Confusing the Issue of Anti-Semitism

https://cne.news/article/4817-in-italy-antisemitism-seems-to-be-on-the-rise

This kind of conflation of Anti-Zionism and Anti-Semitism has become a self-fulfilling prophecy as seen with the Minneapolis Shooter or in the case (as cited in the article) of the French-Jewish tourists in Italy.

Another Example of Theonomy's Rejection of Romans 13

https://www.trex-arms.com/

I was looking at the website of one of Scott Brown's upcoming conferences on Christian Entrepreneurship. It was the usual fare from these Agrarian-Dominionist Theonomic types. I've seen it all before. I decided to look up the background and credentials on the speakers and I noticed one has the last name of Botkin which is well known in those circles. The Botkin girls in particular have generated a great deal of attention.

The Counterfeit Zion Academy

https://www.patriotacademy.com/the-patriot-experience/

I am sorry to report that I have found this filth being promoted on Christian websites. If you click the 'about us' tab you'll find they believe they're promoting a Biblical Worldview.

The Wilson-Moscow Mood

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=1ckd_Jx_obk

https://clearlyreformed.org/on-culture-war-doug-wilson-and-the-moscow-mood/

It's been a year since Doug Wilson released his 2023 No Quarter November/Thanksgiving video. I saw it at the time and followed some of the responses to it. I thought DeYoung's comments were fairly astute but missing one important element regarding the 'mood' - Donald Trump.

Further Reformed Fragmentation

https://julieroys.com/calvinist-activist-warns-white-nationalism-invading-reformed-churches/

I was encouraged to discover there are some who are concerned over what is happening within the Church – and in this case the Reformed sphere. And it's not just White Nationalism but a growing militancy that should be sending up red flags. Gun culture is incompatible with New Testament Christianity but what's been developing in recent years is far beyond the pale.

VCY's Lamech Solution

https://www.vcyamerica.org/crosstalk/2023/04/13/growing-violence-in-society/

I'm not going to waste a great deal of time interacting with what is effectively John Birch Radio – or at least its Fundamentalist-Evangelical arm. It is spiritually bankrupt and while there are bits of gospel truth to be found on CrossTalk, the deception and error far outweigh it and expose the show as a dangerous font of heresy and disinformation.

BreakPoint on a Roll

It would probably be in my interest to avoid the BreakPoint website or listening to its radio commentaries. I'm afraid I could work full time simply refuting and deconstructing Stonestreet and company. Like his mentor Charles Colson he's almost always wrong, stunningly so – and even when he's right on something, it's for the wrong reasons and often the given justifications are confused and ultimately undermine his position.

Sometimes it's too much, day after day. That's how it was in late May when I encountered these three commentaries.

Mass Killing by Knife and Evangelical Gun Culture

https://www.news10.com/news/rensselaer-county/police-deescalate-hostage-situation-at-troy-stewarts/

You don't read about mass killings by knife too often do you? I've written about this before, as have many others. Here's another recent case, pertinent in light of the recent wave of mass shootings in the United States.

Locke and Hall: Dominionism Gone to Seed and the Formal Rejection of New Testament Doctrine and Ethics

We already knew Jordan 'JD' Hall was far afield in terms of New Testament Christianity. For him Christianity is a confused construct of America, guns, and some kind of truncated cowboy cheap-grace gospel. To practice one's piety you spread spin and lies and do so by means of creating a click-bait factory. When I see the posters promoting filth like 'God, Guns, and Trump', I think of JD Hall and the poor lost souls that follow him.

A Jezebel Among Us

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qUnnSu1Dno

I had heard of this woman (Lauren Boebert) awhile ago, but I never imagined she professed to be a Christian. She's best known for her open carry lifestyle – she's almost always armed (this talk being a rare exception) and has made a big deal about her gun-friendly restaurant in Colorado. Riding the wave of fame, she then used her 'charms' to get herself elected to congress.

Guns and People

It didn't take long for the Right-wing spin machine to kick in. A man in Norway attempted a massacre by means of bow and arrow. This is clear evidence that guns don't kill people – people do.

The Right's Abandonment of Liberal Values

There is a great hypocrisy at work within Right-wing circles. They profess to believe in the American system of democratic representation and yet clearly they don't actually hold to it. Their actions suggest a strong anti-democratic bias as represented by their attempts to suppress democracy and disenfranchise large segments of the population.

Trump +1365: Unanswered Questions Surrounding the Michigan Plot

This is a follow up to the previous piece found here:

http://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-michigan-plot.html

Until the time of Trump any president upon receiving news of a plot to kidnap a governor and violently take control of state capitol would have resulted in (at the very least) a personal phone call.

New Calvinist Civil War: Protestia, Friel, and The Gospel Coalition

Protestia, the newest incarnation of JD Hall's Pulpit and Pen clickbait factory posted a broadside attacking The Gospel Coalition. The 'news' article used this critical 'tweet' from Justin Taylor as a platform to launch their attack:

Interestingly I went looking for the tweet but couldn't find it. It seems to have been removed.

The 2020 RNC: Obscene, Fictitious and Dangerous (Part 2)

The whole escapade was to Christian eyes a disgusting display. Few seem to have noticed the campaign has no real platform – as indeed Trump doesn't actually stand for anything. There are no real goals – it's just an endless hymn of praise for Trump and the whole thing culminated in his fascistic tirade.

The 2020 RNC: Obscene, Fictitious and Dangerous (Part 1)

The Democratic National Convention was also obscene and fictitious in its narratives and ideas but the GOP convention had a distinct Christian air about it and it was making an explicit Evangelical appeal – and that's why I'm compelled to be more interested in what was happening there. 

In fact on the final night there were some one hundred Evangelical leaders in attendance at Trump's speech and while Christian media made much of the crowds shouting at them upon their exit, the same Christian media has chosen to largely ignore the Trump-inspired teenage gunman in Kenosha, Wisconsin who after gunning unarmed people down in cold blood walked through the police line – even while voices cried out that he had just shot people. The police stood by and let him pass and return to his home in Illinois. 

A Pilgrim Watching the Fallout from Coronavirus

In terms of the grander scale, I have very little fear of Coronavirus. Besides as a Christian I know that if my number is up (so to speak), then I trust in Providence and am at peace knowing that my death or suffering was in God's time and glorifies Him.

Dominionist-Fueled Violence in Brazil

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/soldiers-of-jesus-armed-neo-pentecostals-torment-brazils-religious-minorities/2019/12/08/fd74de6e-fff0-11e9-8501-2a7123a38c58_story.html

Evangelical activism can take a different turn in countries that don't have a stable democracy or a long tradition of liberal values rooted in established social institutions. In Latin America, in Africa and certainly in parts of Asia these things are lacking and so it shouldn't surprise us that such religious extremism (one hesitates to call it Christian) is able to take root.

The Congressional Shooter: The Right's Ridiculous Response

I shouldn't have been surprised but I must confess I was taken aback by the recent comments and diatribes by Right-wing figures over the GOP baseball shooting in Alexandria VA. A Bernie Sanders supporter decided to go after congressional Republicans and he himself went down in a hail of gunfire after shooting several people including House Whip Steve Scalise.

Police Protection for the Church: Evangelicals, America and Guns

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/04/12/523603112/alabama-senate-says-church-can-start-its-own-police-force

A Church, a Church-affiliated campus, with a police force? Why the controversy?

This move by an Alabama PCA is hardly surprising and will even be praised by many. Not a few Evangelicals are confused as to why this would even be an issue. It's normal for colleges and universities to have police forces, so what's the big deal? Why are people so bothered by this?