The following is a statement that was made on the WWUTT podcast on June 3, 2016. It was made into transcript form to be posted on this blog. Some of the wording may vary a bit.
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On Thabiti Anyabwile's blog through the Gospel Coalition website, he featured a guest post from Nick Rodriguez, fellow church member at Anacosta River Church in Washington D.C., the Southern Baptist church where Thabiti is a pastor. In that blog, Rodriguez gives six reasons why evangelical leaders should tell Christians to vote for Hillary Clinton.
I've had much respect in the past for Thabiti Anyabwile (a name that is quite fun to say). His Nine-Marks book What Is a Healthy Church Member sits on my shelf. In fact, I can see it from where I'm sitting. I've shared his articles and his videos. I've quoted him in sermons. As much as I've appreciated some of the things he's said and written, his recent turn on certain social issues is quite concerning.
Thabiti has drawn criticism for encouraging others to vote for Bernie Sanders and most recently Hillary Clinton. To say, "I'm voting for Hillary" is one thing. To say that every evangelical leader should be encouraging the rest of the Christian community to vote for Hillary is something else entirely.
One of the reasons Rodriguez gives (and having read many of Thabiti's recent statements, I knew this would be in the blog) is because of Trump's racist and misogynistic comments. It's a very generalized criticism. He gives no examples. But I'm not going to argue. Trump is a bigot and he has a horrible track-record in the comments he's made about women and the way he treats them.
Here's the thing though: I cannot fathom the idea that voting for Hillary Clinton is some kind of morally justifiable alternative to Trump's brashness, bigotry, and misogyny. Think about what you're saying -- Hillary Clinton. Hillary. Clinton. Is not brash, bigoted, or a misogynist? Where have you been the last two-dozen years?
Look, Hillary may not wear it on her sleeve. It may not come out her mouth and spill out on her attire like it does Donald Trump's. But both of them are strategic in their own ways. Trump is drawing his side of the aisle in his way, and she's drawing her side of the aisle in hers. Though her words are not the same, she is every bit as brash, bigoted, and misogynistic as Trump is.
The things she's said about the women who have accused her husband, Bill, of sexual harrassment -- Hillary called those women trailer park trash and all kinds of other names, and said "no one's ever going to believe them." Do you remember that she dismissed their accusations as being a right-wing conspiracy? Of one of those women, Hillary said, "She is the war on women." She says that women who speak up about harassment should be listened to, unless, apparently, it's about her husband.
Hillary has received millions in campaign donations from Saudi Arabia, Oman, Algeria, and the United Arab Emirates -- countries with horrid records concerning women's rights.
She has made fun of stay-at-home moms: "I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what I decided to do was to fulfill my profession which I entered before my husband was in public life."
Hillary is radically pro-choice which is about as anti-woman as any issue in our era. Look, I don't believe Donald Trump when he says he's pro-life. That's a discussion for another day. But Hillary says she's not pro-life. She openly and unapologetically advocates for and defends abortion. From her own mouth she has said, "The unborn person doesn't have constitutional rights." Get that -- person.
How is that not worse than saying we're going to build a wall to keep people out or we're going to ban all Muslim travel to the U.S. or talking about deportations and the like? Donald Trump makes prejudiced statements to be sure, but he's not advocating for genocide. Hillary will defend the murder of 3,000 babies per day with every breath she has -- a million children per year through the barbaric practice of abortion. If half those babies were girls, she's killing 1,500 girls per day. Weak women are being duped under the guise of "women's rights" just for their vote. That's misogyny.
Hillary is the recipient of the Margaret Sanger Award from Planned Parenthood. Margaret Sanger: The Killer Angel, as she's been dubbed -- the woman who said, "Birth control must lead ultimately to a cleaner race," who created the Negro Project for the purpose of exterminating blacks in America. She said, "Colored people are like human weeds and are to be exterminated."
And this is not a thing of the past. Blacks make up 12% of the U.S. population, but 35% of all abortions. Margaret Sanger's dream is still alive and well. Roughly 80% of her Planned Parenthood clinics are located within walking distance of an African American or Hispanic neighborhood in America.
