May 2016 – Page 3 – Warren Throckmorton

What is Conservatism?

In his column about conservatives moving toward Trump as devilish deal making, Michael Gerson concludes with thoughts about what conservatism isn’t:

Conservatism is not misogyny. Conservatism is not nativism and protectionism. Conservatism is not religious bigotry and conspiracy theories. Conservatism is not anti-intellectual and anti-science. For the sake of partisanship — for a mess of pottage — some conservatives are surrendering their identity.

He says what conservatism is not but not what it is. Can we assume conservatism respects women, minorities, immigrants, religious freedom, and rationality? Can we assume conservatism embraces scientific research and scholarship?
Some will snort at those questions.
However, what attracted me to conservatism many years ago was that I believed conservatism was more than a list of positions to be defended. I believed conservatives seemed slow to change because they embraced the wisdom of the ages but also recognized the value of science and research and altered their views accordingly.
Mostly, I am thinking of my father who wasn’t especially religious but was a conservative. He had some issues he cared about but disliked the dogmatism of religious conservatives. Even though I am still religious, I have come to see the problem of political goals wrapped up in religious rhetoric.
On the issue of Trump, one distinction which marks conservatism is fidelity to one’s principles. I agree with Gerson, since Donald Trump’s candidacy stands against conservatism, conservatives should look elsewhere.

Bill Kristol Announces The Renegade Party to Oppose Trump and Clinton

While the beginnings are modest, I think a third party could take off this year as both Republicans and Democrats experience buyer’s remorse.
Bill Kristol, Weekly Standard founder and conservative pundit, is not voting for Trump or Clinton and hopes to attract conservatives to a movement which could win three states and push the election into the House of Representatives.
The Twitter account is here and a website is coming. What they lack is a candidate.

Wallbuilders Live: David Barton is America's Premier Historian

Last week, co-host of David Barton’s radio show Wallbuilders Live Rick Green started introducing Barton as “America’s premier historian.” Listen”

Green also introduces Barton with this description on May 10 and 16. He adds the title historian to the introduction of Barton’s son Tim.
I suspect historians and regular readers would not choose that phrase to describe Barton (e.g., how many premier historians have their books pulled from publication over historical errors?). In fact, that kind of self-inflation should be embarrassing. Is he really the best or most important historian in America? Who does that?
Since Barton runs Wallbuilders and is paying Green’s salary, he could stop it if he wanted to.
Update (5/18/16): Rick Green introduced Barton today as “America’s premier historian.”

Mark Driscoll Takes On Anorexia, Might Be Demonic

Mark Driscoll’s most recent video takes on the question: is anorexia a sin (click the link to view the video)?
The prompt for the video is a letter from a young woman who says she has struggled with anorexia for years. In her note, she asks Driscoll if anorexia is a sin.
First, Driscoll expresses appropriate concern for the writer. I share that concern. Anorexia is a baffling condition. However, there are good treatment protocols and with competent help, those who struggle with it can find help.
Unfortunately, Driscoll doesn’t refer her to anything like competent help. She tells him that her pastor said an eating disorder is a disease and her Christian 12 step program said it is rooted in sin. She wants to know what Driscoll thinks.
The right answer is that she has a condition that should be treated medically. Sounds like she needs to get out of that 12-step group.
From his website, here is the list of factors he uses to answer her question.

In Driscoll’s way of thinking, anorexia could be almost anything, including idolatry or the work of demons. Speaking of demons at 8:40 into the clip, Driscoll says:

This is where Satan, demons are lying to you, tempting you. The Bible says that Satan is the accuser of the children of God. He accuses them day and night in Revelation 12:10 there are accusations. If you start realizing this oppression, you can get out of it by acknowledging what God has to say. Oppression, an accusation, is often in the second person, you are unlovable, you need to punish yourself, you don’t appear attractive, whatever the oppression is, it’s telling you something that’s just not true. And so, what you need to understand is that’s demonic, that God doesn’t speak to you that way and if you’re hearing in the second person, maybe someone is talking to you, a spiritual being is lying to you, I’ll get to that in just a moment, and the way out is deliverance, you have victory in Christ, Colossians 2 says He has disarmed and defeated the powers and principalities of evil, triumphing over them through his victorious forgiveness of sinners on the cross.

He adds that the oppression may have come on her and that it might even be generational in her family such that women in her family are “under this kind of demonic torment and oppression and God wants you to rebuke that and walk in freedom and deliverance.”
This point reminds me of Driscoll’s Mars Hill Church spiritual warfare sermons where he describes demon trials for oppressed people.
Driscoll’s last point gets closer to where he should have started and ended. He tells the young woman that she may have medical problems, although he doesn’t specifically refer her for treatment.
For more information on eating disorders, check out this NIH website.
PS – I find some of what Driscoll said about acceptance of body image to be incompatible with what he and his wife wrote in Real Marriage about cosmetic surgery. Read Tim Chailles reaction to the Driscoll’s approval of cosmetic surgery.

Rolling Stone Examines Evangelical Reactions to Donald Trump

Writing for Rolling Stone, Sarah Posner examines a variety of evangelical reactions to Donald Trump’s status as presumptive GOP presidential nominee. Yours truly is quoted along with several other conservatives grappling with what it means to live in a Trumpian universe.
Some highlights:

Trump might get 50% of the evangelical vote says Tobin Grant. That prediction compares unfavorably to Mitt Romney’s 79% of the evangelical vote in 2012.
Denny Burk, professor at Boyce College told Posner: “I think that Trump is uniquely disqualified.”
Although time is running out, about 40 conservatives are planning some kind of move to counter Trump according to Erick Erickson. Lord, haste the day.
Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse has resisted calls to become a third-party candidate.
Fellow Patheos blogger John Mark Reynolds blames rampant conspiracy thinking for some of Trump’s support.

I pointed out that religious leaders who oppose Trump aren’t getting very far in offsetting the Trump tide. Evangelicals who support Trump are tossing the Republican political establishment aside and ignoring many of their religious leaders as well (e.g., Russell Moore). The way the quotes are presented, it may sound like I am blaming them, but that isn’t the case. Like many others, I am amazed how this election season has turned everything upside down.
It is disturbing to see evangelicals Ben Carson, Bobby Jindal, Rick Perry, and others contradict themselves so dramatically in the name of party unity. Perhaps this unity worship is why Erick Erickson predicts many evangelicals will vote for Trump, although not enough to win. Although I agree, I don’t feel confident. In this political environment, it feels like the sand shifts frequently which as we know isn’t a good place to build a house.