It was a bracing moment for all those who worry about the radicalism of Evangelicals and their embolden threats against those with whom they disagree. We call it “the Insurrection.” That moment when radicals stormed the Capitol Building and delivered a wide swath of destruction and violence to the very essence of our democracy and those who are supposed to protect it. All in order to protect a lie—though not necessarily a lie, but a threat to their ideology. To this day, extremists either justify their actions, or pretend that the blame lies with BLM protesters or Democrats trying to make Trump (and his disciples) look bad. Trump himself still insists the whole event was simply good people being misrepresented by the press. ‘The people were kissing and hugging and caressing.’ We didn’t see this kiss-fest because the “liberal media” covered it up.
Days ago, an Idahoan college student at an event led by Charlie Kirk asked—out loud—the question we’ve all known they were thinking but were too afraid to ask out loud:
When do we get to use the guns? No, and I’m not — that’s not a joke. I’m not saying it like that. I mean, literally, where’s the line? How many elections are they going to steal before we kill these people?
And then of course there was the most recent threat of violence when Representative Paul Gosar, (I’ll give you three guesses to name his political affiliation) released a doctored anime of video of him killing Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (another guess as to which side of the aisle she is on).
These are just the big ones, the ones that stand out and get the massive press coverage. But every day and in every way, threats are being levied around the country. Conservatives are taking their guns into restaurants and grocery stores in an attempt to scare and intimidate those who disagree with them. When disagreed with, they make death threats against those who disagree with them. They gleefully threaten all those whom they hate—especially the gays, feminists, and abortions with hell, since they have no actual way of bringing pain to these people.
A few years ago a West Virginia mom sparked backlash when she posed with her gun in one hand and her Bible in the other, forcing many to ask the question, what’s the difference between her and the Islamic woman in the same pose, only with her Quran in hand rather than the Bible. And when those pictures hit the Internet, Sister Christian couldn’t believe that anyone would compare her to a terrorist.
Reasoned Americans of all faiths—and non-faiths, watch this and wonder how it is Evangelicals can even call themselves Christians, let alone followers of Jesus. Haven’t they read the gospels?
The short answer is “probably not.” Like the Idahoan man in the video who just wanted to shoot someone, extremists don’t tend to read or seek out what is true or real. They love to say they seek the truth, but that’s the last thing they want to contact—even more than Covid. Instead, they listen to their right-wing newscasts and parrot back whatever the talking-head say, taking for granted that they are telling the “truth…” (though they wouldn’t know truth if it crawled up their nose and pulled out each of their nose hairs one by one).
Yet the gospels are quite clear. Matthew’s Jesus commands “love your enemies.”
You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
So “where’s the love?” we ask ourselves, “How can Evangelicals square the circle and make threats while at the same time claiming to follow Jesus?
The short answer is, they don’t.
I’ve written before about the two Jesuses: the Jesus of the gospels, and Paul’s Hellenized “Christ.” However, there’s another Jesus we haven’t considered yet: and that’s the Jesus of the book of Revelation. Just as Jesus is separate from Christ, the Jesus/Christ in the book of Revelation is an all-together separate entity.
I’ve often said that I get the impression that the God of the Old Testament is a hard-core alcoholic. When he’s sober, he is loving, compassionate, extravagant and wants to do good things for his children. But when he’s on a bender, it’s plagues, fire from heaven, and complete annihilation of anyone unlucky enough to find themselves in his path.
In the New Testament, especially through Jesus, God is in AA and sent his son to “make amends” according to Step Nine of the 12-Step Program. When Christ comes along, God is still operating as an alcoholic, but a sober alcoholic, which means he can be reasoned with. But then there’s Revelation. This is where God has fallen off the wagon and is even worse than before.
The Jesus of Revelation is terrifying. He’s a whole different entity than even the God of the Old Testament (including Daniel and Ezekiel). He’s all the things God was in the Old Testament—on steroids: vengeful to the point of torture. First, he gives power to the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. To one in particular, the rider of a fiery red horse, he gave the power to ‘take peace from the earth and make people kill each other,’
Revelation introduces us to a Christ who “is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.” “Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.” “He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.” There are also the trumpeters, starting with the first trumpeter and getting progressively worse.
The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
And John is just getting started.
I’m convinced that John the Revelator put the wrong mushrooms in his pizza sauce.
~ Ben Tousey
The God/Jesus of Revelation is vengeful, and he doesn’t even try to hide it. The God/Jesus of Revelation is violent, and he even chooses names that identify himself with names that fully embrace this violent behavior. The God of Revelation is terrifying, and this is the God that Evangelicals embrace. In fact, they prefer this God to the Jesus of the gospels.
I’m often told that beliefs should be honored and respected, since beliefs in God help people cope and feel better (though I doubt it) about life. The challenge is these beliefs crumble when exposed to reality. However, most people will not allow that to happen. Instead, they will resort to any means necessary to protect those beliefs, and the only way to protect a belief from reality is through violence—making sure that reality isn’t allowed to flourish.
Beliefs have consequences. This is what we’re seeing in the extreme when it comes to Evangelicals. Desperate to protect their beliefs in the midst of science, technology, and progression, they seek to destroy whatever seed may be trying to flourish in the world of evolution.
Isn’t it ironic that those who refuse to believe in evolution cannot themselves evolve
~ Ben Tousey
While evolution is trying to move forward, Evangelicals cannot seem to remove themselves from the past. They live in a world that never was, hoping for a world that may never be.
As the world seeks to move forward to a place where science is accepted, and humanity is embraced in all its individuality, Fundamentalists of all stripes are reaching back into a world that never was, gambling on a world that may never be, and destroying the world that is now.
~ Ben Tousey
So the challenge we face is “what to do in the face of extremism when violence is the only language our opponent speaks?” And there really aren’t any answers. But, more than ever, the survival of our species depends on our finding a way to deal with anti-science, anti-peace, and anti-evolutionary extremists. At no time in our history has the contrast been so stark.
Maybe, just as Evangelicals send missionaries all over the world, it might be time we did the same for them. Just as they stand on street corners handing out pamphlets, maybe we should do the same: Stand on the street corners near their churches handing out literature about compassion and the Jesus of the gospels. Will it work? Of course not.
Somehow, we must introduce Evangelicals to Jesus. As most of my atheist friends are wont to do, they love to point out that “Jesus never existed,” that “he’s a fairy tale,” that “God doesn’t exist.” While they me be right, that is not going to save us from extremists. Our real hope is that somehow, we can convince Evangelicals that the Jesus of Matthew is far more powerful than the Christ of Revelation. The Jesus of the gospels is not the wuss they perceive he is, but is a powerful example of how powerful compassion and kindness can be. Love is not a hindrance, but a path to heaven. But it also means we’ve got to figure out what love really is. And it’s not what we sing and write about. As Jesus pointed out, it’s so far above that.
Can we do that without a civil war? God I hope so (pun intended). You , me, and Jesus may be able to save our planet, but only if we’re willing to face reality head on—for us, but also for our extremist friends.
