've never been FOR him, just wanting him over Hillary. Again, I knew he would win for many, many reasons, but I knew if I got into comparing candidates, people, like you, would go ballistic, and we couldn't discuss anything anyway, like it's pretty much gone any way.

    It's not good to cut off your nose to spite your face. That's what someone does by allowing Hillary.

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