Campus Uproar and Mohler's Latest Episode of Moral and Epistemological Meltdown

https://wng.org/opinions/americas-campus-meltdown-1713993199

Southern Seminary president Albert Mohler assumes the immorality of opposing Israel but it must be granted he's right in that many 'Left' protesters are privileged. I find them absurd because they challenge the system even while they only wish to appropriate it and somehow put a humanitarian or progressive spin on the empire and its evils.

I also find it absurd that commentators such as Mohler fail to grasp this and view these people as revolutionary. There's nothing revolutionary in what they propose. The only groups out of the 1960's that finally entertained crossing the line were the Weatherman, the Black Panthers and others that turned to overt militarism, violence, and an underground existence - but it's clear enough in retrospect they were never all that serious, they had never really thought through what they had hoped to accomplish. When compared to genuine revolutionary groups in Latin America, Asia, or Europe, the American Left and its revolutionary tendencies seem laughable.

It is assumed by Mohler that anti-Vietnam activity is something to be condemned. It never occurs to him - even fifty years after the war and with all that has been learned and written that in fact the protesters were right, the draft resistors were the heroes, and that from start to finish the whole thing was a lie. The Anti-Semitism in question is of the country club variety which long dominated GOP circles - the party with which Mohler affiliates. Billy Graham himself is heard voicing such opinions in his discussions with Nixon. If Mohler is unaware of this, then I'm not sure what to say - all the more given his connections to Graham. If he is, then his dishonesty is on full display for readers of the article.

The Ivy League is associated with the US Establishment. Regardless of what some students are exposed to during their time in these schools, these institutions remain the springboard and factories for the leaders of the political and economic class. Everything Mohler says about critical theory, Edward Said, and his question begging regarding Israel are all debatable but he's writing for his audience - World Magazine is as partisan as Mother Jones and both have their uses and limitations.

I'm glad Mike Johnson was shouted down - he deserves it. He's a serial liar and doesn't deserve a platform to speak outside the unfortunate capacity he's been granted within the US governmental system. The fact that Johnson is Speaker indicates the game is not nearly as slanted as Mohler and his kind seem to think.

As far as the universities - yes, they've lost their way. But is it Leftist? Hardly. As I've continually argued (and am not going to labour here) what we're seeing is decadent individualism gone to seed. The inherent internal contradictions within Classical Liberalism have reached the point of crisis and BOTH sides are in a kind of epistemological and narrative meltdown. Both camps are abandoning Liberalism altogether. But you'll never hear that from Albert Mohler. Is the Ivy League an anti-Christian wasteland? Undoubtedly and yet I wouldn't be so quick to endorse the likes of Grove City, Hillsdale, or Boyce College either for that matter. I wouldn't encourage any of my kids to attend these education factories nor to pay their prices either.

Nor will you hear about the provocateurs and counter-protesters at work in the campus demonstrations - even major 'liberal' media outlets often avoided this story, the one exception being UCLA. Mohler wants to talk about 1968. By all means. Let's talk about COINTELPRO and the various hijinks and deception being employed the FBI and law enforcement. And what about the still elusive revelations concerning Operation Mockingbird - the CIA programme to subvert and manipulate the media. He seems more than willing to ignore the role groups like the Proud Boys play in nationwide protests and how they work with police departments. And unless one has their head buried in the sand, it's safe to say that everyone is aware of the power of the Israeli lobby and its myriad allies. There's no doubt they've played their part.

Or will we ignore the fact that significant numbers of the protesters are Jewish? Are they Anti-Semitic too?

In the end the Mohler piece is an exercise, a performance of smoke and mirrors that willingly chooses to ignore the real issues that tore apart college campuses in the Spring of 2024 and may do so again this fall. The Gaza War has only worsened and is seems ready to expand. Netanyahu is a butcher and I'm not surprised that many are outraged over this war - which would be impossible without US support. Even supporters of Israel often struggle with what has been done to the Palestinians. The history is long and complicated but when studied, one is left wondering why the Palestinians haven't resisted to a greater degree. Likud is a fascistic racialist party with a very dark past and the greatest irony in all this is that the state which bases its very existence and moral case on the Holocaust has behaved toward the Palestinian Arabs in a way that can only be compared to European fascist movements - which would include the most extreme forms found in Nazi Germany.

Mohler doesn't even touch on any of this - like the moral and intellectual lemming that he is, he just assumes the war is just and good. We already know his moral compass is broken and he's completely lost his way. He has provided decades of bad, misleading, and unsound commentary (all from a 'Biblical Worldview' to be sure) but this entered a new chapter in the Trump era as this corrupt Southern Baptist leader signed on to the Trumpite Cult. Revered by New Calvinist Evangelicals, I am repeatedly struck by the myopic, un-Christian, and morally deficient nature of his commentaries. This was no exception.

One is puzzled as to why he doesn't resign his position and procure a show on the FOX channel. If money and power and the defense of the Establishment is what it's all about - he'd find himself right at home and garner a great deal more in terms of gold and worldly glory. It would all be for the Kingdom of course.