When Hillary received the Margaret Sanger Award she said she was "in awe of" Margaret Sanger. And this woman is the least racist between her and Donald Trump? Are you out of your mind?
One last comment from Hillary: "I have to confess that it's crossed my mind that you could not be a Republican and a Christian."
Now, I am not advocating voting for Donald Trump. I've said in the past and I still stand by this statement: A vote for Donald Trump is a vote for adultery, porn, misogyny, divorce, fatherlessness, abortion, bankruptcy, gambling, racism, bullying, arrogance, obscenity, and overall godlessness.
Do you know what you would get if you voted for Hillary Clinton? Pretty much the same thing. It's not as obvious, but come on -- use your head. A vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote for everything that Margaret Sanger stood for, and then some.
Thabiti once wrote an article called The Importance of Your Gag Reflex When Discussing Homosexuality and 'Gay Marriage.' It was a great article. Thabiti rightly pointed out we've forgotten what we're talking about whenever we use the words "gay" or "homosexual." (I'm not going to get descriptive because I know I've got kids listening.)
In the spirit of that article, I would appeal to Thabiti this way: Do not forget your gag reflex when you are reminded how synonymous the democratic party is with abortion, eugenics, genocide, Planned Parenthood, and slavery. The democratic party does not care about black people -- only using them for their vote. I believe you're smarter than that, Thabiti. Don't fall for it.
I'm still holding out hope a third party candidate will emerge. We've still got a ways to go until November. But if who we're stuck with is Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders, I won't be voting for any of the three. (I do think Bernie's going to end up running as an independent. Expect at least a three-person race in 2016.)
I still want to encourage you to go to the polls in November. The office of the president is not the only thing on the ballot. There are other local matters that need to be decided. It's still your duty to vote -- I firmly believe that. But I defy anyone to tell me I need to use my pastoral position and encourage others to vote for an admirer of the Killer Angel. Such a thing definitely doesn't belong on a Gospel blog.
On Thabiti Anyabwile's blog through the Gospel Coalition website, he featured a guest post from Nick Rodriguez, fellow church member at Anacosta River Church in Washington D.C., the Southern Baptist church where Thabiti is a pastor. In that blog, Rodriguez gives six reasons why evangelical leaders should tell Christians to vote for Hillary Clinton.
I've had much respect in the past for Thabiti Anyabwile (a name that is quite fun to say). His Nine-Marks book What Is a Healthy Church Member sits on my shelf. In fact, I can see it from where I'm sitting. I've shared his articles and his videos. I've quoted him in sermons. As much as I've appreciated some of the things he's said and written, his recent turn on certain social issues is quite concerning.
Thabiti has drawn criticism for encouraging others to vote for Bernie Sanders and most recently Hillary Clinton. To say, "I'm voting for Hillary" is one thing. To say that every evangelical leader should be encouraging the rest of the Christian community to vote for Hillary is something else entirely.
One of the reasons Rodriguez gives (and having read many of Thabiti's recent statements, I knew this would be in the blog) is because of Trump's racist and misogynistic comments. It's a very generalized criticism. He gives no examples. But I'm not going to argue. Trump is a bigot and he has a horrible track-record in the comments he's made about women and the way he treats them.
Here's the thing though: I cannot fathom the idea that voting for Hillary Clinton is some kind of morally justifiable alternative to Trump's brashness, bigotry, and misogyny. Think about what you're saying -- Hillary Clinton. Hillary. Clinton. Is not brash, bigoted, or a misogynist? Where have you been the last two-dozen years?
Look, Hillary may not wear it on her sleeve. It may not come out her mouth and spill out on her attire like it does Donald Trump's. But both of them are strategic in their own ways. Trump is drawing his side of the aisle in his way, and she's drawing her side of the aisle in hers. Though her words are not the same, she is every bit as brash, bigoted, and misogynistic as Trump is.
