03.14.06
Posted in faith at 10:00 am by Brandon
One of our favorites, Brannon Howse–web-writer extrordinare and all around fun guy,–has another winner up over at the Christian Worldview Network. Howse gave an interesting treatment of why those that preach tolerance are truly intolerant of the intolerant, thus they’re hypocrites. Technically, he’s right, I think. Here’s an excerpt, even if a little confusing:
If you’ve read some of my articles before, you know how much I enjoy pointing out the intolerance of people who scream the loudest about how important it is to be tolerant. And it’s almost amusing that those who yammer about not judging others are the most judgmental of your judgments.
In this piece Howse lays out a defense of intolerance. I’m willing to say that his logic is good…at least for this part of his argument.
Where I get a little fuzzy, though, is where Howse berates a group of “tolerance mongers” for in fact being intolerant. I’m confused, I suppose, because Howse first lays out an air tight defense of intolerance and then goes on to berate one particular group for their intolerance! Here’s another excerpt:
Citations from the PCM18 Police rolled in like a tsunami. But did they e-mail to privately chastise me for my “unbiblical” conduct of writing and speaking out against the false teachings of Joel Osteen, the Emerging Church, or the liberal activism and unchristian funding of the group of 85? No, of course not—even though that is exactly what they were writing to tell me I should have done. (You’ll recognize that the hallmark of any tolerance monger is that they want you to do what they would never do themselves.)
Howse wants to eat his cake and have it too, it seems. The only intolerance that is acceptable is HIS intolerance, as if he somehow sets the supreme standard of what is good and right. It’s cool to be intolerant of people who oppose global warming–because they’re liberal, after all. And, it’s cool to be intolerant of Joel Osteen’s happy talk, or the Emerging Church. But, good Lordy look out if you get intolerant of Brannon Howse.
Let’s be honest with ourselves, we’re all intolerant of things. The question though, I think, isn’t what you are or are not intolerant of, but rather what the standard is that you make your judgements about tolerance. Me, although I’m far from perfect and have my biases as well, I like to think that the holy scriptures are the best tool for MEASURED intolerance.
Brannon Howse seems to think that the defining characteristic of what we should be intolerant of is any position on any issue that’s not on the far right of the political spectrum.
My friends, I’m not perfect–far from it,–but please let’s see this as what it should be seen as: Heresy, purely and simply. Christians who judge issues, such as global warming or climate change (as Howse has done), based on their position left of center rather than as a kingdom imperative, twist scripture and are dead wrong. Calling such a position “Christian” is nothing short of heretical.
Tags: Brannon Howse, Tolerance, Heresy
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Posted in faith at 10:00 am by Brandon
One of our favorites, Brannon Howse–web-writer extrordinare and all around fun guy,–has another winner up over at the Christian Worldview Network. Howse gave an interesting treatment of why those that preach tolerance are truly intolerant of the intolerant, thus they’re hypocrites. Technically, he’s right, I think. Here’s an excerpt, even if a little confusing:
If you’ve read some of my articles before, you know how much I enjoy pointing out the intolerance of people who scream the loudest about how important it is to be tolerant. And it’s almost amusing that those who yammer about not judging others are the most judgmental of your judgments.
In this piece Howse lays out a defense of intolerance. I’m willing to say that his logic is good…at least for this part of his argument.
Where I get a little fuzzy, though, is where Howse berates a group of “tolerance mongers” for in fact being intolerant. I’m confused, I suppose, because Howse first lays out an air tight defense of intolerance and then goes on to berate one particular group for their intolerance! Here’s another excerpt:
Citations from the PCM18 Police rolled in like a tsunami. But did they e-mail to privately chastise me for my “unbiblical” conduct of writing and speaking out against the false teachings of Joel Osteen, the Emerging Church, or the liberal activism and unchristian funding of the group of 85? No, of course not—even though that is exactly what they were writing to tell me I should have done. (You’ll recognize that the hallmark of any tolerance monger is that they want you to do what they would never do themselves.)
