By Davis Carlton

Part 1 can be read here.

Part 2 can be read here.

The Utter Betrayal of Institutional Christianity

What motivates someone like John Earnest to do what he did? The standard pat answers are that Earnest was motivated by fear, hatred, bigotry, or some other worn out buzzword. The solution is naturally more generous helpings of diversity, sensitivity training, and tolerance. What follows are sweeping denunciations of “white supremacy” and the all too predictable pleas for gun control. But what really motivates someone like John Earnest? I would argue that John Earnest was motivated by a sense of desperation that was fueled by the betrayal of his future by his nation, by mass culture, and especially by institutional Christianity. I sympathize with many of Earnest’s concerns even if I don’t agree with the actions that he took. The response of Joe Carter of The Gospel Coalition provides insight to why John Earnest has abandoned all hope of a peaceful resolution to our current conflict.

Carter identifies the hateful ideology that motivated Earnest as….wait for it…Kinism! Carter cites “expert” on Kinism John Reasnor who suggests that Kinists hatefully seek to preserve racial and ethnic distinctions. Carter describes Kinism as a “third way” between racism and anti-racism. No Kinist I know describes our position using such dialectic and we don’t acknowledge “racism” as anything other than a Leftist smear. Carter describes Kinists as “pseudonymous bloggers” who lurk on “the dark corners of the internet.” It must take tremendous courage to denounce “racism” and stand with “Dr.” King in the current year!

Carter suggests that “Kinists are obsessed with preserving the ‘European race’ and their twisted form of Calvinism against those who would threaten it—usually African Americans or Jews.” The hypocrisy of Carter and The Gospel Coalition (TGC) are readily apparent in how Jewish supremacy is consistently ignored while Kinism is condemned for espousing ethno-nationalism. The teachings of the Chabad Lubavitch sect are entirely consistent with the teachings of the Talmud and Rabbinical Judaism. Whatever “supremacism” means in regards to race, clearly Talmudic Judaism should be at the top of the list. But it isn’t. Statements like the ones above only serve to underscores the profound double standard in how mainstream evangelicalism approaches the subject of race. Evangelicals such as Joe Carter eagerly denounce the undefined sin of “white supremacism” or even just generic ethno-nationalism applied by whites while ignoring the blatant supremacism that defines Judaism. Joe condemns Kinism which believes that all people are ontologically equal due to bearing God’s image while acknowledging various kinds of functional inequality that exist between people.

It’s also noteworthy that Joe places whites (as the “European race”) in scare quotes in order to marginalize and diminish even the existence of the white race. Why doesn’t he do this when referring to blacks as African Americans or Jews? This is a rhetorical question for anyone who has any knowledge at all TGC’s anti-white shilling. TGC has featured the musings of Jemar Tisby, who has praised deceased black liberationist James Cone, and TGC has published an article that at best soft-peddles Cone’s heresy. Cone was particularly flamboyant in his sheer idolatry of what he called “blackness.” Cone insisted that God is black and that Christians must “worship blackness” and that if God doesn’t favor black people against white oppressors “we’d better kill him.”

Ron Burns (I don’t care to take the effort to cut and paste his assumed African name), while more critical of Cone’s heretical teachings, still largely agrees with Cone’s political outlook. Burns’ radical liberalism is more significant in that he is listed on the TGC website as “a Council member of The Gospel Coalition” which means that his stated opinions carry the tacit endorsement of TGC and their allied churches. Burns stirred the pot when he argued that the best candidate for black voters, “presuming their interests and needs” was socialist Bernie Sanders! If that wasn’t enough Burns published a post on TGC by a guest writer arguing that Christians should vote for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Presidential election, and Burns wrote in the Washington Post¹ that even potentially overturning Roe v. Wade wasn’t worth having a “racist” like Donald Trump as President.²

To make matters worse Burns has written in TGC defending much of what Kinists would be in agreement, but is given a pass because he’s a black man airing his grievances against white people. Burns grants that the Bible speaks of nations having an ethnic component, and that the New Testament uses the word nation in a positive and ethnic sense. Burns also argues that Paul speaks of ethnicity in the sense of collective guilt and judgment by citing Paul’s statement to Titus in which he states that the Cretans are (collectively) liars and gluttons. Burns argues that this is analogous to American whites and whites in general because of our collective guilt for “racism” and our culture killed Jesus…I mean…“Dr.” King.

The reason I bring all this up is that Joe Carter, given his association with TGC and Ron Burns, has the temerity to call Kinists “heretics” for our support for ethno-nationalism while ignoring the black nationalism of Burns and Tisby. Joe Carter passes in silence over Burns’ support for collective guilt and responsibility, but only because it’s used to bludgeon white people with guilt over fake sins like “prejudice,” “intolerance,” or “bigotry,” but Carter would never countenance the principle of collective guilt if applied to Jews, blacks, or other non-whites for actual sins like cultural subversion or violent crime. While I can’t examine Carter’s conscience or read his mind so as to make definitive pronouncements about his motives; it seems impossible by any reasonable standard to conclude that Carter is simply mistaken about Kinism. Carter’s condemnation of Kinists’ advocacy of white ethno-nationalism while TGC publishes material from Burns, Tisby, and others who actively promote the collective interests of non-whites against whites isn’t just a case of hypocrisy. This is prima facie evidence of how institutional Christianity has abandoned and betrayed whites in general and white Christians in particular. TGC is not some rogue organization, but represents a wide cross-section of American Protestantism, and TGC contributors also participate in other leftist organizations like T4G and MLK50.

This gets us to the crux of the issue of John Earnest’s synagogue shooting. Simply writing off Earnest as a hate-filled psychopath ignores the underlying foundation of his complaints. Earnest cited Scripture about the covenantal judgment of God against Rabbinical Judaism and also correctly described how Jews collectively seek to undermine Western Christian civilization. These points stand unrefuted by Joe Carter and everyone else who has simply denounced Carter as a bigot. What motivated Earnest to take violent action is a sense of desperation. He believed he needed to fight because no one else would. Modern Christians generally don’t even care about the well-being of whites being displaced in their own homelands, and consider those who do care as intolerant bigots who don’t want to fulfill the Great Commission.

While I believe that John Earnest’s actions were mistaken I also understand his state of mind and the motives that led him to take extreme action. Violence is simply the natural consequence of enforced diversity. Non-whites have expressed resentment that equality hasn’t progressed at an acceptable pace, and have been moved to violence by mainstream media and Hollywood which misrepresents history and which portrays white people as unjust oppressors and the source of non-white woes. The natives are bound to get restless. Not all of us are willing to go quietly into the night. This won’t end without violence. This isn’t a cause for rejoicing. Violence won’t be glamorous and will likely bring suffering to those who we love and cherish. It’s simply the reality of what happens as a result of leftist agitation that destroys society and makes life unlivable.

Joe Carter’s Christianity is no Christianity at all. Carter and the rest of the TGC crowd are willing to forfeit any and all traditional Christian morals on issues like abortion so long as it advances the cause of non-whites at the expense of whites. This is called “social justice.” Peace will not come as long as institutional Christianity continues to prevail over genuine orthodoxy. My prayer is that social justice Christianity is quickly destroyed with its megachurches, “praise bands,” “worship teams,” hipster “pastors,” “missional” focus, and of course “social justice.” Until then, we can unfortunately expect more of the same. Perhaps Earnest’s actions are simply the vanguard of what is to come.