via Jesus Politics, this post points to another about theology promoting violence. But rather than it being a matter of “Baptist beliefs”, it is a more “ecumenical” problem. “Ecumenical” in the sense that this is a problem of Constantinianism; adopting the “worldly wisdom” against that of the gospel which is “foolishness to the world”. Many fundamentalists apply this to “the world’s persecution of them”, as they are met with eithger dismissal or blank stares or ridicule for what is actually indeed somewhat theologically suspect, but they leap to the conclusion that their own intolerance and easy adoption of the values of empire are being opposed because these are “Christian” ways to be.

Howie Luvzus

Under patriarchy, men are shamed and considered weak if they exhibit qualities associated with women. Politicians win elections by being tough on terror, tough on crime, tough on drugs, tough on welfare mothers. Calls for cooperation, negotiation, compassion or recognition of our mutual interdependence are equated with womanly weakness. In the name of ‘toughness’, the power holders deprive the poor of the means of life, the troubled and the ill of treatment and care, the ordinary citizen of our privacy and civil rights. Force, punishment, and violence are patriarchy’s answer to conflicts and social problems.

Howie Luvzus takes the article about Feminist values and applies them to some Baptists (specifically Southern Baptists, and more specifically our old friend Al Mohler). The following quote from Mohler is amazingly inane.

Where are today’s barbarians? Moore locates them at the local shopping mall, wandering about in packs, recognizable by their sloppy dress, their lack of linguistic ability, their crudeness of manners, and their treatment of women. Barbarians do not need words nor use them, they communicate to each other through guttural grunts, shrugs, and various noises. When barbarians actually use words, their speech is most likely to be laced with profanity.

At the other extreme, the wimps lack all manly conviction and character. Robbed of ambition, moral formation, and courage, wimps “make worthless watchdogs.” The wimp is incapable of living up to his responsibilities as a man, and shows no valor in his public or private life. “Many of today’s young men seem to have no fight in them at all. Not for them to rescue damsels in distress from the barbarians,” Moore sadly reflects. The wimp is always looking for the easiest way out of a problem.

With respect to women, barbarians demonstrate a crudeness, profanity, and violence that treats women merely as sex objects for male pleasure. Barbarians show women no respect, and are completely lacking in the manly virtues of protection and respect for the well being of women. Wimps, on the other hand, look to women for emotional support, consider girlfriends to be conversation partners, and look to women for pity. They are shameless.

“consider girlfriends to be conversation partners” is a bad thing? I finds that utterly unbeliveable.

Also the association of “barbarians” with the inability to use intellectual terminology (another sign of Mohler’s extreme arrogance and self-righteousness and EMPHASIS upon “intellectual” categories of theological concepts as the real sign of salvation.

Moore goes right to the heart of the problem in raising boys. A regime of permissive parenting has led to soft discipline that produces soft boys who grow to become soft men. Parents are now afraid to discipline, and seem to be more concerned with the development of an artificial “self-esteem” in their boys.

Come on Al, say it. REAL men love war. REAL men adopt the defintion of “manlihood” from our culture rather than Jesus. Of course, Al belives in a “Real Man Jesus” that is “a man” according to the ways of the world, which of course, is part of what Jesus’ life and ministry dispels and exposes as false. I am again reminded of a conversation with a pro-war, pro-Bush, conservative who added in one of our debates about Iraq that “Jesus is not some momma’s boy patting people on the head and telling them everything’s going to be OK, but he’s leading us to protect lives”, meaning we’d better adopt the world’s approach to “security” and eschew the inbreaking of God’s Kingdom that Jesus announced and fulfilled with the resurrection.