Answer to an angry John Pavlovich

Calling someone "dear" is a letter-writing convention in English.  It does not imply that the recipient of your letter IS dear to you.  Such is certainly not the case with John Pavlovich's "dear White Evangelicals" letter, below.  It was written two  years ago: I hope John has calmed down.  

Let us, at least, respond dispassionately.   

 

"Dear White Evangelicals,"

"I need to tell you something: People have had it with you."

What, all people everywhere?  With all of "us?"  Aren't we people, too?  What did we do, forget to feed the cat?  

"They’re done.

"They want nothing to do with you any longer:"

Nothing?  Not even writing letters?  

"And here's why.  They see your hypocrisy, your inconsistency, your incredibly selective mercy, and your thinly veiled supremacy."

Wow!  All of us?  Maybe we stepped on the cat's tail!  

"For eight years they watched you relentlessly demonize a black President; a man faithfully married for 26 years; a doting father and husband without a hint of moral scandal or the slightest whiff of infidelity."

I never demonized Barack Obama.  Does that mean I'm not really saved?  Or not really white?  

I see Barack Obama as a human being, not a devil.  Yes, he seems to be a good family man.  I have never questioned that, nor his intelligence or political talent.  

Most of his policies, I soundly reject, like those of all liberals.  I think they are dead wrong, on most issues.  I also didn't care for the way Obama politicized the FBI, which was one of many forms of political corruption he is charged with.  And whenever he spoke about conservative ideas, he unleashed an army of straw men on us.  He is a talented politician, but not that rare thing, an honest one.  

"They watched you deny his personal faith convictions, argue his birthplace, and assail his character—all without cause or evidence. They saw you brandish Scriptures to malign him and use the laziest of racial stereotypes in criticizing him."

I do wonder about a man's faith when he attends a church of bigots and hate-mongers like Jeremiah Wright for political reasons, and when he votes to allow babies to be killed up to the moment of birth.  

But honestly, I don't even know what John is talking about, here.  Who used what lazy racial stereotype on Barack Obama?  The insult I usually heard was that he talks like a liberal law professor, or that he's from Hawaii, but he and Hillary put on phony southern accents on call.  Are those laze racial stereotypes?   

Which is the greater bigot: a person who criticizes a black politician (born to both black and white parents, actually) for policy reasons he can articulate, or a person who accuses "white evangelicals" of all manner of evils, without specifying which ones, when they offended, what precisely they did wrong, and where?  

Bigotry does not depend on race.  

You accuse us of quoting Bible verses. One does, indeed, come to mind, about a man with a log in his eye, offering to do surgery on a man with a speck in his.    

"And through it all, White Evangelicals—you never once suggested that God placed him where he was, you never publicly offered prayers for him and his family, you never welcomed him to your Christian Universities, you never gave him the benefit of the doubt in any instance, you never spoke of offering him forgiveness or mercy, your evangelists never publicly thanked God for his leadership, your pastors never took to the pulpit to offer solidarity with him, you never made any effort to affirm his humanity or show the love of Jesus to him in any quantifiable measure."

Pavlovich is dishonest and not very smart, obviously.  Otherwise one might try to explain to him the unique burdens of proof placed upon those who make universal negative claims.  

If I owned a Christian college, I certainly would not welcome a politician who adhered to the policies of Barack Obama to speak to the student body as if I thought they should hear those policies affirmed.  And it is true, I was not very grateful for his leadership, nor for that of Bill Clinton or Joe Biden.  And I doubt Pavlovich is grateful for that of the Bushes or Donald Trump.  (He'll prove that shortly.)    

The president needs mercy?  In the American system, citizens have a right to criticize political leaders.  Barack Obama had the power to grant mercy to whomever he wished.  I have no such power.  Did St. Paul offer "mercy" to Nero?  Not that I'd put Obama in the same category, but this is a strange demand.  The love of Jesus does not require us to affirm immoral policies or people who use power to oppress the weak.  Neither does American democracy demand that we "offer solidarity" with people with whom we wholeheartedly disagree.   

"You violently opposed him at every single turn—without offering a single ounce of the grace you claim as the heart of your faith tradition. You jettisoned Jesus as you dispensed damnation on him."

Violently? 

In fact, I recall one evangelical pastor, Rich Warren, moderating a debate between Obama and McCain.  I don't recall Warren "dispensing damnation."  Nor anyone else.  I don't even own a "damnation dispensor." They were all out when I got to the store.  

This man offers no evidence for his sweeping accusations, or any limit to whom he is accusing.    

"And yet you give carte blanche to a white Republican man so riddled with depravity, so littered with extramarital affairs, so unapologetically vile, with such a vast resume of moral filth—that the mind boggles."

Here comes the love Pavlovich was talking about. 

As a matter of fact, I wrote an ebook recommending against Trump, in the 2016 primaries.  And my article saying the same went viral on a Christian web site.  So much for "carte blanche."  But clearly this man is far beyond caring whether what he says is TRUE or not.  

"And the change in you is unmistakable. It has been an astonishing conversion to behold: a being born again.

