The Tradcon Leopard’s Spots

Vox Day clued me in to a good summary of Tradcon theology in the form of an online petition. He was cautiously optimistic. (http://voxday.blogspot.com/2018/09/statement-on-social-justice.html). Me, I see only proof that mercy is wasted on people who make bank off being wrong about Christ. The following “Statement on Social Justice & the Gospel” petition is signed by a number of notorious Tradcons including John MacArthur, Voddie Beauchamp, Jeremy Vuolo and Douglas Wilson.

…And Joseph Farah of WND.com, unfortunately. He’s one of the few journalists I have respect for. I hope that signing this was a one-time derp on his part.

This is kinda long. You can skip to “Complementarianism” for the good stuff.

https://statementonsocialjustice.com/

Introduction

In view of questionable sociological, psychological, and political theories presently permeating our culture and making inroads into Christ’s church, we wish to clarify certain key Christian doctrines and ethical principles prescribed in God’s Word. Clarity on these issues will fortify believers and churches to withstand an onslaught of dangerous and false teachings that threaten the gospel, misrepresent Scripture, and lead people away from the grace of God in Jesus Christ.

Specifically, we are deeply concerned that values borrowed from secular culture are currently undermining Scripture in the areas of race and ethnicity, manhood and womanhood, and human sexuality.

Watch, everybody! These people are so concerned about worldly influences in Christendom that they’re going to risk their 501c3 tax-exempt status to call them out!

Scripture

WE AFFIRM that the Bible is God’s Word, breathed out by him. It is inerrant, infallible, and the final authority for determining what is true (what we must believe) and what is right (how we must live). All truth claims and ethical standards must be tested by God’s final Word, which is Scripture alone.

They say this first to give themselves the illusion of legitimacy. As we’ll soon see (and already know), Tradcons are pathological liars who love to twist Scripture to accommodate the world’s convenience.

WE DENY that Christian belief, character, or conduct can be dictated by any other authority, and we deny that the postmodern ideologies derived from intersectionality, radical feminism, and critical race theory are consistent with biblical teaching. We further deny that competency to teach on any biblical issue comes from any qualification for spiritual people other than clear understanding and simple communication of what is revealed in Scripture.

So says the Credentialed, Professional Priesthood. These guys claim to be Protestants but they act Catholic in their utter refusal to give laymen a voice in the church. They might as well bury John MacArthur with his pulpit as pry it out of his deathgrip.

But Catholics are wise enough to provide alternative quality control when barring laymen from publicly critiquing priests. Closed priesthoods for independent churches is the worst of both worlds.

Imago Dei

WE AFFIRM that God created every person equally in his own image. As divine image-bearers, all people have inestimable value and dignity before God and deserve honor, respect and protection. Everyone has been created by God and for God.

This is the standard foundation that Tradcons build their lies upon, that because God shows no favoritism we’re all equally intelligent, wise, skilled and capable. Obviously false. We also do not deserve honor, respect or protection. Being made in God’s image gives us value despite that unworthiness. Neither has everyone been created for God. He has made many people to be His enemies… the devil first among them, their spiritual father.

WE DENY that God-given roles, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, religion, sex or physical condition or any other property of a person either negates or contributes to that individual’s worth as an image-bearer of God.

So begins the “women are people, too” conflation with “women are men, too”. God made women inferior to men in order to demonstrate humanity’s need for Him. Women are not worthy of a husband. Humans are not worthy of Christ. God likes us despite our unworthiness and He expects a similar attitude from the fathers and husbands who relate with women.

Justice

WE AFFIRM that since he is holy, righteous, and just, God requires those who bear his image to live justly in the world. This includes showing appropriate respect to every person and giving to each one what he or she is due. We affirm that societies must establish laws to correct injustices that have been imposed through cultural prejudice.

I thought the signers of this statement were OPPOSING Social Justice??? Because that boldface is almost the exact definition of Convergence.

I’m suddenly tempted to stop by random churches to use their bathrooms and see if they’re gender-fluid, to correct the ancient cultural prejudices of men peeing while standing.

