Watch Georgia GOP representative Doug Collins tell Lou Dobbs on Fox Business that Democratic congressmen love terrorists and mourn the death of Iranian military commander Qased Soleimani:
If you don’t want to watch the whole thing, pick-it-up at the four minute mark.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taWCVtmwSTc&w=560&h=315]
Collins says: “I did not think she [Nancy Pelosi] could become more hypocritical than she was during impeachment, but guess what, surprise, surprise, Nancy Pelosi does it again and her Democrats fall right in line. One, they’re in love with terrorists. We see that. They mourn Soleimani more than they mourn our Gold Star families who were the ones who suffered under Soleimani. That’s a problem.”
Thoughts:
- The main points of Collins’s statement are not true. The Democrats are not “in love with terrorists” and they are not mourning Soleimani. (Although perhaps all Christians might mourn the taking of a human life that is created in the image of God and has dignity and worth).
- Collins is an evangelical Christian. He has a Masters of Divinity degree from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He served as the senior pastor of Chicopee Baptist Church. He currently attends Lakewood Baptist Church in Lakewood, Georgia.
- Do you see what Collins is doing here? He is misrepresenting the truth to score political points. He is trying to scare ordinary Americans into believing that the Democrats love terrorists. This is a pretty standard Christian Right strategy. Frankly, it doesn’t matter whether or not Collins is telling the truth about his Democratic colleagues. He just needs to convince ordinary evangelicals and everyday Americans that what he says is true. He is betting that most ordinary evangelicals will not fact-check him. It’s a good bet.
- Another example of this strategy is Eric Metaxas’s recent op-ed in The Wall Street Journal. In that piece the Christian author suggests that a vote for anyone other than Donald Trump will lead to the murder of babies, the influx of socialism, the prevalence of cultural Marxism, and an immigrant invasion through open borders. I addressed all these issues yesterday in this post. Metaxas’s piece, which is filled with bad theology and unproven statements, is written to Trump’s base, so it doesn’t matter whether or not his theology is bad or his facts are misleading. Trump’s base will believe him. Metaxas is doing his part for the pro-Trump cause in the wake of Mark Galli’s Christianity Today editorial. By the way, has anyone noticed that the court evangelicals have been writing a lot since the “Evangelicals for Trump” rally in Miami last week. Tony Perkins wrote that Trump is the best president Christians have ever had.” Charlie Kirk, the new colleague of Jerry Falwell Jr., wrote that Trump is our last best hope against socialism. Ralph Reed praised Trump for “reviving America’s Christian heritage.” And Metaxas suggests that Trump will protect Christians from “woke mobs.”
Something is happening to American evangelicalism. Former Ohio governor John Kasich has been noticing:
Kasich on @cnn says he’s been following the dustup over Galli’s *CT* editorial. “Evangelicalism,” he says, “is divided.” Sends message to #courtevangelicals who hang out a #MarAlago “Don’t get close to power…you have another mission.” Amen: https://t.co/CX4WQpI2xd @JohnKasich
— John Fea (@JohnFea1) January 9, 2020