"With him, you suddenly find religion.
With him, you’re now willing to offer full absolution.
With him, all is forgiven without repentance or admission.
With him you’re suddenly able to see some invisible, deeply buried heart.
With him, sin has become unimportant, compassion no longer a requirement.
With him, you see only Providence."

And with him, suddenly Democrats care about adultery?   

But I don't recognize what this man says of "white evangelicals," except as regards a few rare individuals, like Robert Jeffress. Most of us voted for Trump, but neither in 2016 nor in 2020, did we tell such silly stories about him.  I have never met an evangelical under the delusion that he or she has the power to forgive Donald Trump for his sins, or that that is his or her job.  We voted for him because we agree with many of his policies.  His poor character was, unfortunately, part of a package deal.  We only have two major parties in America, so a perfect match is rare.  But yes, if he or Obama wish to repent of their sins, we shall rejoice, along with the angels in heaven.  

"And White Evangelicals, all those people who have had it with you—they see it all clearly.

"They recognize the toxic source of your inconsistency.

"They see that pigmentation and party are your sole deities."

Odd, then, that you and your allies are always the ones who bring up race.  Your allies are the ones who make fake racial incidents go viral, again and again, as I show in Letter to a 'Racist' Nation.  This is your obsession, not ours. 

The sheer stupidity of this claim, its desperation, is astounding.  We are not only racists, we WORSHIP skin color.  Furthermore, aside from the Republican Party, it is our ONLY god. 

This is a man who cares nothing about truth.  He only wants his rant to sound deep to himself and whoever gets off on listening to such tedious, fact-free, hateful rants.    

"They see that you aren’t interested in perpetuating the love of God or emulating the heart of Jesus.  They see that you aren’t burdened to love the least, or to be agents of compassion, or to care for your Muslim, gay, African, female, or poor neighbors as yourself.  They see that all you’re really interested in doing, is making a God in your own ivory image and demanding that the world bow down to it.  They recognize this all about white, Republican Jesus—not dark-skinned Jesus of Nazareth."

Actually, hearing the voice of Christ, I spent years trying to try to save tribal girls in Taiwan who had been sold into slavery.

But you judge me, and every white evangelical -- you brought up skin color, not us -- who disagrees with you politically.  

Your rant is tinny.  It lacks eloquence or reason.  You're making up threadbare lies, without offering a scrap of evidence, without a hint of treating the people you hate with compassion or even half an ounce of cat sense.  (Cats look before they leap, don't they?)   

Unlike you, I am left feel calm but a little sad by your palpitations.  I feel sorry for you, John.  You sound like a miserable person, trapped in a universe of hate. 

Maybe you should get a dog.    

"And I know you don’t realize it, but you’re digging your own grave in these days; the grave of your very faith tradition."

"Your willingness to align yourself with cruelty is a costly marriage. Yes, you’ve gained a Supreme Court seat, a few months with the Presidency as a mouthpiece, and the cheap high of temporary power—but you’ve lost a whole lot more."

Three seats on the Supreme Court now, actually, thank you.  And maybe fewer less dead infants, and more fidelity to the US Constitution. 

In that first ebook of mine, like some other evangelicals, I did in fact express concern about what a Trump presidency would do to Christianity in America.  So you're wrong about that, as about everything else -- and I wasn't alone. 

But as citizens, we have a civic obligation to vote for the person who is most likely to do our country good.  I doubt it would have been Hilary Clinton, and I doubt it will be Joe Biden.  

If some people leave the faith because of that judgement, so be it.  That is their decision.  Perhaps fueled by the sort of over-the-top anger you are displaying.    

Anyway, God hasn't died.  Who knows what His plan is?  I know some people have walked away from Him.  No doubt politics had something to do with that.  But it would be immoral to allow oneself to be manipulated by threats into voting for a political party that justifies partial birth abortion.    

"You’ve lost an audience with millions of wise, decent, good-hearted, faithful people with eyes to see this ugliness."

What, wise, decent, good-hearted and faithful like you? 

"You’ve lost any moral high ground or spiritual authority with a generation.
You’ve lost any semblance of Christlikeness.  You’ve lost the plot.
And most of all you’ve lost your soul."

Now we've lost our souls!  Where did that thing go?  Under my shoe?  No, that's my sole.  

I stood up for young women being sold into prostitution in Taiwan.  And when I vote for Republicans, I believe I'm standing up for the unborn, and for fidelity to the Constitution of the United States of America, among other values.  

It's not for you to judge that choice, John. You may think you sound prophetic.  But really it comes across as catty, shrill, unreasonable, and deeply uncharitable.  

"I know it’s likely you’ll dismiss these words. The fact that you’ve even made your bed with such malevolence, shows how far gone you are and how insulated you are from the reality in front of you.

"But I had to at least try to reach you. It’s what Jesus would do.

"Maybe you need to read what he said again—if he still matters to you."

And you, John, need to grow up and think like an adult.  You should be ashamed of such childish rants.  

Find out what people really think, and why they think it.  

Or maybe you're afraid to.  Maybe your sweeping denunciations, without bothering to ask questions, without bothering to read, without bothering to offer evidence, reflect a deep-seated fear in your own soul.

A fear of what?  At some level of your being, perhaps you know.  See if you are willing to ever knock on that door.