Make it Count
Watch Monticello Live tonight on your favorite platform. Can anything good come from this pandemic? Our Big Get is author, commentator, and former presidential candidate, Joe Walsh.
Monticello Live
Tonight we are doing something fun and adding the ability to multi stream Monticello Live. It will be shared across multiple platforms like Periscope, Facebook, and (hopefully) our new YouTube channel. Come tonight at 8pm with your questions, comments, and favorite adult beverage.
Make it Count
This global pandemic has caused incalculable difficulties for pretty much everyone. It would be pretty easy to focus on those difficulties until they drag you into a permanent state of anger, frustration, and despair. Luckily, I’m a father and one of my favorite things about being a father is that I often learn just as much about life as I am teaching to my son. Here’s an example:
For various personal reasons we chose to keep our son home this semester, which means he attends what the school board calls “digital academy.” This means he logs in to each of his classes at the normal time via Zoom, and then has access to Canvas which is the same online portal used by Florida State University for its online classes. The upside of this schedule is that he has more free time during the day and is able to spend more time working out and playing basketball. His grades are better than they’ve ever been because it’s actually easier for him to stay organized using the online portal and app. His assignments automatically go into his calendar and I have the same access to his account. The end result being that both his basketball career and his academics have truly benefited.
I’m not trying to be trite here. I mourn the 276,000 Americans who we have lost due to this pandemic and I’m not suggesting that my son’s experience is a worthy exchange for their lives. I’m only trying to encourage you to find opportunities during this incredibly challenging time to improve yourself or help someone else to the same.
The Losing of the Evangelical Mind
Over the years I have purchased probably five of Eric Metaxas’s books — which is only slightly less embarrassing than being a New York Jets fan. But in my defense there was a time when Metaxas was positioning himself as a forward-thinking thought leader for evangelicals. Well, that ship has certainly sailed.
Oh, where to begin? Let’s start with Robert K. Vischer’s piece in Religion News Service:
When a reputed evangelical public intellectual exhibits this behavior, it’s worth asking about the state of the evangelical mind. Recent proclamations by other evangelical Christians suggest a propensity to believe conspiracy theories on the origins of COVID-19, nefarious purposes underlying the coming vaccines, the climate change “hoax” and Tom Hanks leading a global pedophile ring.
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Evangelicals’ complicated relationship with conspiracy theories is probably not reducible to a single explanation, but reasons suggest themselves. A generation of evangelicals has been influenced by the wildly popular “Left Behind” series — end-times novels that used news headlines to fantasize about shady global networks. Conspiracy theories may appeal to white evangelicals as a way to make sense of a country that is less like them: less white, less rural, less old and less socially conservative.
Large swaths of conservative Evangelicals don’t send their kids to school, which they often refer to as “government school,” and a distressing percentage of them believe that vaccines cause Autism and that Pepsi is sweetened with the cells from aborted fetuses. They believe these things so fervently that even if Christ Himself was to suddenly appear and explain why these beliefs are utter nonsense He would likely be rejected as being a member of the Deep State.
The larger question is how such folks expect to witness to non-believers? If you are contending to others that you know the Truth while also spouting blatant nonsense where is your credibility?
…(W)e have to recognize the true stakes. When the world sees Christians as gullible, naïve and unwilling to do the hard work of critically evaluating information, we lose credibility on everything — including our assertions about the historical veracity of the gospel. When we post a meme about Dr. Anthony Fauci or Bill Gates plotting to distribute the mark of the beast through a vaccine, our following post about eyewitness testimony regarding the life of Jesus will get the same response as the first: This person is not trustworthy on questions that matter.
Our minds are a gift from God. Like all good gifts, we are called to steward them wisely. As conspiracy theories infiltrate the church and compromise its witness, we can’t just roll our eyes as though we’re accommodating an embarrassing uncle who drops by for holiday dinners. The gospel speaks to the heart and the mind. If wild conspiracy theories find fertile ground among Christians, we shouldn’t just be scandalized; we should be motivated to reclaim the intellectual rigor of our faith.
The Evangelical Reckoning Begins
On a related note I found this article about Evangelical Megapastor and Author Andy Stanley to be utterly fascinating in terms of how to reckon with the takeover of the Evangelical movement by Trumpism:
Stanley declined to join his friends in ministry on the Trump train, waving them off when they texted selfies from Trump Tower. But neither has he joined the evangelical resistance, remaining notably quiet at times when other prominent conservative Christian leaders have spoken out, including after the deadly 2017 white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville and on the issue of family separation. He maintains that he doesn’t want to be a “headline-news preacher” and comments selectively on current events—this summer, he crafted a message focused on the killing of George Floyd. “It’s not that I don’t have opinions. It’s more that people don’t come to church to hear my opinions.”
But while Stanley and similar giants inside the evangelical world have largely stayed out of politics during the Trump years, other evangelicals have been busy telling the outside world that their faith is completely aligned with Trumpism. This has created a dilemma: Stanley and his allies are now saddled with an image of evangelicalism they don’t want and didn’t create. Before they can reach anyone with a message of faith over politics, they’ll have to contend with the political baggage their fellow Christian leaders created.
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In the past week or so, videos have made the rounds on Twitter of Trump’s spiritual adviser Paula White praying for “angels from Africa” to come to America and carry the president to reelection, along with that of another charismatic Trump adviser, Kenneth Copeland, laughing at the media for reporting that Joe Biden had won the presidency.
