on pavlovitz....

John Pavlovitz is a popular Christian blogger right now.  His writings are devoured by the Progressive wing of Christianity.  Other bloggers who share his general worldview are Rachel Held Evans, Matthew Paul Turner, and Jen Hatmaker.  Maybe you’ve heard of them.  

Pavlovitz recently wrote this piece as an encouragement to those in pain after a difficult election cycle.  I appreciate his spirit in writing the article.  I genuinely mean that.

But, the article itself is infuriating.  Among other things, Pavlovitz is suggesting (self-righteously) that Trump’s character is so bad that the Christian Right who voted for him are responsible for his actions - that we are required to put ourselves between the oppressor and the oppressed.    

Using Pavlovitz’ logic, I could turn the tables and ask these questions:

1. Where was the Christian Left on abortion?
2. Where was the Christian Left on marriage?
3. Where was the Christian Left on Benghazi?
4. Where was the Christian Left when Hillary was destroying the women who accused her husband of sexual violations?
5-15. Fill in the blank.

Given the Christian Left’s views on abortion alone, it’s interesting that they now tell me I need to put myself between the oppressor and the oppressed.  That is rich.      

Look, Donald Trump was a horrible candidate and I never defended him.  But, the cries from the Left about his character flaws are utterly hollow.  If Hillary Clinton had been someone of character, I suppose we could stomach the criticism.  But, that wasn’t the case.

Here’s the thing….

We gave up our right to be outraged over poor sexual ethics when our culture submitted to the sexual revolution.  20 years ago, when Bill Clinton committed *the same sins of which Trump is now accused*, those of us who cried foul were told in no uncertain terms that those things don’t matter anymore.  We were told to grow up and shut up.  But, now, it's suddenly "shocking" when Trump turns out to be a philanderer?  That's quite a double-standard.

And, Hillary Clinton is of course married to Bill, and was complicit in trying to destroy those who accused him.

And, the Wikileaks documents bring other issues to light.  If Bernie Sanders had won the Democratic primary, for instance, he might very well be the President Elect right now.  But, the evidence suggests he was pushed to the side….

I’m actually shocked that more Democrats aren’t furious about that.  But, self-appraisal is a lot harder than simply blaming the whole thing on the barely-quantifiable number of White Supremacists left in the country.

In short, there aren’t many remaining (even on the Left) who haven’t figured out that the Clintons are corrupt.  And, that’s probably one of the reasons Donald Trump won.  A guy like that shouldn’t have been able to beat Hillary Clinton.  But, he did.      

Here’s the point:  Few Progressives actually weep over Trump’s character problems.  Their outrage is feigned.  Many of them (even some within the Church) have preached some version of “moral relativism” for years.  So, I’m trying to understand what grounds they now use to deem ANYTHING “wrong”.  It would seem they are simply mad that their candidate lost.  And, believe me, I understand that.  We all do.  But, the charges leveled at Trump voters would be a lot more legitimate if Hillary Clinton hadn’t been such a radically flawed candidate.

So, to my Progressive friends (both within the Church and outside of it):  Maybe take a look at yourselves.  YOU are the ones who defended an indefensible candidate.  Many Trump voters weren’t defending their candidate at all.  They simply voted against Hillary because of her profound corruption.  

None of us can claim the moral high ground here.  Both candidates were egregiously flawed, and we’re all partly responsible for putting them on the pedestal they occupy.     

Those of you sitting in judgment of Trump voters, as if you’re somehow morally better than the rest of us:  Well, the arrogance is deafening.  You have succumbed to the very thing to which you’ve so staunchly objected in the past:  Self-righteousness.