Author and historian Eric Metaxas has said a hatred for God is at the root of the current civil unrest that has moved from attacking American monuments to defacing Christian statues and churches.
The best-selling author spoke with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson on Monday about recent attacks on churches, along with anti-Christian rhetoric from Former Democratic National Committee head and former presidential candidate Howard Dean.
On July 11, Dean tweeted: “Unfortunately Christians don’t have much a reputation for anything but hate these days thanks to Franklin Graham and Jerry Falwell and other trump friends. AJC gets no points for this.”
Unfortunately Christians don’t have much a reputation for anything but hate these days thanks to Franklin Graham and Jerry Falwell and other trump friends. AJC gets no points for this. https://t.co/Jwge4z6Spf
— Howard Dean (@GovHowardDean) July 11, 2020
Dean was responding to the American Jewish Committee’s decision to appoint Holly Huffnagle, a Christian, as the organisation’s new U.S. Director for Combating Antisemitism.
“Here’s the issue,” Metaxas said. “When you start to scapegoat Christians, and you say, it’s because of them that these things are happening, unfortunately, you fall into the trap of being like the Emperor Nero. When Rome burned — and of course, he could have done something about it and he didn’t — he blamed the Christians. It’s very convenient, it’s happening now.”
The AJC responded to Dean’s tweet, saying: “You have literally insulted billions of Christians of good will around the world, including @HHuffnagleAJC, who has dedicated her career to fighting antisemitism. Please apologize and remove your hateful post.”
.@GovHowardDean you have literally insulted billions of Christians of good will around the world, including @HHuffnagleAJC, who has dedicated her career to fighting antisemitism.
— American Jewish Committee (@AJCGlobal) July 11, 2020
Please apologize and remove your hateful post. https://t.co/bvKSwpkNuK
Huffnagle also responded to Dean, saying: “My Christian faith inspires my commitment to fight antisemitism. It is disappointing and hurtful @GovHowardDean chose to paint Christians with so broad a brush. I think we need more Christians in this fight, not less.”
My Christian faith inspires my commitment to fight antisemitism. It is disappointing and hurtful @GovHowardDean chose to paint Christians with so broad a brush. I think we need more Christians in this fight, not less. https://t.co/r5i6Yy9bVS
— Holly Huffnagle (@HHuffnagleAJC) July 11, 2020
At the same time, there has been a recent spate of attacks directed at Christians across the United States. Churches in Boston, New York, California, and Florida have been targeted, defaced, and set ablaze. The media silence is almost deafening.
Why’s is the media refusing to acknowledge & condemn the many Catholic Churches vandalized or burned lately?
— Sean Feucht (@seanfeucht) July 12, 2020
People were worshipping INSIDE THE CHURCH in Florida yesterday when it was lit on fire!
Where’s the outrage?! 🤷🏼♂️
In Florida, an attacker drove his car into a church before setting the building on fire while people were inside. Meanwhile, in California, a 250-year-old historic church was destroyed after it was also set ablaze.
According to Metaxas, however, the hatred that the woke mob are expressing towards statues and buildings comes from a much deeper and darker place and is rooted in a hatred for God.
“I think a lot of the nastiness that is being directed at the statues, it really has to do with something deeper,” Metaxas said. “I hate to say it, but there’s something very dark. You saw this in the French Revolution. There was a hatred at the bottom of it of God, of any kind of authority.
“And these people are drunk with the idea that they can somehow be an authority themselves, that they can seize power. And if you really want to cut to the chase, you forget about statues of Generals and things, you go right for God, you go right for the Virgin Mary, you go for church, you cut to the chase.
Metaxas continued: “Someplace in Moby Dick, one of the greatest novels ever written by a great American, he talks about Ahab, who’s consumed with rage, wanting to strike through the mass. In other words, sort of to punch a hole in the sky and murder God. That’s really where the source of hatred is coming from. It’s a hatred of God and deep injustice. That’s what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about something that goes way beyond Confederate Generals.”
Carlson agreed but went on to suggest that Christian leaders haven’t done enough in response to the attacks.
“I think you’re right,” Carlson said. “The acknowledgment of God suggests that you’re not the ultimate authority. That there’s someone more powerful than you… I do think though, Christian leaders play a role in this.
“I mean, Muslim leaders, to their credit, if they watched Mosques burn and Islamic monuments be defaced, the Islamic Centre in Washington, they would not put up with it for one second. They would say something. I don’t see Christian leaders doing the same, and I don’t know why,” Carlson added.
According to Metaxas, much of the impotency from so called Christian leaders is due to them having a watered-down Christianity, that sees being nice as the highest virtue.
“There are many Christian leaders who don’t understand the Bible,” Metaxas said. “When David killed Goliath, it wasn’t like, before he became a Christian and then he became a Christian and he repented. No, we celebrate David killing Goliath. There are many instances of Scripture where people fight. Elijah the prophet is sarcastic. That has been lost.
“There are many people, they’ve got a watered-down kind of Christianity, they’re offended by Trump. They seem to think that being nice is what it means to be a Christian. If somebody is raping a family member and you sit there and you say, ‘Well, I’m going to pray about it, but I’m not going to try to stop that,’ it brings us really, to Bonhoeffer.
“Bonhoeffer understood that the most Christian thing he could do was participate in a plot to kill Hitler, because he understood there were victims. When you know that there are people suffering and you don’t do something about it, you are to blame,” he added.
The full exchange can be viewed here.
