The latest and very interesting article from Mr. Vance. As usual, a comment first.
This also reminds me of recent commentaries from Christian pundits who break down all the cultural reasons that hinder people from converting to Christianity. They attack various aspects of the public schools and our modern tolerant and tech-savvy culture.
Certainly all of those things affect people and they bring the baggage with them when they become Christians. And, the Church needs to be vigilant, and wise in assessing and critiquing whatever cultural setting in which it finds itself.... but the reason people don't become Christians is because the Holy Spirit hasn't changed their hearts. While God uses means....worthless vessels like you and me, there's nothing we can do, nor any means we can employ to convert someone to Christ.
Did Paul teach that Roman society could be changed to make unregenerate sinners more receptive to the gospel?
If that's what these Sacralists are saying, then what gospel do they have?
I'm afraid much of what has passed for Evangelism in the past is little more than tricks and manipulation, often reducing the gospel to repeating a mantra, signing a card, or going forward to something called an altar.
In a Sacral society, the gospel ends up being nothing more than participating in, and conforming to, the corporate vision.
These are man's bankrupt attempts to improve the gospel and instead show those who undertake such methods know little of what the Biblical gospel is.
Fallen man thinks the gospel is foolish...that's not silly, that's a moral rejection.
The Gospel works through the Word. And since the Word is Divine in origin, man can add nothing to it. God doesn't need our help. In fact we can't help. When we add to, we hinder and harm. We're back to Authority again. Get that wrong and man is adding to the gospel.
L. Vance deals with a similar situation in the following article. It's the same issue that is often visited in these writings. The complex of related ideas and theologies which we can place under the umbrella of Dominionism or Sacralism gives to us a different gospel and a different kingdom promise.
Vance is surprised WorldNetDaily would publish the writings of such a person. I'm not at all. We watched a few minutes of CBN the other day, that's Pat Robertson's so-called Christian Broadcasting Network. You can get it online. We like to keep up on what the enemy is doing. They were doing a little promo and one of the actors sitting at a computer said, "I only want to read the stories I want to know about." That wasn't an exact quote, but close enough. We had a good laugh. That's the American Evangelical attitude toward news, politics, science, and history. That's why so many of them cannot grasp what you're saying and get very upset when you suggest organizations like FOX, CBN, and WorldNetDaily are not news organizations at all...at least not news that adhere to any kind of standards that journalists or historians would try and adhere to. Fiction writers know how the story is going to turn out. The end is pre-determined. Historians and journalists do not.
But I do not understand why churches that ought to know better would tolerate someone like Ann Coulter in their midst? Her statements demonstrate clearly that she knows precious little of the Biblical gospel. She's not some lady that wandered in off the street. She's a public figure that to many is a representative of the 'christian' position. She needs rebuking and if she doesn't repent, she ought to be put out of the church. The congregation that has her should be very ashamed.
She's a vocal Dominionist and is appealing to many Christians because her arguments carry more weight and force compared to many other Conservative commentators. She puts a 'christian' spin on her thoughts in a way you won't find with other Conservatives like Limbaugh, Hannity, and Beck. And though I reckon Cal Thomas to be as grossly in error as any of them, he is slightly more measured in his statements compared to her outbursts. That's not saying much. Thomas (aka Goebbels in our house) has called for Israel to rid themselves of the Palestinians....expel them. Isn't Dispensationalism great?
Unless something has changed, Ann Coulter attends Tim Keller's PCA in New York City. I remember reading that in Time magazine a few years ago when she was on the cover.
Dominionism perverts the gospel of Christ. Sometimes, like in this Vance article it's patently clear.
Here's the article and the link.
The Greatest Christian Warmonger of All Time
by Laurence M. Vance
Recently by Laurence M. Vance: Pro-Lifers for Mass Murder
I had never heard of Ellis Washington until I saw his recent WorldNetDaily article titled "Nation-building? No, Christian-building" and did some digging. Besides being a weekend commentator for WorldNetDaily, Washington is a black conservative, a graduate of the John Marshall Law School, former editor of the Michigan Law Review, host of an Atlanta radio program, and a lecturer and freelance writer on constitutional law, legal history, and critical race theory. He is also a devotee of radio talk show host Michael Savage (read his sickening tribute to Savage here) and, above all, the greatest Christian warmonger of all time.
