A Fitting Successor to MLK

Recently, thanks almost entirely to the city of Atlanta, Georgians awoke Easter Sunday to discover that their newly elected senator was openly denying the importance of the divinity and Resurrection of Christ. Nope, not the one that should be reasonably expected, the Jewish Jon Ossoff (however tasteless that might be, especially considering the reaction if a Christian senator did something similiar on Yom Kippur), but rather the one that actually holds the title of pastor at a Baptist church – Raphael Warnock. The Reverend Warnock decided to celebrate Easter with this little gem: “The meaning of Easter is more transcendent than the resurrection of Jesus Christ, whether you are Christian or not, through a commitment to helping others we are able to save ourselves.”

There is no reason to go over the errors in this tweet in much detail. The vast majority of Identity Dixie’s readership are orthodox (notice the small “o” there) Christians and understand that the Resurrection is the defining event in history, and the entirety of Christianity rises or falls on this one proposition. Still, the reaction was swift and predictable – the Right was outraged and the Left defended Warnock. That the vast majority of Warnock’s defenders are people who do not even profess Christianity as their religion is unsurprising. These are the people who love to tell the Right that “they aren’t being Christlike,” which, of course, means in practice to let them do whatever they want. Their “Christ” has nothing to do with the Christ of the Gospels. There were, however, two distinct but closely related defenses of Warnock that I think warrant a closer examination, so the Right understands what is actually going on here: 1) Warnock is a pastor and 2) he preaches at the same church Martin Luther King Jr. preached at.

Jerry Falwell was a pastor as well, but you never thought that shielded him from one bit of criticism. As far as this relates to rightwingers, this has no meaning. Warnock may be a pastor. But, Judas was a disciple.

There is, however, a little more going on here that goes into the nature of the majority of black churches. Before I begin this, let me say that I am not talking about all black churches or pastors. Many faithfully preach the Gospel. But, there is still a strong current in the black church that views the church more as a vehicle for social change than as the instrument by which the Gospel is proclaimed. This results in the black church getting behind leftwing causes. And, since political leftism and theological leftism go hand-in-hand, you get attitudes as seen in Warnock’s tweet, a very serious problem that is in no way restricted to black Protestants, not by a long shot.

Look, there is nothing inherently wrong with Christians getting involved in social issues. It may range from legitimate (helping the poor), issues that are outside their authority (what the top marginal tax rate should be is outside the expertise of the vast majority of religious leaders), or the demonic (the encouraging of homosexual behavior). However, there is one thread that connects all of this – it is not the primary responsibility of Christians. Yes, helping the poor is good, but anyone can help the poor. An atheist can help the poor. But, what a Christian alone can do is proclaim the Gospel for the salvation of humanity.

Obviously, this is not an exclusive issue of black churches – many white churches do the same. But, it is a far more prevalent problem within black churches, and it is something the Right must understand when dealing with stuff like Warnock’s tweet. There are a large number of black pastors who see the church as a way to enact leftwing social change. Christ is secondary.

“He preaches at the same church Martin Luther King Jr. used to preach at.”

Normiecon or liberal defense of Warnock

My short response to this is “So?” Unless leftists think the title of head pastor at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia carries the same weight Catholics assign to the Bishop of Rome, I’m not sure why this should mean anything. I sure would like to see someone like Voddie Buchanan become pastor there, just so I could see the 180, but I digress.

In truth, the Rev. Warnock is a worthy successor to Martin Luther King Jr. Both men saw the church as a vehicle for leftwing social change rather than to proclaim the Gospel so that men may avoid hell. And, both men were/are heretics. Just as Warnock downplays the importance of the Resurrection, Martin Luther King Jr. denied several foundational Christian dogmas. He explicitly denied the Resurrection, the divinity of Christ, and doubted the virgin birth. Hardline religious traditionalists like me may get accused of “heresy hunting,” but this is not looking for a problem or taking an issue where there may be room for disagreement and turning it into an ironclad dogma with no room for opposing views. This is the denial of all three of the core Christian dogmas. Additionally, heresy can include both denial and doubt.

To say “Christ was not born of a virgin” is heresy, as is saying that “Perhaps, Christ was not born of a virgin.” Not to be merely content denying dogma, he also tried to stop others from preaching the full Gospel. King also founded his own Baptist convention, the Progressive National Baptist Convention, after he failed to oust Joseph H. Jackson as head of the National Baptist Convention, a man who actually preached Baptist orthodoxy and reminded his followers that spiritual salvation was more important than earthly political activism. Remember, too, that as pastors, both Warnock and King, cannot say that they are merely unaware of the doctrine. They know what it is and deny it. They are (or, were in King’s case) formal, rather than just material, heretics.

Ultimately, this gets into the truth about Martin Luther King Jr. – a history that only the Dissident Right ever addresses. Though it is a near rite of passage for normie conservative websites to publish gushing articles proclaiming MLK a “true conservative,” and likewise for mainstream conservative Christians to praise King for his “Christian courage,” the fact is he was neither a conservative nor a Christian. He supported radical leftwing movements throughout his life, including praising socialism, and denied all three of the core dogmas of Christianity. Remember, political liberalism goes hand in hand with theological liberalism.

What Warnock revealed in his tweet is something the Right must pay attention to – he is acting in a manner that is very typical of the black church. This is the end result of placing greater importance on social activism than proclaiming the Gospel. In doing so, he is part of a long tradition, one that includes his predecessor. It would be foolish and unfair to paint all black pastors with this brush, but it is (more often than not) the case that they combine political leftism with heresy. What happened on Easter morn is just that little secret getting out to the world.

The Left is right about one thing, Raphael Warnock is a fitting successor to Martin Luther King, Jr.

-By Harmonica