Tag Archive for "Media" - Point of View

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September 14th, 2018

Trump in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria

By: Peter Baker – nytimes.com – September 13, 2018 The presidential playbook during times of disaster is pretty well established by now: Consult with emergency officials (and be seen doing so). Express concern for those affected (on camera). Assure the public that the government is ready for whatever comes (whether it is or not). But once again, President Trump has...

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September 12th, 2018

Christian Social Justice Warrior?

Since the Council of Nicaea, Christians have been prone to issue joint statements designed to draw the boundaries of orthodoxy — and cast their rivals beyond them. Another one, not quite in the same league, was recently issued by a group including John MacArthur, a prominent (and very conservative) evangelical pastor and Bible teacher. “The Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel” claims that social justice is not, in fact, a definitional component of the gospel, and that it is heresy to elevate “non-essentials to the status of essentials.” As you might expect, the document affirms traditional beliefs on same-sex relationships and “God-ordained” gender roles. But it seems particularly focused on rejecting collective blame in racial matters. “We deny that . . . any person is morally culpable for another person’s sin,” the statement argues. “We further deny that one’s ethnicity establishes any necessary connection to any particular sin.” In case this wasn’t clear enough, the document goes on: “We reject any teaching that encourages racial groups to view themselves as privileged oppressors or entitled victims of oppression. . . . We deny that a person’s feelings of offense or oppression necessarily prove that someone else is guilty of sinful behaviors, oppression or prejudice.” Christians, in the view of MacArthur and his fellow signatories, must condemn both “racial animosity” and “racial vainglory.” By way of background, it seems this statement was created in outraged response to another group of evangelical Christians — the Gospel Coalition — that held a conference on the 50th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. MacArthur clearly wants to paint the participants — including prominent pastors Tim Keller, Russell Moore, Thabiti Anyabwile and John Piper — as liberals at risk of heresy. Where to start a response? First, there is the matter of judgment. MacArthur surveys the evangelical movement in 2018 — increasingly discredited by rank hypocrisy and close ties to an angry, ethnonationalist political movement — and concludes that its main problem is too much . . . social justice. It is a sad case of complete spiritual blindness. Second, there is a matter of history. Elsewhere, MacArthur complains that evangelicals have a “newfound obsession” with social justice. This could be claimed only by someone who knows nothing of the evangelical story. During the 19th century, Northern evangelicalism was generally viewed as inseparable from social activism. Evangelist Charles Finney insisted that “the loss of interest in benevolent enterprises” was usually evidence of a “backslidden heart.” Among these enterprises, Finney listed good government, temperance reform, the abolition of slavery and relief for the poor. “The Gospel,” preached abolitionist Gilbert Haven in 1863, “is not confined to a repentance and faith that have no connection with social or civil duties. The Evangel of Christ is an all-embracing theme.” But most damaging is the MacArthur statement’s position on racial matters. What could a group of largely white evangelicals, many of them Southerners, possibly mean by criticizing “racial vainglory”? Is it vanity to praise the unbroken spirit of Africans in America during more than four centuries of vicious oppression, which was often blessed by elements of the Christian church? Is it vanity to recognize the redemptive role played by African American Christianity in calling our nation to the highest ideals of its founding? The purpose of “The Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel” is clear enough. It is, as one prominent evangelical leader put it to me, “to stop any kind of real repentance for past social injustice, to make space for those who are indeed ethnonationalists, and to give excuse for those who feel Christians need only ‘preach the gospel’ to save souls and not love their neighbors sacrificially whether they believe as we do or not.” The MacArthur statement is designed to support not a gospel truth but a social myth. The United States, the myth goes, used to have systematic discrimination, but that ended with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Racism is now purely an individual issue, for which the good people should not be blamed. This narrative has nothing to do with true religion. It has everything to do with ignorant self-satisfaction. It is neither realistic nor fair to ignore the continuing social effects of hundreds of years of state-sponsored oppression, cruelty and stolen wages. It is neither realistic nor fair to ignore the current damage of mass incarceration and failed educational institutions on minority groups. Prejudice and institutional evil are ongoing — deeply ingrained in social practice and ratified by indifference. Repentance is in order — along with a passion for social justice that is inseparable from the Christian gospel.