The things she's said about the women who have accused her husband, Bill, of sexual harrassment -- Hillary called those women trailer park trash and all kinds of other names, and said "no one's ever going to believe them." Do you remember that she dismissed their accusations as being a right-wing conspiracy? Of one of those women, Hillary said, "She is the war on women." She says that women who speak up about harassment should be listened to, unless, apparently, it's about her husband.
Hillary has received millions in campaign donations from Saudi Arabia, Oman, Algeria, and the United Arab Emirates -- countries with horrid records concerning women's rights.
She has made fun of stay-at-home moms: "I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what I decided to do was to fulfill my profession which I entered before my husband was in public life."
Hillary is radically pro-choice which is about as anti-woman as any issue in our era. Look, I don't believe Donald Trump when he says he's pro-life. That's a discussion for another day. But Hillary says she's not pro-life. She openly and unapologetically advocates for and defends abortion. From her own mouth she has said, "The unborn person doesn't have constitutional rights." Get that -- person.
How is that not worse than saying we're going to build a wall to keep people out or we're going to ban all Muslim travel to the U.S. or talking about deportations and the like? Donald Trump makes prejudiced statements to be sure, but he's not advocating for genocide. Hillary will defend the murder of 3,000 babies per day with every breath she has -- a million children per year through the barbaric practice of abortion. If half those babies were girls, she's killing 1,500 girls per day. Weak women are being duped under the guise of "women's rights" just for their vote. That's misogyny.
Hillary is the recipient of the Margaret Sanger Award from Planned Parenthood. Margaret Sanger: The Killer Angel, as she's been dubbed -- the woman who said, "Birth control must lead ultimately to a cleaner race," who created the Negro Project for the purpose of exterminating blacks in America. She said, "Colored people are like human weeds and are to be exterminated."
And this is not a thing of the past. Blacks make up 12% of the U.S. population, but 35% of all abortions. Margaret Sanger's dream is still alive and well. Roughly 80% of her Planned Parenthood clinics are located within walking distance of an African American or Hispanic neighborhood in America.
When Hillary received the Margaret Sanger Award she said she was "in awe of" Margaret Sanger. And this woman is the least racist between her and Donald Trump? Are you out of your mind?
One last comment from Hillary: "I have to confess that it's crossed my mind that you could not be a Republican and a Christian."
Now, I am not advocating voting for Donald Trump. I've said in the past and I still stand by this statement: A vote for Donald Trump is a vote for adultery, porn, misogyny, divorce, fatherlessness, abortion, bankruptcy, gambling, racism, bullying, arrogance, obscenity, and overall godlessness.
Do you know what you would get if you voted for Hillary Clinton? Pretty much the same thing. It's not as obvious, but come on -- use your head. A vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote for everything that Margaret Sanger stood for, and then some.
Thabiti once wrote an article called The Importance of Your Gag Reflex When Discussing Homosexuality and 'Gay Marriage.' It was a great article. Thabiti rightly pointed out we've forgotten what we're talking about whenever we use the words "gay" or "homosexual." (I'm not going to get descriptive because I know I've got kids listening.)
In the spirit of that article, I would appeal to Thabiti this way: Do not forget your gag reflex when you are reminded how synonymous the democratic party is with abortion, eugenics, genocide, Planned Parenthood, and slavery. The democratic party does not care about black people -- only using them for their vote. I believe you're smarter than that, Thabiti. Don't fall for it.
I'm still holding out hope a third party candidate will emerge. We've still got a ways to go until November. But if who we're stuck with is Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders, I won't be voting for any of the three. (I do think Bernie's going to end up running as an independent. Expect at least a three-person race in 2016.)
I still want to encourage you to go to the polls in November. The office of the president is not the only thing on the ballot. There are other local matters that need to be decided. It's still your duty to vote -- I firmly believe that. But I defy anyone to tell me I need to use my pastoral position and encourage others to vote for an admirer of the Killer Angel. Such a thing definitely doesn't belong on a Gospel blog.