No Longer Quivering
And we’re back at John Piper’s hyper Calvinistic Desiring God for a particularly nauseating post in the time of COVID 19. By a pastor’s clueless wife by the name of Rosaria Butterfield, upset that the liberals and gays around their church treat them like the hateful hyper Calvinistists they are right up until the pandemic.
“Located five blocks from a progressive, well-heeled (for now) research university and down the block from the LGBTQ community center, we met roadblocks every step of the way. We tried barbecues and block parties. Nobody came. “
Oh golly gee, I wonder why? Perhaps because they all understand what your hateful theology means.
“In August, neighbors would ask if our church was LGBTQ affirming, and if not, why we were here. In October, parents would clutch the hands of their costumed-children and cross the street, directing them not to take anything from our hand or even receive our smiles. Finally, a small case of vandalism last year discouraged many of us when someone took permanent marker to a yard sign. The original sign — “Please Curb your Dog” — was defaced to “Please Curb your God.”
Again, if you are connected to a group that is known for trying to repress the free speech and rights of others you do not deserve the special consideration you’re asking for here. Durham is not a place that cottons to this nonsense. The populace tends to be educated and geared towards the liberal end of the stick.
She talks of COVID 19 and the short supplies of food items, followed by deciding to volunteer for a farm to table curated food delivery service. Okay, so delivering the food to neighbors is the first decent loving thing she’s mentioned doing.
“Our neighbors received us with joy and thanks. And many of them knew us as the pastor and pastor’s wife from the church down the block. People were (and are) in a state of panic about COVID-19. And the people willing to bring them their food mean something to them. Our role as food deliverers has allowed us to be seen in a new light.“t
They open the church as a hub for this program and food delivery. Also good, but because this is Desiring God this goes into a very awful place very rapidly.
“COVID-19 also has sharpened my theological understanding of good and evil, providence and calamity, sin and repentance, belief in Christ and grace. As my brother Drew Poplin said during a virtual prayer meeting, only Christ’s own can thank God for his “sinless use of sin.” And if that’s true for sin, surely it’s also true for a pandemic. So I am committed to thanking God for his purposes in COVID-19.“
Why, oh why, does Calvinism have to proclaim thanks for the awful, for things that happen because of things like the mutation of viruses, that are science based, not God-given plagues. Then she goes right back to the homophobic shaming, blaming hatred pretty quickly.
“Have you considered the ramifications that this June will be the first in decades without a public gay pride march? Why is this big news? First, sexual identity depends on an affirming audience who can sway others to its side, using an ideology of personal freedom and victimhood. A virtual platform draws only the faithful, denying them the oxygen that this particular fire needs. “
The only ‘Victimhood’ attitude I see in this entire piece is the author’s clueless whining at the beginning about their non-acceptance by their neighbors, those same neighbors that would likely blow a gasket if they saw this hate speech.
“Second, without an audience, sexual identity cannot be normalized. Here is the heart question for us. Are you praising God for this disruption? Or is it your preference to complain about gay pride (and other sins) from the air-conditioned comfort of your home, in the midst of an economy that benefits from all kinds of sin?”
Let us hope and pray people in that area see this hate speech for what it is, and reject these awful people using a pandemic to push and promote extreme homophobia and hate speech, completely contrary to the words of Jesus.
Anyone that seeks to use a national emergency to promote their own agenda qualifies as someone not to listen to. Sadly, I predict we’re going to see the few Evangelical organizations that are not burying theirs in the sand during this time taking positive and good actions in order to push their mean spirited hatred like the First Reformed Presbyterian Church of Durham, North Carolina.
No amount of ‘good works’ erases hatred.
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