Proto-Protestantism: Clark and Mefferd on Socialism: A Dog and Pony Show

10 April 2019

Clark and Mefferd on Socialism: A Dog and Pony Show

https://heidelblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/7-25-18-Janet-Mefferd-Today.mp3

I rolled my eyes, but like the impulse to turn one's head to look at a car wreck, I had to listen. What are they going to say? Janet Mefferd and Scott Clark are going to break down Socialism for us. It ought to be a hoot.

And I wasn't disappointed, that is if I was looking for a fiasco. If someone is looking for good information, acumen and Scriptural wisdom on Socialism and how a Christian should think about it... they'll need to look somewhere else, because as expected, these two are a case of blind leading the blind.

Clark rails against Christians who reject private property and would use the state to create conditions of justice and equity. He's right, the Christians who think in those terms are wrong.

But I'm afraid Clark and Mefferd are trapped by the binary partisan paradigm that dominates the American political order and are unable to free themselves from that box. For them the only alternative is laissez faire Capitalism, the forces of the market and an unrestrained vision of Right-wing political categories. At this point I would advise the reader/listener to not confuse Right-wing with Conservative. They're not always the same.

The Christians who have succumbed to Leftist visions for society are wrong, even though in many cases they too are motivated by a desire to create a 'godly' government. While Clark can argue the Bible defends private property, the Left-leaning Christians he opposes can marshal just as many dubious hermeneutical arguments to support their notions of government intervention, ethical imperatives for the state to regulate economics and support the weak and the poor.

Frankly the Christian Right, represented here by Mefferd and Clark have nothing to say in this regard.* They are just as misguided when it comes to applying the Scripture to questions of government and ethics. The New Testament nowhere supports the Right's view of property, nation or economics.

Clark and Mefferd put on quite a show. They twist, distort and misuse the parables, a phenomenon I have called Parable Inversion. This is a common but often used ploy by Right-wing eisegetes who attempt to transform Christ into a market capitalist and usurer.

They misrepresent both socialism and communism but this was to be expected. There's a spectrum and nuance to what these movements represent and there are multiple departures from the movement that nevertheless retain the nomenclature. Clark and Mefferd probably get irritated when people talk about Crony Capitalism, Capitalist Imperialism or the inevitability of monopoly and financialisation and indeed there's a lot of territory between the localism many capitalists are focused on versus the realities of Finance Capital and the world of Wall Street. There is a spectrum to be sure on both sides of the scale but clearly they have no interest in the nuance, let alone informing the audience that such a spectrum exists.

Clark takes his customary digs at Anabaptism. Almost every time he opens his mouth he attacks both Pietism and the Anabaptists. He misrepresents them and deliberately mischaracterises them but it's understandable. He has a metanarrative concerning the Magisterial Reformation that he must promote in order for his theological model to retain its integrity. Most listeners will be unaware of this. As expected Clark praises the Magisterial Reformation and its embrace of usury. I say usury because up until the time of the Renaissance (which broadly speaking includes the Magisterial Reformation) all interest was categorically rejected by the Western Church. It had crept into Renaissance Italy and was also endorsed by Calvin and the Reformation. There's an interesting if complicated history with regard to its embrace and there was indeed some resistance especially from some of the Puritans. But in the end, usury (an essential component of Capitalism) won the day and to Confessionalists and Evangelicals alike it's as analogous to the Scriptures as America is to Apple Pie.

Of course if they're wrong, which they undoubtedly are, the Capitalist argument begins to rapidly collapse. If the historical view is correct and that the charging of any interest is in fact usury... then the Confessional/Evangelical metanarrative regarding the glories of Post-Reformational Western Civilisation is thrown into crisis. Of course this narrative is already up in the air as many Evangelicals and Confessional Protestants are at present torn over the legacies of Classical Liberalism vis-à-vis the society created by the ideology of Throne and Altar. Clark and Westminster California (generally speaking) would probably lean toward an embrace of Classical Liberalism, viewing it as more or less Christian. And of course this outlook would include Capitalism. The ideology was nascent in the Renaissance but was consolidated and came into its own as a thought-out and deliberate ideology during the Enlightenment. This dubious pedigree is largely ignored.

The discussion was ultimately shallow and misleading, leading the audience to think these are all simple issues and the case is closed. Mefferd goes further and mouths the Anti-Scriptural concept that 'Taxation is Theft', an oft heard mantra among the growing numbers of Christian Libertarian types. The slogan is the deductive result of Libertarian presuppositions, a complex of concepts and ideas born out of Enlightenment categories concerning 'rights' and 'liberty'.

Of course a careful read of the New Testament will reveal that these concepts are nowhere to be found and in fact run contrary not only to specific imperatives but to the general ethos of the New Testament. Neither Christ nor the Apostles spend time worrying about rights, asserting one's social liberty, protecting (let alone accumulating) private property, wealth, focusing on fiscal policy or anything at all along those lines. In fact the entire mindset of the New Testament is oriented in quite the opposite direction.

Once again if you've ever lived outside your native country for an extended period of time, you'll understand that while living abroad you're a stranger, a pilgrim. The concerns listed above are not your concerns. You live there but you're not invested there so to speak. You're not part of the system, let alone dedicated to it. This is how the New Testament presents the Christian's position vis-à-vis the world.

This is the context in which we're told to submit to the ruling authorities and pay all taxes. There's no equivocation on this matter. During Nero's time the taxes would be used for sinful purposes. Paul knew that as Christ did with regard to Octavian and Herod. We're told to pay the tax. We're not looking for wealth, power or good government. If we are granted some peace in the social order, then that's really about the best we can hope for.

But Mefferd and Clark care about their wealth and are deeply emotionally and spiritually invested in the power of the United States and the system it governs. They are also deeply devoted to its mythology, especially concerning WWII and the Cold War and figures like Ronald Reagan. It remains a wonder that this president so dependent on astrology and who confused it with Biblical prophecy is still the hero to these folks. But when you listen to them talk about him, they're talking about a myth they've created, a legend, not the actual man let alone his policies and the actual history of the time.

And so they care about these things in a way that represents a severe departure from the spirit and doctrine of the New Testament. It's sad and tragic but it's also dangerous.

Taxation is not theft. It's something we're required to pay and it really shouldn't matter all that much. Frankly I should be the one upset about taxes. Lower class people such as myself feel the pain when we have to write a check or send in the money. Clark and Mefferd are part of the Evangelical middle class which in many cases strays into the upper echelons of that spectrum. These are people who are doing well. Without qualification I can say that most Evangelical 'ministries' are in fact rackets and this is equally true whether we're talking about radio shows or seminaries. These people tend to make inordinate amounts of money and are exploitative.

Mefferd's statements are irresponsible and contrary to Scripture but they're part of a larger ethos at work in those circles. It even comes out in the advertisements she runs on her programme. There's financial deceit coming from all corners, whether it's medical payment sharing companies or swindling ministries run by crooks like Ken Ham, money makes the Evangelical world go round. It's no wonder they defend the capitalist order so vigorously.

Over the course of the programme both host and guest chose to ignore what the Scriptures actually say about wealth, property and certainly the overwhelming condemnation of the rich. Their attitudes are wrong and thus the questions and issues are framed wrongly. The Evangelical Left is deeply mistaken but once again these Right-leaning folks have very little to say.

The show was a travesty but in the world of Evangelicalism, it was par for the course.