WE DENY that true justice can be culturally defined or that standards of justice that are merely socially constructed can be imposed with the same authority as those that are derived from Scripture. We further deny that Christians can live justly in the world under any principles other than the biblical standard of righteousness. Relativism, socially-constructed standards of truth or morality, and notions of virtue and vice that are constantly in flux cannot result in authentic justice.

Morons. God’s Will cannot be applied directly. “Put the murderer to death” is God’s will for all societies but the method of determining guilt, form of execution and so on is undefined. The ideal situation, from the Prot perspective, is that government is a secular implementation of Christian principles. That means culture and social constructs play a significant, natural part in justice.

What they’re doing here is undermining race and cultural distinctions as unimportant, since they’re merely “socially constructed”. This notion of universality is critical to forming the world gov’t destined to be led by Satan. If ten nations have ten different yet legitimate ways to be holy & just than they cannot have a unified government. No, first all nations must be reduced to the same grey good so that one-size-fits-one-size gov’t becomes possible.

“Social constructs”, heh. It’s a bad sign when one uses the Liar’s language unironically.

God.s Law

WE AFFIRM that God’s law, as summarized in the ten commandments, more succinctly summarized in the two great commandments, and manifested in Jesus Christ, is the only standard of unchanging righteousness. Violation of that law is what constitutes sin.

WE DENY that any obligation that does not arise from God’s commandments can be legitimately imposed on Christians as a prescription for righteous living. We further deny the legitimacy of any charge of sin or call to repentance that does not arise from a violation of God’s commandments.

Consider public nudity. God never directly forbade it (although that was His very first comment post-Fall) and clothing interferes with some definitions of “loving your neighbor” so Tradcons should have no trouble with fat, naked rednecks in their pews. Of course, that’s sexually unacceptable and inconsistent with God’s will… but what is appropriate clothing? It isn’t defined in the Ten Commandments or by the word “modesty”. Pacific Islanders with bare boobs were chaste by their standards; corsets didn’t slow down the whores of Victorian England. My kilt is not a skirt.

See? Morally acceptable clothing is NECESSARILY culturally dependent.

Furthermore, the idea that refusing to obey extra-Biblical laws cannot be sin is directly refuted by Paul in his writings on the morality of food. 1 Corinthians 8:9-13: “Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.”

Sin

WE AFFIRM that all people are connected to Adam both naturally and federally. Therefore, because of original sin everyone is born under the curse of God’s law and all break his commandments through sin. There is no difference in the condition of sinners due to age, ethnicity, or sex. All are depraved in all their faculties and all stand condemned before God’s law. All human relationships, systems, and institutions have been affected by sin.

Ooh! Ooh! They mentioned Original Sin! Well, no, only its consequences. Nothing about Eve disobeying God & Adam followed by Adam following Eve’s lead.

“Both naturally and federally”? I’ve not heard it put that way before.

WE DENY that, other than the previously stated connection to Adam, any person is morally culpable for another person’s sin. Although families, groups, and nations can sin collectively, and cultures can be predisposed to particular sins, subsequent generations share the collective guilt of their ancestors only if they approve and embrace (or attempt to justify) those sins. Before God each person must repent and confess his or her own sins in order to receive forgiveness. We further deny that one’s ethnicity establishes any necessary connection to any particular sin.

They wouldn’t be Tradcons if they didn’t flagrantly contradict themselves on occasion. You’re only responsible for your own sin, ever, except that some sins are collective, and some sins are society’s culture’s fault, and you’re guilty of other people’s sins if you approve of them and you inherited sin from Adam. But the rest is yours alone!

It’s possible to approve of other peoples’ sins without being guilty of them. I approve of porn. God does not. I accept God’s standard as the mandatory ideal but having lived through a young adulthood in which sex was weaponized as a tool of slavery & threatpoint against men, I personally do not fault men for resorting to porn as the only plausible solution to the death of licit sexual opportunities.

God will fault them but I will not. Especially the unbelievers who don’t have that standard to endure anyway. Does this make me guilty of their porn usage? No.

Gospel

WE AFFIRM that the gospel is the divinely-revealed message concerning the person and work of Jesus Christ.especially his virgin birth, righteous life, substitutionary sacrifice, atoning death, and bodily resurrection.revealing who he is and what he has done with the promise that he will save anyone and everyone who turns from sin by trusting him as Lord.