By Michael Gerson – washingtonpost.com – September 10, 2018 Since the Council of Nicaea, Christians have been prone to issue joint statements designed to draw the boundaries of orthodoxy — and cast their rivals beyond them. Another one, not quite in the same league, was recently issued by a group including John MacArthur, a prominent (and very conservative) evangelical pastor...

Articles

September 10th, 2018

Trying to Find the Anonymous Op-Ed Author

By: Michael Burke – thehill.com – September 9, 2018 President Trump’s top aides on Sunday ramped up talks of a possible investigation into the identity of an anonymous “senior administration official” who authored an explosive op-ed last week describing an internal “resistance” seeking to undermine the president. The op-ed, published in The New York Times, roiled the White House as...

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September 9th, 2018

Reject the Image of Turmoil in the White House

By: Staff – newsmax.com – September 9,2018 Donald Trump’s defenders, led by Vice President Mike Pence, were out in force on Sunday following a turbulent week capped by the publication of an anonymous New York Times opinion piece savaging the president. Pence sat for two interviews on Sunday talk shows, telling CBS that there has “never” been a discussion of...

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September 9th, 2018

Kavanaugh and the New York Times

By: davenj1 from the diaries by strife – redstate.com – September 9, 2018 ========= Promoted from the diaries by streiff. Promotion does not imply endorsement. ========= The editorial board of the New York Times recently penned an editorial titled “Confirmed: Brett Kavanaugh Can’t Be Trusted.” If one wants to read this partisan piece of journalistic drivel, see here. Let me...

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September 7th, 2018

Open Letter to Anonymous

Donald Trump listens to a question about an anonymous op-ed from the NYT

By: David French – nationalreview.com – September 6, 2018 Dear Anonymous, This isn’t normal Washington politics anymore. It’s not a game. Your instantly infamous New York Times op-ed has painted us a picture of your character, and it’s not pretty. Let’s put this as bluntly as possible: If you’re actively defying the president to pursue your own preferred policies, you’re...

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September 7th, 2018

Anonymous Mole Tries to Take Down President

By: John Zmirak – stream.org – September 6, 2018 I just read the op-ed by “Anonymous” in the New York Times, revealing the “secret” that some of President Trump’s own people have been flouting his legal authority. We’ve known it all along. The administration of our duly elected president, Donald Trump, is honeycombed with people who have no business working...

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September 7th, 2018

Senator Cory Booker and Senate Rules

Booker-Grassley at Kavanaugh confirmation hearing

By: Streiff – redstate.com – September 6, 2018 Screengrab of Cory Booker flashing White Power sign from https://youtu.be/dY2YCdBONWE Wow, what an epic day at the Brett Kavanaugh hearing. And it is only noon. Yesterday, Kamala Harris had center stage. Today it is New Jersey senator, T-bone’s best friend, and 2020 presidential hopeful Cory Booker. James Hohmann✔ @jameshohmann Breaking: Cory Booker...

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September 7th, 2018

How Will Red-State Senate Democrats Vote?

By: Matt Vespa – townhall.com – September 6, 2018 For liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans, it’s an easy choice regarding the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Both sides have made up their minds weeks before these hearings, which have devolved into total clown shows, started this week. With former Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl being tapped to serve the...

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September 7th, 2018

Democrats and the Confirmation Hearings

By: David French – nationalreview.com – September 5, 2018 We hear a lot about norms these days. We live in a time when alleged pre-existing norms of decency, civility, and respect are being cast aside for the sake of “winning.” The ends justify the means, and a dignified loser is just that: a loser. There is a real sense that...