{"id":2293,"date":"2019-01-17T17:08:54","date_gmt":"2019-01-17T17:08:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=2293"},"modified":"2019-07-10T11:57:12","modified_gmt":"2019-07-10T16:57:12","slug":"merciless-progressivism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/merciless-progressivism\/","title":{"rendered":"Merciless Progressivism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t

by Matthew W. Bassford<\/p>\n

The other day, I read a fascinating op-ed, “The Cruelty of Call-Out Culture<\/a>” by David Brooks. It tells the story of a member of a punk-rock band who called out the band’s lead singer for sending an unwelcome, explicit photograph to a woman, leading to his banishment from the punk-rock scene. A few years later, someone discovered that\u00a0she had mocked a nude photo of another girl in high school. She, too, got called out and shunned.<\/p>\n

As always, I am struck by the bizarrely puritanical turn that American progressivism has taken. Sure, progressives are generally very tolerant of many things that the Scripture describes as sinful. However, underneath that fa\u00e7ade of tolerance lies an ironbound code of conduct.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

17th February 1926: Lillian Gish (1893 – 1993) is punished for bearing a child out of wedlock in the film ‘The Scarlet Letter’, a 17th century melodrama directed by Victor Sjostrom.<\/p><\/div>\n

If it comes out that you’ve treated somebody in a way that progressives disapprove of, WHAM! The hammer will fall. All of your friends will reject you, and they will never again let you back into the circle of the elect. It’s exactly the kind of behavior that Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote about in\u00a0The Scarlet Letter<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Though it’s hard for us to get our heads around the idea, progressives like this are very moral people. Even though they deny that there is any such thing as absolute right and wrong, they behave as though there is. They reject the authority of the Bible, but in their judgments of others, they appeal to the authority of progressive thought. They are more unbending in their insistence on their beliefs than the fieriest church dragon any of us have ever known.<\/p>\n

However, for all their zeal, their ethical system has a serious, indeed fatal, flaw. It offers no hope for mercy or forgiveness. You get to feel all self-righteous when you denounce others, but when you slip up and somebody denounces you, it’s all over. You will find no place for repentance, though you seek for it with tears.<\/p>\n

Here, we encounter one of the great things that Christ has done for us. As Paul observes in\u00a0Romans 3:26, the blood of Jesus makes it possible for God to be both just and our justifier. He can simultaneously insist on the righteousness of a perfect moral code and forgive those who don’t live up to it. We see the seriousness of sin revealed in the crucifixion, but the power of the cross makes it possible for all of us to move beyond our sins. Without Christ, either God’s law is unimportant, or our transgressions must haunt us forever. With Him, we can find grace through His self-sacrifice.<\/p>\n

In other words, Christianity offers hope. Progressive philosophy doesn’t. Progressives are either justified by works or not justified at all.<\/p>\n

However, a church is (or at least ought to be) a community of people who have confessed their inability to justify themselves through their own righteousness. We’ve all messed up, so we are able to welcome and enfold somebody else who has messed up and wants another chance. We are merciful because we have received mercy.<\/p>\n

Without that source of mercy, progressives are left with a grim choice. Either they deny the importance of the standards that they prize, or they reject all who violate those standards. Laws or people. You pick.<\/p>\n

In Christ, we don’t have to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Matthew W. Bassford The other day, I read a fascinating op-ed, “The Cruelty of Call-Out Culture” by David Brooks. It tells the story of a member of a punk-rock band who called out the band’s lead singer for sending an unwelcome, explicit photograph to a woman, leading to his banishment from the punk-rock scene.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[162,255],"class_list":["post-2293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-politically-correct","tag-tolerance"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":23678,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/tolerance\/","url_meta":{"origin":2293,"position":0},"title":"Tolerance","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 4, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ken Weliever via The Preacher's Word Thomas Donelan, a Florida minister, offered this description of tolerance. To tolerate means I can disagree with you while still respecting you. One person is a Republican, another Democrat. We put aside our differences and get along. One person is a (Florida) Gator,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/tolerance-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":44094,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/walk-worthily\/","url_meta":{"origin":2293,"position":1},"title":"Walk Worthily","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 5, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer \"Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/walking-240x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24094,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-take-an-open-view-of-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":2293,"position":2},"title":"Do you take an open view of God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 25, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day, Brother Jeff, I have gotten very satisfactory answers from you since I started using your site. You answer like a real teacher. I'm just shuffling off progressivism from my life and neither do I want to be an extremist to the left or right in any matter.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54798,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-rationale-of-the-tolerant\/","url_meta":{"origin":2293,"position":3},"title":"The Rationale of the Tolerant","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 6, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Warren Berkley via Truth Magazine - May 16, 1974 The idea of sinking all our differences into a sea of \"love\" and sweet tolerance and uniting in division seems to be rapidly reaching every part of the religious world. Denominational bodies who have formerly harbored revenge are now skillfully\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":57460,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-intolerance-and-lies-of-open-mindedness\/","url_meta":{"origin":2293,"position":4},"title":"The Intolerance and Lies of Open-Mindedness","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 30, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer We've all heard it: we don't accept a particular viewpoint so, therefore, we are closed-minded bigots trapped inside some blind faith and hope fostered by an ancient, cultish superstition. Those who make such charges are, of course, open-minded, loving, tolerant, compassionate people who are willing to accept\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/Argue.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":53327,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/desensitized-to-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":2293,"position":5},"title":"Desensitized to Sin","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 13, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Warfel","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2293\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}