That’s the Gospel until the last bit: “who turns from sin by trusting him as Lord.” That is heresy. The word they should be using here is repentance. We are not saved by faith alone; the price is repentance, turning against our evil nature and deeds. Trusting Christ to resurrect us is our motivation for doing so, not our method of doing so. “Trusting him as Lord”? Demons can do that.

WE DENY that anything else, whether works to be performed or opinions to be held, can be added to the gospel without perverting it into another gospel. This also means that implications and applications of the gospel, such as the obligation to live justly in the world, though legitimate and important in their own right, are not definitional components of the gospel.

This is why Tradcons don’t like the concept of repentance. They don’t want to accept that people, specifically women, must constantly work to control their evil tendencies. It’s hard to blame husbands for their wives’ misconduct when they have to first check if wifey is being obedient… very rare in Current Year.

Also, because Tradcons are Moralistic Therapeutic Deists. Basically, they use religion as a means to a happy life instead of a path to confronting the dark truth of human rebellion. Boyfriend Jesus wants you to be fulfilled, not hurting! But the Crucified Jesus promises His followers that we will suffer painfully if we follow Him. He died on a Cross so we could be next, not so that we wouldn’t have to.

Salvation

WE AFFIRM that salvation is granted by God’s grace alone received through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. Every believer is united to Christ, justified before God, and adopted into his family. Thus, in God’s eyes there is no difference in spiritual value or worth among those who are in Christ. Further, all who are united to Christ are also united to one another regardless of age, ethnicity, or sex. All believers are being conformed to the image of Christ. By God’s regenerating and sanctifying grace all believers will be brought to a final glorified, sinless state of perfection in the day of Jesus Christ.

Jesus showed favoritism towards the Jews… still does to this day even though they hate Him. Paul also showed favoritism towards his own people. Will the Tradcons claim these guys were wrong to do that, or is putting one’ people first acceptable, Christlike conduct?

We ARE NOT united with EACH OTHER in Christ. This should be blatantly obvious. Prots and Cats have trouble coexisting for many valid reasons even though we’re both devout. In Scripture, Paul and Barnabas couldn’t get along. Jesus and Peter had some words, too, and how about that Oedipus guy in Corinthians? And that’s before we get to unbelievers.

We’ll get along in Heaven because only then will we be able to get along. Today, we are spiritually blind. Blame either God or Adam but it’s true, as is the adage of the blind leading the blind.

WE DENY that salvation can be received in any other way. We also deny that salvation renders any Christian free from all remaining sin or immune from even grievous sin in this life. We further deny that ethnicity excludes anyone from understanding the gospel, nor does anyone’s ethnic or cultural heritage mitigate or remove the duty to repent and believe.

This is a strawman. Nobody claims Africans can’t be Christians. What we claim is Africans, as a race, can’t thrive in or meaningfully contribute to a First World society. There’s a lot of evidence for that. And it’s for the best if the Chinese keep to China.

The Church

WE AFFIRM that the primary role of the church is to worship God through the preaching of his word, teaching sound doctrine, observing baptism and the Lord’s Supper, refuting those who contradict, equipping the saints, and evangelizing the lost. We affirm that when the primacy of the gospel is maintained that this often has a positive effect on the culture in which various societal ills are mollified. We affirm that, under the lordship of Christ, we are to obey the governing authorities established by God and pray for civil leaders.

WE DENY that political or social activism should be viewed as integral components of the gospel or primary to the mission of the church. Though believers can and should utilize all lawful means that God has providentially established to have some effect on the laws of a society, we deny that these activities are either evidence of saving faith or constitute a central part of the church’s mission given to her by Jesus Christ, her head. We deny that laws or regulations possess any inherent power to change sinful hearts.

Classic cuckservatism. The Church’s role is to go through the motions of worship while doing as it’s told by the Elites? No. The Church’s role is the Salt of the Earth. We fight an eternal war against moral rot. Evildoers in authority are the most notorious source of that rot but the Tradcon refuses to confront society’s leaders as a matter of First Principles. Holding that belief while preaching about Jesus facing the Pharisees is a remarkable feat of self-delusion.