At least on Fox News and at Trump rallies, these figures have been granted the authority to speak for the whole of the evangelical world. And yet their version of Christianity reflects only one corner of the wildly diverse expanse of evangelicalism, which includes roughly one-quarter of the American population. Trump’s advisers are “not evangelical leaders. They’re evangelicals who have had their status elevated because they hang around and get invited to the White House,” Stanley said. “Those people were virtually in the marketplace, unknown, until all this happened.” It’s not that Stanley isn’t the kind of evangelical Trump would want by his side. The pastor just didn’t want any part of it. Hang around the White House for too long, “and the next thing you know, you think you’re somebody,” he said. “I just don’t have any business getting sucked into that.”
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In Stanley’s view, the biggest way in which Trump has damaged the reputation of the Church is in his penchant for name-calling and belittling people: mocking a reporter who has a disability during a campaign rally, for example, or calling people from Mexico criminals and rapists. He believes that the president’s attacks on journalists were “a terrible move”: “The first thing totalitarian leaders or governments do is they silence the media,” he said. When high-profile evangelical leaders publicly align themselves with Trump, “the perception is unavoidable” that they believe that kind of rhetoric is okay, especially among the young people Stanley cares most about reaching. Trump’s language “should undermine his credibility with Christians. It certainly undermined his credibility with the generation that, again, has low to no tolerance for any of that,” he said.
The Big Get
I’ve worked in politics since the early 1990’s and have known easily dozens of politicians and candidates. Without a doubt, Joe Walsh is the most fascinating of them all. Intelligent, well-read, passionate and a great conversation starter, Joe came to my attention when he narrowly rode the Tea Party wave into Congress back in 2010. Since then he’s been a nationally-syndicated radio host, bestselling author and presidential candidate. Yes, that is he and I enjoying a cocktail last Summer.
What's your favorite thing about Chicago?
The food.
If for some reason you could live somewhere else where would it be?
On a big piece of land in the middle of nowhere in West Texas.
Ryne Sandberg or Ernie Banks?
Ernie
Which city has worse weather, Chicago or Buffalo?
Buffalo. Not even close.
Who or what in your upbringing shaped your political and world views?
My mom. She was a teacher and an American history lover.
Did you always intend to get into politics? If not, what made you follow that path?
I’ve always loved politics, but my goal was always to get into policy and the helping professions. I had kids when I was very young, when they had grown up some, I seriously got into politics. I ran for Congress in 2010 because I was pissed off at both parties for bankrupting future generations.
What does "Never Trump" mean to you?
Never fascism. And never ever support ANY Republican who supported Trump in 2020.
What is your message to die hard trump supporters who literally believe Trump has been called by God?
If Trump was called by God, then Obama was called by God too. No American should ever support a President who lies every time he opens his mouth.
What made you decide to write a book?
I wanted Republicans & Conservatives to understand how unfit Trump is so that they wouldn’t vote for him in 2020.
What's next for you?
Don’t know. I want to use my voice to try and rescue as many Trump supporters as I can from the cult. Because I come from their world, maybe I can be of value. And like a reformed gang banger, I want to help pull others out of the gang. Political tribalism is a plague on this country. I contributed to that tribalism and now I want to use my voice to break the tribalism and get all sides talking to each other.
Malnati's or Gino's?
Neither. I love super thin pizza. I don’t have a favorite. But deep dish sucks. It’s not pizza. It’s a casserole.
It's 10:30 on a Friday night. Where are we most likely to find you?
In front of the TV watching a classic Hollywood movie on TCM
We ask everyone this question: Favorite whiskey?
None. I’m a Tequila man. Any aged Anejo.
On The Bottom Shelf
Very Old Barton
The original idea of “on the bottom shelf” was to discuss easily accessible, budget friendly options for everyone. And there is probably no better definition of what qualifies for this category as Very Old Barton.
Thanks to Indy friend and subscriber Brian Schutt, I decided to pick up a bottle of VOB at my local retailer. Believe it or not it is actually on the bottom shelf and very wallet friendly at around $13.
This isn’t a bourbon that will blow your mind. It’s like the pair of Bass driving loafers that I’ve had for 15 years now and just buy new insoles for on a regular basis. I know exactly what I’m going to get when I put them on and you know exactly what you are going to get from your first sip of VOB. It’s bourbon and it tastes like budget bourbon, though I would definitely rank it higher than Jim Beam White Label and pretty much all the other bourbons in this price range. The nose is corn and caramel, with maybe some honey and orange subtly shining through. On the tongue it’s corn, brown sugar, maybe a bit of cinnamon and I think some oak flavors. It’s definitely more robust than expected. The finish is sweet corn and a little spice without much in the way of that cheap alcohol burn that you might expect.
Overall, for a budget sipper or inexpensive base for homemade cocktails, Very Old Barton is a solid choice and hard to beat for the price.
The Best Things I Saw This Week
My son had his first two high school basketball games this week. Viewers of Monticello Live have an inkling of what a big deal this is in our family.
Fact Check: A Close Look at Team Trump's Dominion Conspiracies
Wright Thompson is probably the best sportswriter alive. Check out Michael Jordan: A History of Flight
My father passed when I was three days old, leaving me and my 21yr old mom. My life would be much different had Frank Perry literally not chosen to be my dad and love me as his own flesh and blood.
I’ve never understood as a man why you would date, or marry a single mother if you’re single with no kids of your own. Seems to me he doesn’t feel he has options or doesn’t value himself as a man. I’d feel like I was a backup plan helping raise another man’s kids. 🤷🏼♂️
Aubrey Huff @aubrey_huff
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Monticello was created by and published by Jacob Perry. Our editor and contributor is Jessica Redding. On social media: