Islamophobia? You ain't seen nothing yet
Exclusive: Jim Fletcher has simple advice for so-called 'evangelical leftists'
Published: 15 hours ago
Lots of people today lament the horror show that passes for political leadership in Washington. It would be unfair to Obama to rage against him and forget the wimps in the Republican party. Even their predecessors led us to where we are now.
But many miss an equally compelling story: the weakness among religious leaders. Sure, the usual suspects like the mainline churches and some Catholic sources are stuck in their socialist cement shoes. Yet the real danger, I believe, is the rot from within the evangelical camp. Most of their “leaders” are opportunists, and in reality, left-wing groupies.
Nowhere is this more obvious than over the flap since Donald Trump announced he’d support a ban on Muslims. The usual Chris Matthews crowd crowed loudly, but it was dismaying (again) to see evangelical leaders do the same.
Dr. Russell Moore, the de facto spokesman of the Southern Baptist Convention from his perch as president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, added to his unsolicited comment database by denouncing Trump. Often. Loudly.
(Curiously, even as religious leaders carefully avoid endorsing candidates, Moore seems to have a man-crush on Marco Rubio, trumpeting his brilliance almost as much as he trumpets his own.)
Here’s a clue that “evangelical” leaders aren’t really evangelical: Moore and his buddies routinely are given writing perches in such left-wing platforms as the Washington Post. From there, Moore amplifies the snarky anti-Trump comments he posts on Twitter.
Last week, Moore alerted us all (again) to the fact that a big platform had interviewed him. This time, on NPR, Moore showed that he’s too clever by half. His grasp of the threat from jihadists is disconcerting:
As an evangelical Christian I obviously disagree with Islam, fundamentally. At the same time, I’m very disturbed when I hear the sorts of talk that we’ve been hearing over the last several months about shutting down mosques, to identifying Muslims in this country. That is a very dangerous place to be, both in terms of, uh, at a human rights level, but also in terms of religious liberty. So it’s easy to stand for one’s own religious liberty, and one’s own freedom of conscience, but we should be standing up for one another, as well. And that means differentiating between Muslim neighbors who are not violent and who are not radical and the terrorists who do mean to do us harm.
For all his academic credentials, has Moore ever heard of the word taqiya? In Arabic, in the Muslim context, it means that one can lie to advance one’s own agenda. Please show me moderate Muslims. If one is a moderate Muslim, that must mean in reality, a “nominal Muslim,” just as there can be nominal Christians. For if one follows the Koran at all in terms of worldview, then one is at war with the infidel.
And if we don’t start profiling Muslims, there are going to be a whole lot more San Bernardinos. Also, remember, even the French are shutting down mosques, because the French realize they are under existential threat. From his tony, ivy-covered perches in Nashville and Washington, the urbane Moore has no clue what he’s talking about.
And that’s dangerous.
But he’s the tip of the iceberg. There are a whole bunch more evangelical leftists spouting off. Popular writer and speaker Jen Hatmaker can always be counted on to take a left-wing view of any social eruption. She tweeted this week her views about Trump’s announcement:
Okay, it’s time. It is time for all of us, no matter what political party you are affiliated with, to condemn the statements of Donald Trump. He is not just “a silly buffoon running a side show circus.” He has called for a ban on all Muslims entering the U.S. and suggested a database for tracking religious minorities. His statements to the press lack facts, reason, and decency.
Friends, these are the terrifying opening statements to atrocities. We cannot be neutral in the face of such bigotry, because there are very real victims to religious intolerance and xenophobia. Not only are Trump’s statements unconstitutional, but for believers, they are entirely unChristian. (And to be sure, if we allow religious persecution against Muslims, we are allowing it for all religions in the future, including Christianity.) This is not innocuous; it is precisely how we ended up forcing 120K+ Japanese-Americans into internment camps during WWII. On American soil.
The GOP is rightly condemning Trump’s position, as are national spiritual leaders, journalists, the White House, and concerned citizens from both parties.
Opposing these hateful and destructive statements is the right thing to do. Pick your principle: religious freedom, decent humanity toward the innocent and oppressed, the Constitution, or the love of God. Don’t be afraid to speak up, friends. We said ‘never again’ once, so let’s stand by our word.
(As an aside, I was never aware Hatmaker ever said “never again,” or even has any real understanding of what it means. Is she referring to the genocide against Jews; why then does she have no understanding of the jihadist genocide against infidels, which, by definition, she is?)
Nowhere does Jen Hatmaker acknowledge The Issue: jihadists want to establish a global caliphate. Period. That’s the story.
ISIS cells are now here, murdering American citizens. Can Moore and Hatmaker and their ilk speak to that? At all?
Our freedom of expression in this country is precious. It even allows people like Russell Moore and Jen Hatmaker to sound like Barbra Streisand when she talks foreign policy.
It also allows me to make a simple request of folks like Moore and Hatmaker, in the narrow context of their views of “Islamophobia”:
Shut up.
Read more at
http://www.wnd.com/2015/12/islamophobia-you-aint-seen-nothing-yet/#XJ8AHllWCITwis6s.99