“We deny that laws or regulations possess any inherent power to change sinful hearts.” Translation, only Professional Pastors(tm) are capable of presenting the Gospel. Tradcons have unshakable faith in the power of credentialism, generally not having any other life experience to rely on.

Even broken as it is, I daresay that today’s prison-industrial complex straightens out more human souls than all the signers of this Statement. Tradcons preach the Gospel at people like it’s a magic spell. Just look at their church marquees: Jesus loves you! Jesus died for you! As if that’s going to convict someone of the evil they’ve done half as well as a judge & jury.

“Though believers can and should utilize all lawful means that God has providentially established to have some effect on the laws of a society, we deny that these activities are either evidence of saving faith or constitute a central part of the church’s mission...” Translation: we refuse to violate 501c3 status and that refusal does not make us disobedient to Christ. Speak of the heretic:

Heresy

WE AFFIRM that heresy is a denial of or departure from a doctrine that is essential to the Christian faith. We further affirm that heresy often involves the replacement of key, essential truths with variant concepts, or the elevation of non-essentials to the status of essentials. To embrace heresy is to depart from the faith once delivered to the saints and thus to be on a path toward spiritual destruction. We affirm that the accusation of heresy should be reserved for those departures from Christian truth that destroy the weight-bearing doctrines of the redemptive core of Scripture. We affirm that accusations of heresy should be accompanied with clear evidence of such destructive beliefs.

WE DENY that the charge of heresy can be legitimately brought against every failure to achieve perfect conformity to all that is implied in sincere faith in the gospel.

Boldface mine. No, you false Christians, the accusation of heresy is valid for ALL departures from Scriptural basics. Particularly, you twist God’s teachings on the marital roles of husband and wife with the justification of “forrrr the chillllldren!” That will not deflect God’s wrath from you. Neither will your stubborn insistence on maintaining good relations with the taxman endear you to your Savior. Good intentions count for nothing. If you lie about God or twist His teachings then you will go to Hell even if good came from it.

Sexuality and Marriage

WE AFFIRM that God created mankind male and female and that this divinely determined distinction is good, proper, and to be celebrated. Maleness and femaleness are biologically determined at conception and are not subject to change. The curse of sin results in sinful, disordered affections that manifest in some people as same-sex attraction. Salvation grants sanctifying power to renounce such dishonorable affections as sinful and to mortify them by the Spirit. We further affirm that God’s design for marriage is that one woman and one man live in a one-flesh, covenantal, sexual relationship until separated by death. Those who lack the desire or opportunity for marriage are called to serve God in singleness and chastity. This is as noble a calling as marriage.

E.V.I.L. Say it with me: “evil”. Those who reject sexual dimorphism are evil, not wrong, not “curse of sin manifesting as same-sex attraction”. I can’t give these chuckleheads credit for admitting gender is genetic because they claim salvation will magically fix homosexual tendencies. No need to demand legalization of conversion therapy! God will fix you so I don’t have to!

Conspicuously missing is that fact that Christian marriage is not a marriage of equals. The husband holds total authority. The wife shall submit to him in all things. Remember how this long-winded statement began by saying we’re all equal in Christ? Here’s the reason: the Tradcons want to twist that into equality WITH Christ.

“Those who lack the desire or opportunity for marriage are called to serve God in singleness and chastity. This is as noble a calling as marriage.” Bold words, coming from the very clergy who killed the opportunity for marriage via neglect and raising their daughters to never trust a husband.

WE DENY that human sexuality is a socially constructed concept. We also deny that one’s sex can be fluid. We reject “gay Christian” as a legitimate biblical category. We further deny that any kind of partnership or union can properly be called marriage other than one man and one woman in lifelong covenant together. We further deny that people should be identified as “sexual minorities..which serves as a cultural classification rather than one that honors the image-bearing character of human sexuality as created by God.

Sexual minorities? Is that in reference to women being ordered to submit to husbands or sexual freaks worrying they have inadequate political representation?

Affirming basic biology makes Tradcons as moral as the insane atheist and globalist Jordan Peterson.

