The False god of Politics and the Price Tag of Trump

Yesterday, we were treated to the absurd sight of Trump supporters storming Capitol Hill, rioting over the idea that the Democrats stole the 2020 presidential election through fraud (and maybe over Georgia Senate runoffs, which the Democrats won in order to complete their control over Congress). A few of the supporters were armed, aggressively entered the premises, and broke some things, and at least one woman got shot by security or police and died. It was a shameful display, and it was even more shameful that a few of the rioters invoked the name of Jesus in their chants or their signs.

There is a lot that can be unpacked here, but I want to zero in on two things: Christians who have made politics their god to the point of believing silly conspiracy theories or making excuses for violence when it fits their political agenda, and the long-term damage of Donald Trump that I’ve warned up about since before the 2016 election.

The SBC and Critical Race Theory: The Need for Precision, Humility, and Honest Critique

Last month, the presidents of the six Southern Baptist seminaries caused a stir by releasing a statement that rejected critical race theory (CRT), intersectionality, and critical theory (CT). The full statement is at the bottom half of this page with each president weighing in, and the key line is this:

In light of current conversations in the Southern Baptist Convention, we stand together on historic Southern Baptist condemnations of racism in any form and we also declare that affirmation of Critical Race Theory, Intersectionality, and any version of Critical Theory is incompatible with the Baptist Faith & Message.

This statement angered many people outside of Christianity, inside of Christianity, and within the SBC more particularly. For example, people like Veggie Tales creator Phil Vischer and his brother (not Southern Baptists, as far as I know) have weighed in, though with frustratingly little substance or understanding of what is actually going on in the SBC. At least a couple of prominent Baptist black pastors broke from the SBC over the statement, with some black students in the seminaries following suit. The statement also brought applause from those within Christianity who have long been suspicious of modern social justice rhetoric that it is unbiblical. These Christians were at the forefront of rejecting Resolution 9, a controversial resolution passed at the SBC’s annual meeting in 2019. Some dissenters were so worried that Founders Ministries created a documentary criticizing the resolution as well as critical race theory itself, and the video itself was highly controversial: Due to accusations that it unfairly misrepresented some SBC figures, several interviewees backed out of the project and a few members of Founders resigned. Clearly, CRT is a hot topic in the SBC as it is in the culture in general.