Today I saw two things online within the same 30 minutes, and I can't help but contrast them. First up was a screenshot of a tweet from someone who claimed that "major biblical" issues for Christians were firstly, defending the value and worth of white people against teaching that white people are by nature morally corrupt, and secondly, defending the unvaccinated.
Second was a paragraph in the middle of an essay on either skepticism or Ivermectin, depending on how you think about it, in which the author says, having not mentioned Christians up to this point: "I side with the Christians. There may be people so far gone into the outer darkness that they can't be saved, but you are forbidden from ever believing with certainty that any specific individual is in this category. Act as if everyone is one good deed away from falling to their knees and acknowledging the light of Jesus."
The first post was from someone with a Masters degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, right here in Dallas, Texas, where I *know* they teach original sin, which states that everyone is by nature morally corrupt, including white people. One might agree with that or not, but someone claiming to represent conservative Christianity definitely affirms that, so to reject it but only for white people is something, but it's not Christianity.
The second post was from an atheist, an avowed rationalist, who needed a way to state unequivocally in an essay why he spent so much time addressing arguments other rationalists said he should have ignored or even mocked. The example that came to his mind for that "never give up" approach was that of the Christian gospel: that nobody is ever beyond the grace of God, that there is limitless forgiveness for absolutely everyone.
How is that the atheist understands Christianity so much better than the SBTS grad?
Is it possible that these are issues with diversity initiatives crowding out the message of "Christ. crucified" in the church? Of course. There are definitely issues with "white supremacy" and right-wing political extremism pushing any consideration of Jesus to the back, so I'm sure it's possible that somewhere the reverse is probably also true. The former is clearly a larger problem than the latter, however, and more than anything, I'd say the issue is that churches ought to focus more on their founder and less on political power. The church is repeatedly reminded throughout the bible to focus on helping the defenseless, and those who can't take care of themselves, usually described as "widows and orphans" in that cultural context. The unvaccinated are hardly defenseless, and are more often the aggressors in any situation. Also, the best way to help them, ironically, is to provide vaccinations.