Complementarianism

WE AFFIRM that God created mankind both male and female with inherent biological and personal distinctions between them and that these created differences are good, proper, and beautiful. Though there is no difference between men and women before God’s law or as recipients of his saving grace, we affirm that God has designed men and women with distinct traits and to fulfill distinct roles. These differences are most clearly defined in marriage and the church, but are not irrelevant in other spheres of life. In marriage the husband is to lead, love, and safeguard his wife and the wife is to respect and be submissive to her husband in all things lawful. In the church, qualified men alone are to lead as pastors/elders/bishops and preach to and teach the whole congregation. We further affirm that the image of God is expressed most fully and beautifully in human society when men and women walk in obedience to their God-ordained roles and serve according to their God-given gifts.

This must be the part that gave Vox Day hope. It reads like an improvement over the usual complementariam drivel. However, I see red flags.

1. “Biological and personal distinctions” is not sexual distinctions. Men and women are dramatically and systematically different, not just body parts and personal “spiritual gifts”, and these differences extend far beyond God deciding who is in charge of a specific type of relationship.

2. “the husband is to lead, love, and safeguard his wife”? No. No safeguarding. Men treat women as their own bodies. I have frequently put my body in danger, sometimes for work, sometimes pleasure and sometimes necessity. I broke it several times. I am not required by God to treat a wife better than that. No martyrs for Barbie.

3. “the wife is to respect and be submissive to her husband in all things lawful.” Nice addition, fuckwits. All things LAWFUL? That’s still conditional male headship, which is no headship at all. The Biblical command is “obey in all things and call him Master”.

4. “In the church, qualified men alone are to lead as pastors/elders/bishops and preach to and teach the whole congregation.” Qualified men alone? What about priesthood of the believer? There are requirements to be an elder but the only requirement for teaching & preaching is not being a new believer. Again with the deathgrip on the pulpit.

Furthermore, the Biblical requirement is for older women to teach the younger. Not Mister Pastor PhD.

5. “men and women walk in obedience to their God-ordained roles”? Men obey God. Women obey men. Until Tradcons teach this, they’re playing the shell game of claiming wifey shouldn’t submit because Hubby isn’t trying hard enough.

Race / Ethnicity

WE AFFIRM God made all people from one man. Though people often can be distinguished by different ethnicities and nationalities, they are ontological equals before God in both creation and redemption. “Race” is not a biblical category, but rather a social construct that often has been used to classify groups of people in terms of inferiority and superiority. All that is good, honest, just, and beautiful in various ethnic backgrounds and experiences can be celebrated as the fruit of God’s grace. All sinful actions and their results (including evils perpetrated between and upon ethnic groups by others) are to be confessed as sinful, repented of, and repudiated.

More Tradcon self-contradiction. All races are God-created beautiful in their own particular ways and all races are social constructs of oppression. Which is it?

How did the Church fill up with these delusional morons? “If it isn’t a Bible category then it’s a social construct.” “If it isn’t in my math textbook then it can’t be true.”

WE DENY that Christians should segregate themselves into racial groups or regard racial identity above, or even equal to, their identity in Christ. We deny that any divisions between people groups (from an unstated attitude of superiority to an overt spirit of resentment) have any legitimate place in the fellowship of the redeemed. We reject any teaching that encourages racial groups to view themselves as privileged oppressors or entitled victims of oppression. While we are to weep with those who weep, we deny that a person’s feelings of offense or oppression necessarily prove that someone else is guilty of sinful behaviors, oppression, or prejudice.

That answers my question. We should erase all racial distinctions from existence via mandatory, institutional miscegenation even though existing racial distinctions are “the fruit of God’s grace”. By their own logic, these people are cultural vandals destroying God’s creation of the races and nations.

The OT is chock-full of racial distinctions, many of them God-mandated. Citation needed for God now requiring interbreeding.

Meanwhile, these American citizens are calling for the violation of the First Amendment right to freedom of association by denying that Christians should be allowed to voluntarily segregate. No wonder conservatives don’t conserve the Constitution: they don’t like it.

So, Tradcons, about that Korean church down the street. You going to picket them for racially self-segregating? God-Damned hypocrites.

