American Family Radio continues to push the Great Replacement theory and one means by doing so is by linking up with Michael Youssef - a millionaire mega-church pastor from Atlanta who has marketed his Egyptian heritage. I've listened to him many times on the radio and not only have I found his teaching to be defective, there is something of the charlatan and fraud about him. There are so many 'experts' that emerged after 9/11 that have cashed on on Middle-Eastern and Islamic backgrounds - and yet so many have been exposed as frauds.
In the case of Youssef, even some of the 'watch-dog' websites are only willing to offer a tepid endorsement of his financial practices. This is no surprise. He's running a big money-oriented operation.
Further proof can be elicited by the way he markets his books. Again, this link to 'Unholy Alliance' was found via American Family Radio (another farcical and pseudo-Christian outfit).
I must say I was recently rather surprised to find his work on the shelf at a Barnes and Noble - in Buffalo, New York of all places too. One needed only to turn around and be assaulted by the Sodomite Pride book displays. I thought - if they knew what this book was, they wouldn't have it here.
Youssef links 'progressivism' with an 'Islamic invasion' - that's basically Great Replacement language. The liberals (which in some quarters are dominated by Jews) are leveraging immigration in order to wipe out Judaeo-Christian civilisation - or so goes the argument.
Of course the whole concept of Judaeo-Christian civilisation is itself a problematic contrivance.
For the sake of argument if I wanted to say there was some kind of less-than-Biblical Christian civilisation that emerged in history, I would say it was dealt a death blow hundreds of years ago with the emergence of Enlightenment Humanism - the movement that birthed the United States of America.
Youssef might agree (minus the USA bit) but here's the problem - a great deal of what they (men like Youssef and the folks at AFR) consider to be Judaeo-Christian actually emerged from this very humanistic Enlightenment. Again, this would include the United States and its ideology, and forms of government, as well the capitalist economic theories these same people all idolize (and I mean that literally).
So, the Judaeo-Christian angle is dubious. We could say more about the fact that the polities associated with Israel were pre- and even sub-Christian in some respects as they were typological and not meant to be emulated or recapitulated by the Church. The arguments that the Old Testament Israel was a republic are ridiculous. Even before the monarchy it was a Theocracy (in the true sense) and the elders picked by Moses (via Jethro) were not republican legislators - but judges, ruling according to the Divine Law. There's nothing republican or democratic about it.
Much of what is considered Christian civilisation is actually opposed to New Testament teachings and so once again I must emphasize the danger here that so many miss. The Evangelical world is obsessed with Anti-Christianity of which there is a great deal, as there was in New Testament times. The apostles were well aware of it but don't seem too concerned. I would argue the New Testament is far more concerned with Pseudo-Christianity and heresy that subverts the true faith. This is what became dominant after Constantine and the Evangelical movement represented by the likes of AFR and Youssef is but a permutation of it - another form but of the same basic substance and rooted in the same fundamental New Testament-rejecting Judaizing errors.
Another reason why I declare Youssef to be a fraud is his claim to have been raised under Islamic Socialism.
While Nasser was by some estimations a socialist and certainly implemented nationalisation policies, he was not by any stretch of the imagination an Islamist, nor did he adopt any of the class-based narratives typically found in socialist thought. He was an advocate of secularism - to the rage and fury of the Islamists such as the Muslim Brotherhood. This same group would assassinate Nasser's successor Anwar Sadat in 1981 for signing a peace deal with Israel.
His non-aligned stance is also rooted in nationalist and pan-Arab interest - something inimical to internationalist socialism. This appears in the most stark geopolitical terms in his 1956 attempt to nationalise the Suez Canal.
I find Youssef's narrative and claims suspect. Given how I repeatedly witness him playing fast and loose with the truth and with history - I am dubious of his own narrative.
Youssef's scholarship is bogus as is his 'Omnicause' concept. This is marketing strategy, ear candy to the American Evangelical Right, a movement that has made him rich.
Socialist-Islamist politicians in major cities? Please. When thrown about like this, these terms become meaningless.
I have repeatedly encountered this language of cultural self-loathing - an accusation levied against the Left, an implication that these groups have turned down a path of self-destruction.
When I look at the millionaire politicians within the DNC, I don't see people who loathe the American system. They believe in it fervently. But what they do see is a hypocritical legacy and one riddled with contradictions. The US and the West in general purports to stand for liberal values but has not lived them out. They see room for improvement and continued reinvention.
At this point I find the Right turns schizophrenic - on the one hand it celebrates these liberal values but at the same time excoriating them. This is why thinkers like Russell Kirk have proven so popular as through revisionist sleight-of-hand they are able to craft narratives that smooth out these contradictions and present American Liberalism (the ideology of the Founders) as Conservatism - in some cases only slightly removed from the Throne and Altar paleo-conservatism of pre-Revolutionary and pre-Reformation Europe. It smooths out the contradictions for some but it's fundamentally not true.
