Evangelicalism Needs to Die, So It Can Live

Evangelicalism Needs to Die, So It Can Live
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There's really nothing new to be said here, because it has already been stated in every combination and permutation possible; Evangelicalism in America has become a disgrace not just to Christians, or even Americans, but the world entire. Next headline. Though the shameful slide of Evangelicalism on display in this election cycle offers a rare opportunity for Christians to recalibrate and, to use the biblical imagery, for global Christianity to prune itself of infected branches by disavowing the now routine triumvirate: racism, misogyny, and xenophobia.

As Rev. Keith Anderson points out, "Studies show that political polarization has increased dramatically in America over the last twenty years -- even within families. Today, 23% of liberals and 30% of conservatives say they would be unhappy if an immediate family member married someone who held different political beliefs." These statistics only validate for Evangelicals their misreading of verses like Matthew 10:34-36 and Luke 12:51-52. This is an opportunity for Evangelicals to realize their supposed "religion" is nothing more than Nationalism run amok, "another gospel" that "perverts the Gospel of Christ" (Galatians 1:6-12).

The rise of Donald Trump as a viable political candidate among Evangelical voters is the wave that broke the dam for "Values Voters" in Middle America. No longer can they claim they want a "Godly" leader for America; the masquerade of white values pretending to be "Biblical values" is now over. Trump's rabid and sensational appeal among white, uneducated Americans reveals long-standing issues within the Republican Party and the way they have glossed over their demons with stage makeup slathered on the corpse of Ronald Reagan, "America's first Christian President."

Worse, two men have done the unthinkable. Jerry Falwell Jr. and Franklin Graham have lent public support to Donald Trump as a godly, Christian man - something the original Jerry Falwell is surely rolling over in his grave about and the incoherent and highly medicated Billy Graham would denounce openly and publicly. Mark DeMoss, former chief of staff to Falwell, Sr. came out today to denounce his former boss's son. "The bullying tactics of personal insult have no defense -- and certainly not for anyone who claims to be a follower of Christ. That's what's disturbing to so many people. It's not Christ-like behavior that Liberty has spent 40 years promoting with its students." These men, perhaps even more than Donald Trump, have brought deep disgrace to their fathers, their faith, and their country. Their campaign to subvert the teachings of scripture and the traditions of Christianity has pushed even the staunchest Christians to speak out and denounce them publicly. Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, wrote on Monday that he has stopped calling himself an "evangelical" and instead refers to himself as a "gospel Christian" because he feels the word "evangelical" has been contaminated by contemporary politics and the complicit participation of men like Falwell and Graham in a campaign of hate. Moore writes,

I have watched as some of these [Evangelical leaders] who gave stem-winding speeches about 'character' in office during the Clinton administration now minimize the spewing of profanities in campaign speeches, race-baiting and courting white supremacists, boasting of adulterous affairs, debauching public morality and justice through the casino and pornography industries. I watched one evangelical leader pronounce a candidate a Christian, though he explicitly states that he has never repented of sin, because he displays the fruit of the Spirit in job creation. That's not a political problem; it's a gospel problem.

I graduated from a program in theological studies at Fuller Seminary two years ago. When I finished the program, I was considerably worse for wear having to deal with institutional Christians. I believed that taking a year off from religious work might help reset my soul and allow me to reorient. Instead, I watched the religion I was raised in descend into anarchy this year. It is a dilemma that all people of faith are now facing, with full knowledge that it will take years, perhaps even decades to undo if people of moral conscience do not immediately and strongly disavow those members of their faith communities and neighborhoods who perpetuate cycles of violence.

Richard Mouw, a theologian who spent a considerable part of his life seeking tolerance and understanding among people of faith, reflects on a time when he heard the famous Mennonite theologian and ethicist John Howard Yoder speak at Calvin College. The question at that time was, "Politics driving the gospel rather than the other way around is the third temptation of Christ. [Christ] overcame it. Will we?"

To say I am disappointed in Christianity at this point is an understatement and so, my resolution so far this year has been to stop defending Christianity and Evangelicalism. It's not my intent to provoke or antagonize - we have enough of those people already - but to instead acknowledge failure, even agree with religious critics of how far our local houses of worship have fallen to allow our individual and shared teachings to be twisted, our eyes blinded to injustice, and minds deceived by callousness unbecoming of our stated ideals. But, as disgraced at Christians, even Americans like me may be right now, there is still the shining opportunity to change, to override the voices of those with the microphones, and state what we actually believe in -- or don't believe, for that matter. It is an opportunity to state where we think America is at and where we want it to go. This is not the country of Donald Trump, but "an America that at once has always been and has never been before: a mix, a mish mash, and a melting pot, all at once. Race is complicated. Dating is complicated. People are complicated. Life is funny. It is complicated. It is old, and it is new. It is worth living, and worth living right."

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