Over time, the Rev. Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners and prominent left-wing political activist, has devolved from principled ideologue to ideological thug. His speech at the most recent Wild Goose festival, an annual gathering of Christian leftists and old hippies in North Carolina, stands as Exhibit A for the moral and intellectual bankruptcy at the heart of so-called “Christian progressivism.” Alexander Griswold of the Institute on Religion and Democracy reports in the Daily Caller, and you should read the whole article, but I want to focus on a couple of quotes at the end:
He’s never heard the accusations of lawlessness, knows nothing of the ever-burgeoning number of administration scandals, can’t fathom why anyone objects to Washington grabbing more and more power and control over people’s lives. He knows nothing of any of that. And since he’s ignorant of everything that actually brought the Tea Party into existence, and since he is unable to conceive of why anyone could possibly object to any of this, there is only one possible reason why anyone to the right of Barack Obama could ever object to him.
It’s because he’s black.
We can safely ignore the fact that Tea Partiers were the main supporters of Herman Cain’s presidential bid, because everyone knew he didn’t stand a chance to win anyway. We can also ignore their vocal support of Sen. Tim Scott in South Carolina, because he’s just a “ventriloquist’s dummy.” In fact, we can ignore pretty much any evidence that the Tea Party is not motivated by racial prejudice, because Jim Wallis knows the hearts of those who disagree with him, and knows that they are motivated by “anger” and “fear,” and that such emotions can only come about because they are triggered by racism.
The great thing about this kind of nonsense is that it works both ways. See, I can tell you that progressive Christians like Wallis are all anti-Semites, because they take positions on Israel that differ from mine, and nothing could produce those positions except hatred of Jews. I can tell you that progressive Christians like Wallis hate the poor, because they support a minimum wage increase that will result in many of them losing their jobs, and that kind of policy disagreement can only come about because of hate. I can tell you that progressive Christians like Wallis hate children, because they are in favor of abortion (I know Wallis claims to be against abortion, but that’s not possible, because I know that all progressive Christians are in favor of abortion, so he must be lying about his actual position). I can peer into Jim Wallis’ black little heart, and tell him exactly what he thinks about pretty much anything and why, because I have the same kind of superpowers that he has.
So please help me let the world know that Jim Wallis and his cohorts on the left are all anti-Semites, all support abortion, and all hate the poor. Because I don’t have a platform like the Wild Goose festival to parade my thuggery, so I have to rely on my handful of readers to spread the word. Thank you for your support.
Wallis earned the loudest applause of the night with his statement that the Tea Party only existed because Obama was black. “Barack Obama does not make this a post-racial society. This is the first friend I had who has become president. He has been stunned by the reaction to him. There would not be a tea party in America, I will this say this, if there wasn’t a black man in the White House.”So apparently one of the most important national leaders of the allegedly evangelical left has never heard of any of the stuff the Tea Party actually objects to. He’s never heard the protests over Obamacare. He’s never heard the denunciations of excessive taxation and regulation. He’s never heard the outcry over violations of the separation of powers, the trampling of religious freedom, or the demonization of dissent.
Wallis quickly clarified that you could disagree with Obama and not be a racist, noting that he had disagreements with him over immigration, poverty, and drones. Apparently, criticizing Obama from the left is not racist. “But [the Tea Party’s] disagreement with him is not about policy. It’s about who he is as a black man because he represents the future of America, and that makes a lot of white folks really angry and really scared.”
He’s never heard the accusations of lawlessness, knows nothing of the ever-burgeoning number of administration scandals, can’t fathom why anyone objects to Washington grabbing more and more power and control over people’s lives. He knows nothing of any of that. And since he’s ignorant of everything that actually brought the Tea Party into existence, and since he is unable to conceive of why anyone could possibly object to any of this, there is only one possible reason why anyone to the right of Barack Obama could ever object to him.
It’s because he’s black.
We can safely ignore the fact that Tea Partiers were the main supporters of Herman Cain’s presidential bid, because everyone knew he didn’t stand a chance to win anyway. We can also ignore their vocal support of Sen. Tim Scott in South Carolina, because he’s just a “ventriloquist’s dummy.” In fact, we can ignore pretty much any evidence that the Tea Party is not motivated by racial prejudice, because Jim Wallis knows the hearts of those who disagree with him, and knows that they are motivated by “anger” and “fear,” and that such emotions can only come about because they are triggered by racism.
The great thing about this kind of nonsense is that it works both ways. See, I can tell you that progressive Christians like Wallis are all anti-Semites, because they take positions on Israel that differ from mine, and nothing could produce those positions except hatred of Jews. I can tell you that progressive Christians like Wallis hate the poor, because they support a minimum wage increase that will result in many of them losing their jobs, and that kind of policy disagreement can only come about because of hate. I can tell you that progressive Christians like Wallis hate children, because they are in favor of abortion (I know Wallis claims to be against abortion, but that’s not possible, because I know that all progressive Christians are in favor of abortion, so he must be lying about his actual position). I can peer into Jim Wallis’ black little heart, and tell him exactly what he thinks about pretty much anything and why, because I have the same kind of superpowers that he has.
So please help me let the world know that Jim Wallis and his cohorts on the left are all anti-Semites, all support abortion, and all hate the poor. Because I don’t have a platform like the Wild Goose festival to parade my thuggery, so I have to rely on my handful of readers to spread the word. Thank you for your support.