Liberals believe in the American system but they also believe it to be in need of reform. They also understand (as I have long argued) the elite must throw some crumbs to the masses, provide bread and circuses for the mob (as it were). A failure to do so will result in a dangerous and unstable society in which the rich live in compounds with armoured vehicles and security details while the poor live in violent shanty towns. The Left realizes that this price of keeping the lower classes content is a small one to pay but one the Right begrudges - a Right that is increasingly prepared to resort to oppression and violence in order to maintain their hold and standing.
Youssef is a mouthpiece for these interests - interests that are completely at odds with Christ's Kingdom.
This is all made that much worse by the fact that he promotes Dispensational Theology.
In this work, Youssef offers a 12 point action plan, but is apparently oblivious to the fact that the tables can just as easily be turned on him. We list them here and offer some brief comments.
Study the core ideologies - to understand their errors. That's good advice and we should do the same with the Right-wing Enlightenment, Humanist, and Capitalist ideologies promoted by Youssef. They don't stand up to Scripture any more than the systems he would oppose.
Recognize shared agendas - Yes, it behoves us to understand how the Evangelical movement formed an alliance with the political Right and even today forges alliances with Wall Street and its interests. These arguments go both ways.
Ground yourself in the Word - Sound advice, but unfortunately when doing so we find that Youssef, the team at AFR, and the Evangelical movement in general represents a radical defection from New Testament doctrine and ethics. This is especially true when it comes to how they promote selective forms of racism and the way they frame and pursue anti-immigration policy.
Protect your mind - Indeed, we must do so, all the more as we see Evangelicals and Confessionalists steered and manipulated by political interests, false doctrine, and false teachers within the Church.
Engage in clear thinking - Youssef exhorts people not to accept the re-writing of historical and cultural truths. Amen, but in doing so we find that not only are the Progressives wrong, but so is the Right along with its repeated and oft-demonstrated tendency to engage in self-serving revisionism and even myth-making.
Stand firm in the faith - Bravely spoken by a millionaire who can afford to take endless risks and has resources to draw upon. It's a little bit more of a challenge to stand firm when you have nothing and when the vast majority of Christians have been led down the garden path. For many Evangelicals it would seem that standing firm requires the accumulation of gold and guns.
Prioritize bold witness - One wonders just how much harm the right-wing advocacy of the Evangelical movement has done to destroy the Church's witness in this culture - never mind its alliance with MAGA and its fascistic ideology and morally degenerate leadership?
Protect future generations - While the remnant Church can do little to protect the world in this present evil age, and there's no evidence in the New Testament to suggest this is its calling. We are to pass down a faithful heritage in the confines of the Church and glorify God and His Kingdom by living lives of witness, suffering, and martyrdom. I don't see how Evangelical theology can doctrinally function in generational terms but of course with most Evangelicals nation, culture, and Church are all more or less synthesized. It's ironic how Evangelicalism's 'conversionist' theology ends up being little different than sacralist Catholicism. Both have their rites (tangentially connected to Scripture) and yet both become rote in practice - largely empty forms that mean little apart from cultural connection.
Youssef is a kind of Evangelical-style Anglican. His church has drums and the whole kit of modern pop-worship even while he retains some Anglican doctrinal distinctives - and somehow pairs them with Dispensationalism. It's an odd mix to say the least.
I think of the well being and testimony of the Church and thus I struggle and testify against the pseudo-Christianity, the apostasy that is contemporary American Evangelicalism - the religion that men like Youssef have grown rich from.
Practice spiritual discernment - Youssef calls on his readers to discern between every day Muslim and extremists. I find this odd given the logical end of the rhetoric - from men like Youssef to the demagogues on FOX and elsewhere is to condemn all Muslims toward an end of driving them out of Western countries and subjugating them geopolitically.
Engage in the culture - These are buzzwords for political activism and dominion - even if Youssef doesn't employ the lexicon. He still believes in it and promotes it, despite the fact that it is incongruous with the Dispensational schema he advocates.
Speak the truth in grace - Is this what Youssef is doing in his marketing campaign to sell his book? Is that what his book is doing - telling the truth? I sure don't hear a lot of truth when I turn on the likes of AFR.
Keep the Great Commission - I can agree with the sentiment even if I would probably not agree with Youssef in terms of what the gospel is and to what end this is pursued.
The fact that Youssef has passed his pulpit on to his son testifies to the business model approach that he has adopted. It's an inheritance it would seem. This also demonstrates in stark terms the problems with not just the pastoral system (as opposed to a true plurality of elders) but with the celebrity paradigm that has corrupted the American Church. Youssef has made enough money it would seem and has also figured out that he can make more by focusing on his para-church 'ministry' and its marketing.
Tickling ears is always profitable and Youssef is not alone in tapping into the 'expert' track even if he has no demonstrable expertise to market. In the context of American Evangelicalism it often doesn't matter. And the one thing you can be sure of is ignorance of the Scriptures - which helps tremendously when you build your message on a foundation that subverts the teaching of Christ and the apostles.
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