Tribal gatekeepers officially enshrine Phelpsian bigotry as ‘evangelical’ and ‘Too Christian’, Fred Clark, Slacktivist, May 9, 2014
Why do right-wing extremist partisans like Jack Burkman think that they’re entitled to act as the designated spokespersons for all of Christianity? Because the gatekeepers of the white evangelical tribe have enabled and encouraged that delusion for decades now.
Burkman is a nasty piece of work whose vicious anti-gay beliefs have led him on a personal vendetta to try to destroy the career of an individual whose teammates, coaches and opponents from his years at Missouri all insist is a terrific guy. Burkman’s is the kind of unvarnished hate and bigotry that makes most public figures — politicians, TV networks, businesses — keep their distance lest the public assume they share such views.
But there’s one place where someone like Burkman will always find support. There’s one place where no amount of hateful resentment will ever cause one to be ostracized and regarded as too extreme. That’s in the white evangelical tribe.
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Outside of the cramped tribal encampment of white evangelicalism, people like Bryan Fischer and Jack Burkman produce an appropriate, God-breathed and God-blessed sense of moral revulsion. Their hate, their weird ability to resent those less fortunate, and their contempt for the Other in every form are rightly and righteously regarded as morally repellant. Their extremism is, in fact, helping to generate ever-greater sympathy and empathy and acceptance for the very Others they’re so fiercely othering.
The Benham Brothers Aren’t “Too Christian for Cable.” They’re Just Bigots Who Aren’t Worth the Risk, Hemant Mehta, Friendly Atheist, May 11, 2014
Just to be clear, the brothers have free speech. No one is taking that away from them. But free speech doesn’t guarantee that you get your own TV show, and HGTV had to decide between promoting bigots and facing the wrath of viewers who wouldn’t stand for it. They chose wisely by canceling a show no one has even seen yet.
Unlike what Christianity Today says in a headline, the problem isn’t that the brothers are “Too Christian for Cable,” it’s that they’re jerks with disgusting ideologies, pure and simple. There are Christians all over television who haven’t had their shows canceled — so religion isn’t the issue here.
To Hell With Your Realism, Shana Mlawski, Overthinking It, May 12, 2014
Express even a modicum of distaste for the extra-rapiness of HBO’s Game of Thrones and you’ll inevitably hear this kind of comment: “But there was plenty of rape in the Middle Ages! It’s realistic! Deal with it!”
The same thing happens if you comment on the show’s sometimes cringe-worthy racial politics: “There were no people of color in Medieval Europe! I’m being realistic! Deal with it!”
Let’s put aside for a moment that the second comment isn’t even close to true. Here’s a thought-experiment for all the realism-referees in the audience. Seven percent of girls and 3% of boys in grades 5-8 in the U.S. report having been sexually assaulted. Do you want to see between 3 and 7% of the kids on TV sexually assaulted?
Don’t you dare say you’d prefer not to. Don’t suggest it might be exploitative or simply cruel. Don’t ask if such scenes are necessary to the story. ’Cause if you do, here’s what I’ll say: Shut up. It’s realistic. Deal with it.
