Banning Hateful Symbols & Removing Monuments: A Better Way of Remembering History
For much of my life there was no debate on the display of racist symbols such as the rebel flag, or statues erected to memorialize
BLC is an author, speaker, scholar, and global traveler, who holds graduate degrees in Theology & Intercultural Studies from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and received his doctorate in Intercultural Studies from Fuller. He is the author of Undiluted: Rediscovering the Radical Message of Jesus, and Unafraid: Moving Beyond Fear-Based Faith.
BLC is an author, speaker, scholar, and global traveler, who holds graduate degrees in Theology & Intercultural Studies from Gordon-Conwell, and earned his doctorate in Intercultural Studies from Fuller.
He is the author of Unafraid: Moving Beyond Fear-Based Faith, and Undiluted: Rediscovering the Radical Message of Jesus.
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For much of my life there was no debate on the display of racist symbols such as the rebel flag, or statues erected to memorialize
“Socialism,” big-government solutions, safety nets, and financial handouts, feel a lot different when you’re the one desperately struggling and the check is made out to you.
Trump claims to be pro-life, but it’s not pro-life to intentionally sacrifice Grandpa Jones for Dow Jones.
Allowing group-panic to drive our actions will have far more destructive consequences than the Corona virus itself.
So you think Christians ought to be voting with biblical values in mind? Great, here’s a few to consider.
When torn paper is more outrageous than torn families, it is a mirror that reveals to us the heart of a people.
17 Responses
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I don’t think simplistic comparisons like this are helpful or that they persuade anyone who doesn’t already disagree with Huckabee. They create unnecessary divisions among Christians similar to what hard-core fundamentalists do.
I don’t know the context of Huckabee’s remarks, but I highly doubt he was suggesting literally punching one of Iran’s leaders in the face. I’m guessing he was referring to a diplomatic strategy that was more forceful than the one being pursued. I don’t think it’s the best analogy, and it very well could be a flawed strategy when dealing with Iran, but if you’re going to argue that Huckabee’s strategy for dealing with Iran conflicts with that Jesus would have our government do, then a more detailed blog post is probably better. This is complicated stuff.
Actually when one thinks of it — When you have a group of people that try to sabotage peace, isn’t that reprehensible? Reverend Mike Huckabee may want to rethink his position and make it more consistent with the message of the person he claims to follow.
It was the mostly Christian Republican base that fully supported and defended Bush’s wars and shouted down anyone that dared to challenge the mission. Now we have the same foreign policy wonks calling for a tough stand with Iran..When will they ever learn…
to Otrotierra:
I could not have said it better myself. I find Mike Huckabee to be a very scary man, not the least interested in who Jesus Christ really is, but, we need to pray for him and bring him back to finding Jesus.
Huckabee is a good Southern Baptist – the world I grew up in. This quote simply illustrates a truth that while so many evangelicals talk about faith in Christ, they actually live by fear, aggression, greed, and duty to Empire rather that faith in Christ. One can make an argument for serving Empire (as in the United States of America) above all else, just don’t call it Christian.
Kind of hard to take Ben seriously when by Ben’s own admission, “There’s no such thing as a “plain” or “straight forward” way of reading the Bible.” Although I’m not sure that Ben is accused of being consistent much.
Also, he’d have more credibility with me if it was his own body on the line in trying to put the bully on his butt. Jesus was talking about himself taking it on the chin, not his poor employees’ kids.
Another way of putting this debate:
Huckabee: To fight a monster you need to be one. Fight fire with fire!
Christ: Love is so powerful, nothing can withstand her power.
Though sometimes firefighters do create a contained fire in front of an approaching forest fire to burn off the potential fuel; under some circumstances, the contained fire becomes problematic in of itself. If we are to take Mr. Huckabee’s suggestion, then we must prepare for the worst possible outcome. Nothing good comes out of being a monster (or in this case, a bully).
They both can be right.
Why is this comparison just coming out now? I remember Huckabee’s horrible quote from months ago.
(In my personal experience, I found that the best way to deal with bullies is to show no fear, no willingness to back down, but also no willingness to retaliate. With one bully in particular I taunted him for months to make good on his threats to punch me right in the mouth me. When he finally hit me (in the ear rather than mouth, as I was getting tired of waiting and had just turned away ), my natural reaction was to burst into laughter. Once I calmed down enough to talk again (and retrieved my glasses, which had been knocked about 8 feet away, and popped a lens back into place but did not yet but them back on my face), I turned the other cheek and asked if he would like to try again. I assured him that it would be no more effective, but that if he still believed otherwise I’d rather him get on with it and stop wasting my time. He just stared at me looking utterly confused and powerless before backing down. This was in the 10th grade in the middle of a classroom (in a trailer, technically) where the teacher was present but not paying any attenition. There were several other student witnesses, who shouted comments like “damn, he’s got balls!” Over the next few days several members of the football team offered to beat the guy up for me, but I declined. He never bothered me again. He did however get suspended for the rest of the school year for hitting someone else about a month latter.)
YEP!
Another issue is lying, as in “The devil is a liar”> Iran has no nukes, is not bullying anyone, while the US overthrew their democratically elected PM in 1953 and installed the Shah and his secret police.
I agree with this post and it is thought provoking. However, how would this response have worked towards Hitler? I am not trying to be rude, just really asking: How should a Christian have responded toward someone such as Hitler? What is the difference between turn the other cheek and appeasement?
Mike Huckabee and his followers have more in common with Mars–the Roman god of War–than with the radical gospel of Jesus.
Jesus will always be greater than U.S. evangelical disdain for the Greatest Commandment.
Mike’s solution kind of sounds like the best way to get the school bully to jump you on your way home with a couple of his buddies.