The Ironic Demands for Consistency

February 2017

The world is not actually much different than it was 6 months ago (when Obama was president).  However, in America, and especially where you find diversity and government education, tensions are higher than I've ever seen them.  The election of Donald Trump has been treated like a national tragedy by many, and many within that group now find themselves having a war-like mindset -- "we, the people, must rise up and take action on a daily basis in order to prevent Trump and congress from taking away our freedoms and ruining the environment, the economy, foreign relations, etc. etc. etc."

The supremely unfortunate result of Trump's election is its impact on the state of the "Religious Right."  With an outspoken and controversial republican president who claims he wants to do SOME good things (like end abortion) -- and a lot of not-so-good things that are equally popular with today's conservatives -- we have a resurgence of confidence from the Religious Right, inspired by their quasi-messianic figure.  This may come as a surprise to some of my friends and family members, but as a very conservative and reformed Christian who loves God's law, the best thing for Christianity today would be the death of the Religious Right.  The so-called Religious Right has strayed so far from Christianity that it is nothing more than a joke -- a parody of the ideals it claims to believe in -- marked by compromise, abandonment of God's word, and inconsistency.

The reason I bring up the Religious Right is this: a trend among my frustrated friends and colleagues on the Left is to revel in pointing out inconsistencies that they see from the Right.  And most often, there is a religious component to it.   I can probably list a dozen examples.  I'll try a few:

"In the Bible, the people of God were commanded to open their borders to foreigners and treat them well, so how can conservatives be so anti-immigration??"

"Jesus was loving; Mike Pence is against same-sex marriage, so he's hateful.  How dare he be so unchristian."

"How can you be pro-life and support the death penalty?!"

"The Bible says 'do not judge!'  But you're judging!"

"Jesus said to take care of the poor and needy, so how can you republicans call yourselves Christians and want to take away welfare and free education?"

I'm not going to address these specific issues here, nor am I going to ask the question "well, if you don't believe the Bible, why are you trying to quote it to me?"   Because here's the interesting fact about all of this:  everyone desires consistency.  If you disagree with someone, you at least want them to be consistent in their beliefs.  It's almost endearing of radical secularists to be so quick to point out inconsistencies in people who claim to be Christian; to be honest, Christians need this on some level.  We need to be held accountable.  We need to keep rooting out the fake Christians who have never really opened their Bible and deep down deny scriptural authority.  I appreciate the left for wanting to point out inconsistencies, even though it's typically just a self-gratifying way for them to try to further convince themselves that they are right, that Christians are fake, and that there is no God, at least not one as we have traditionally thought of.  (Thank you, Rob Bell, Rachel Held Evans, etc. for creating more and more false disciples that follow this alternative god).

One extremely important thing that I wish my leftist friends would realize is that conservative republicans today do not represent Christianity.  "Republican" does not equal "Christian."  Mainstream conservatism today is an embarrassment.  And just because someone claims Christianity does not mean they ever open their Bibles, pray, or ask God for forgiveness...(*ahem*).

Now, what is the irony of the atheist's demand for Christians to be [what THEY deem to be] consistent?  Well, the reason it's endearing and the reason it's ironic is simply this: a secularist has no basis for even the concept of consistency -- much less a basis for an opinion on "right" and "wrong" -- without God.  I won't get into this in detail, because it should be obvious by now.  Without God, you resort to experience and your five senses for truth.  This gets you into circular reasoning for your own sense of reason and logic (I believe my reasoning is valid because I believe my reasoning is valid...).  Without an external foundation for truth, you're left with an unreliable one.  Morality is completely subjective.  What this leads to in today's word has been this trend of a somewhat abstract and subjective idea of "empathy" being elevated to a place of being the ultimate quality we should strive for in order to have peace and harmony with one another.  (....as if secular humanists can make an argument for why peace and harmony are even good in the first place....)

These folks are wanting Christians to be consistent with the beliefs they claim.  Oh, if they only knew what that would really look like!  If they only knew that a loving and sovereign God is actually just and righteous to implement things like a death penalty on murderers, rapists, and kidnappers.  If only they could see a Christianity that truly adores the Word of God, that doesn't flinch at Psalm 119 (not because of the length but because of the content), and that supports everything we say, think, or do with scripture.  If only these indignant secularists could be faced with real Biblical arguments instead of traditions.  If only they could see the churches that are actually being Biblically consistent: caring for the poor, taking care of the young woman who was abandoned by her boyfriend after electing not to abort her baby, preaching the truth about Biblical sexuality, yet throwing away all the garbage traditions of creating an imaginary hierarchy of sin, ignoring fornication and divorce while demonizing same-sex attraction.  If only they could see past the "republican heroes" (who are no more Christian than the liberal secularists they claim to oppose) and find the real Christians in this world. 

The irony is that if these Christians were more consistent, they would be more hated by these secularists who are criticizing them for their inconsistencies.  And the hypocrisy is that not a single secularist argument can stand up to reason without crumbling, nor can they be shown to be consistent with their worldview UNLESS they finally confess Nihilism and completely cease their preaching of "right" and "wrong."

My generation of young Christians has such a huge task -- the task of NOT capitulating and conforming to the surrounding culture simply because it "seems right" or "feels right."  We must go back to believing in Biblical authority.