Culture

WE AFFIRM that some cultures operate on assumptions that are inherently better than those of other cultures because of the biblical truths that inform those worldviews that have produced these distinct assumptions. Those elements of a given culture that reflect divine revelation should be celebrated and promoted. But the various cultures out of which we have been called all have features that are worldly and sinful.and therefore those sinful features should be repudiated for the honor of Christ. We affirm that whatever evil influences to which we have been subjected via our culture can be.and must be.overcome through conversion and the training of both mind and heart through biblical truth.

I see they finally used the word “evil”, but not in relation to humans. Only “cultures” that must be overcome on general principles of “biblical truth”. Citation needed for which New Testament culture is the valid one… oh. Right. Judeo-Christianity. Which even the Jews hate.

WE DENY that individuals and sub-groups in any culture are unable, by God’s grace, to rise above whatever moral defects or spiritual deficiencies have been engendered or encouraged by their respective cultures.

If they’re able to and don’t then they should be punished for doing evil. If they’re unable then no punishment but we can’t live together; the Scorpion and the Frog. Which is it, Tradcons? All those black criminals filling our prisons, do they belong there or should they go back to Liberia?

Racism

WE AFFIRM that racism is a sin rooted in pride and malice which must be condemned and renounced by all who would honor the image of God in all people. Such racial sin can subtly or overtly manifest itself as racial animosity or racial vainglory. Such sinful prejudice or partiality falls short of God’s revealed will and violates the royal law of love. We affirm that virtually all cultures, including our own, at times contain laws and systems that foster racist attitudes and policies.

Racism is rooted in genetics and humans being a social species. It’s a very simple organization principle.

Is it wrong to care more for your own people than other peoples? Should a man be punished for caring more about his son than the neighbor’s son who is not his responsibility? Should we seek the welfare of other countries at the loss of our own? Of course not. First we help ourselves, then we are best able to help others. That’s all that racism is.

WE DENY that treating people with sinful partiality or prejudice is consistent with biblical Christianity.

Like Christ did with the Syrophoenician woman? He called her a dog.

We deny that only those in positions of power are capable of racism, or that individuals of any particular ethnic groups are incapable of racism.

Act like it. Picket those Korean churches. If the rooftop people scare you then picket the Hispanic churches. The black churches. The Amish churches. But no, you only hate whites. Your own people. You race traitors abandoned your own people, your own children to show how much you care about foreigners that you have no responsibility for. Per 1 Timothy 5:8, that makes you worse than an unbeliever. Be ashamed.

We deny that systemic racism is in any way compatible with the core principles of historic evangelical convictions. We deny that the Bible can be legitimately used to foster or justify partiality, prejudice, or contempt toward other ethnicities.

Like the ancient Cretans? Or the Jews accepting the bloodguilt of murdering God? “You foolish Galatians!”?

Once again, are these people trying to OPPOSE Social Justice?

We deny that the contemporary evangelical movement has any deliberate agenda to elevate one ethnic group and subjugate another.

The CONTEMPORARY evangelical movement wants white people extinct. Witness its support for migrants from everywhere except South African Boers.

And we emphatically deny that lectures on social issues (or activism aimed at reshaping the wider culture) are as vital to the life and health of the church as the preaching of the gospel and the exposition of Scripture. Historically, such things tend to become distractions that inevitably lead to departures from the gospel.

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? THIS ENTIRE STATEMENT HAS BEEN A LECTURE ON SOCIAL ISSUES! YOU WROTE THIS TO RESHAPE WIDER CULTURE BY DEMANDING SPECIFIC OUTCOMES ON RACISM AND SEXUAL EQUALITY! If you think the Church’s purpose is reading Scripture out loud instead of social commentary then why did you write this? Which is it? Are you getting involved in social issues because they’re intruding into Church affairs or are you stopping your jobs to enjoy a distraction?

Stop. Contradicting. Yourselves.

Addendum

For more detailed consideration of some of the issues raised in this statement, we recommend the following two documents:

1987 Danvers Statement
2017 Nashville Statement

Presented without comment.

In conclusion, not only did they not confront any Social Justice priorities with this Statement, they didn’t say a single thing to risk their tax-exempt status. All of the “values borrowed from secular culture that are currently undermining Scripture” are the ones threatening the progress of Social Justice.

Carry on.