I know, you think I’m grossly exaggerating. You have seen some of my articles with provocative titles like "Christian Killers?" "Pro-Lifers for Mass Murder," "Cursed Be the Christian Coalition," and "The Christian Axis of Evil" and you think I’m just trying to stimulate your interest by using hyperbole in the extreme.
I assure you that I am not exaggerating, grossly or otherwise. I assure you that I am not using hyperbole, in the extreme or otherwise. And I also assure you that Ellis Washington is the greatest Christian warmonger of all time. Yes, I know that time hasn’t ended yet, and that there might remain a great deal of time for more Christian warmongers to make themselves known. But you have got to read this statement from Ellis Washington for yourself:
If America is really serious about combating worldwide Islamic terrorism and the increasing reports of Christian genocide among the 44 Muslim nations, then let us take up the battle cry of Ann Coulter and the Muslim author who converted to Christianity and train our military not only to kill and destroy our enemies but to convert them to Christianity.
The first part of the "battle cry" Washington is referring to is this 2001 quote by Ann Coulter: "We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. We weren’t punctilious about locating and punishing only Hitler and his top officers. We carpet-bombed German cities; we killed civilians. That’s war. And this is war."
The second part of Washington’s "battle cry" is from a Christian convert from Islam he heard on the radio expressing this sentiment: "America must use its military to go to every Muslim nation in the world and convert them to Christianity; it is the only way to end the Muslim jihad against the West, against Christianity and against civilization."
Washington also wants to combine "Coulter’s battle cry together with the Newtonian principle that to every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction" and send the U.S. military on "an international comprehensive Christian conversion campaign." "A conversion policy will obviate the need for perpetual nation building," he says.
But Washington does Coulter one better: "My one revision of Coulter is not that we should invade their countries: ‘We must invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.’" He wants the U.S. military to "join Christ’s battle cry" and honor the Marine Corps hymn.
Washington’s comments are so ludicrous and so contrary to sound Christian doctrine that every armchair Christian warrior, Christian Coalition moralist, Religious Right warvangelical, Reich-wing Christian nationalist, theocon Values Voter, Red-State Christian fascist, and God and country Christian bumpkin that I have ever criticized for supporting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan should be ashamed and embarrassed at his comments.
Washington’s mention of America’s conflict with the Barbary Pirates over two hundred years ago – as if it has anything to do with the current "war on terror" – is ludicrous. But because other apologists for the "war on terror" have also brought it up, I will address that subject in a future article.
It’s not often that I am rendered speechless. I have but seven brief comments to make.
One, how can WorldNetDaily continue to publish Washington?
Two, the attacks of 9/11 were political acts that were not undertaken because of our freedoms, way of life, culture, or religion. The reason why any Muslims hate us or are trying to kill us is because of our wretched foreign policy and occupation of their countries.
Three, the aberrant Christianity advocated by Washington will turn away multitudes of unbelievers from real Christianity.
Four, the U.S. military is not God’s army. The Lord never sanctioned any crusade of Christians against any religion. The God of the Bible never called, commanded, or encouraged any Christian to kill, make apologies for the killing of, or excuse the killing of any adherent to a false religion.
Five, what kind of genuine conversion to Christianity can be obtained at the point of a gun?
Six, what Washington proposes – forced conversion – is something Muslims have been criticized for. How can he advocate that U.S. soldiers – many of whom are not even Christians – "convert" our "enemies" to Christianity?
And seven, Washington is a coward. If he believes that Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead while Muhammad was a sinner who died and stayed buried, then why doesn’t he go to Pakistan, Yemen, or Saudi Arabia and stand on the street corner and preach it and see how many conversions he gets? Why doesn’t he go to these countries and kill with his own hands those who reject Christianity? Why doesn’t he enlist in the military himself? I know the military has relaxed its standards. Perhaps he will be allowed in. But no, Washington wants instead to send your sons, your fathers, your brothers, and your friends to do what he doesn’t have the courage to do.
Ellis Washington is the greatest Christian warmonger of all time, bar none. What else needs to be said?
February 3, 2011
Laurence M. Vance [send him mail] writes from central Florida. He is the author of Christianity and War and Other Essays Against the Warfare State and The Revolution that Wasn't. His newest book is Rethinking the Good War. Visit his website.