Howse wants to eat his cake and have it too, it seems. The only intolerance that is acceptable is HIS intolerance, as if he somehow sets the supreme standard of what is good and right. It’s cool to be intolerant of people who oppose global warming–because they’re liberal, after all. And, it’s cool to be intolerant of Joel Osteen’s happy talk, or the Emerging Church. But, good Lordy look out if you get intolerant of Brannon Howse.
Let’s be honest with ourselves, we’re all intolerant of things. The question though, I think, isn’t what you are or are not intolerant of, but rather what the standard is that you make your judgements about tolerance. Me, although I’m far from perfect and have my biases as well, I like to think that the holy scriptures are the best tool for MEASURED intolerance.
Brannon Howse seems to think that the defining characteristic of what we should be intolerant of is any position on any issue that’s not on the far right of the political spectrum.
My friends, I’m not perfect–far from it,–but please let’s see this as what it should be seen as: Heresy, purely and simply. Christians who judge issues, such as global warming or climate change (as Howse has done), based on their position left of center rather than as a kingdom imperative, twist scripture and are dead wrong. Calling such a position “Christian” is nothing short of heretical.
Tags: Brannon Howse, Tolerance, Heresy
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Trackback URL »
http://www.badchristian.com/2006/03/14/tolerance/trackback/
ninjanun said,
March 14, 2006 at 10:56 am
Oh, I LOVE it when those who self-identify as “intolerant” point out the “intolerance” of those they identify as “tolerant;” as in: “They’re not tolerant of my intolerant views! Therefore, they’re not *really* tolerant, now are they?”
It’s a nice bit of circular logic, but replace the words ‘tolerant’ and ‘intolerant’ with just about any other diametrically opposed ideas, and you see why that argument just doesn’t hold water:
“I’m a racist! And these people over here say ‘all people are equal!’ Yet they’re not giving equal consideration for my (admittedly racist) ideas! How dare they!”
So yes, if you’re big thing is *tolerance,” why should you be expected to embrace “intolerance” as a viable way of being? And if you’re for “justice,” why would you consider “injustice” as a viable way of operating?
It seems those who self-identify as “intolerant” and then cry about the “tolerant” people not giving two figs and a pickle for their intolerant ideas are confusing PEOPLE with IDEAS. Tolerant people will tolerate all sorts of people, but they’re going to call someone on the carpet for their illogical or intolerant ideas.
So good job taking Mr. Howse to task on that, Brandon.
wildwest said,
March 14, 2006 at 11:40 am
This has the makings of another knot, but I think I can untie it before it gets too tight. (Well, we’ll see.) I don’t think this Howse guy is bashing the tolerant for being intolerant so much as for being “inconsistent.” (He wouldn’t necessarily claim to be Mr. Tolerant himself.) Of course, then he would end up having to say something like, “They claim to be tolerant, but they are inconsistently so, because they tolerate everything except intolerance.” Implication: to be consistently tolerant you have to tolerate everything, including intolerance. Of course, this starts to run in a circle, and ninjanun’s concluding statement, “Tolerant people will tolerate all sorts of people, but they’re going to call someone on the carpet for their illogical or intolerant ideas” puts a stop to it.
wildwest said,
March 14, 2006 at 11:43 am
Brandon,
I got a reference to that same article in a “worldview” (starting to hate that word) newsletter. I don’t know how I got subscribed to it. Anyway, that must be one of the sources for all that “Christian” crap you point to on this blog.
Brandon said,
March 14, 2006 at 11:50 am
WW,
You probably got subscribed to it when you took the “badchristian test”, which is an affiliate of that site.
Sorry.
Dan Lewis said,
March 14, 2006 at 5:40 pm
I read the article and I found it difficult to tease out the point of all this. Christians posted to Howse’s comments section, which is a public forum, about things he also said in a public forum. Then Howse mocks them in a public forum for using a public forum for rebukes that should be held in private.
Coming up next: Commenters rebuke Howse in public for rebuking them in public about not rebuking people unless in private. Or, even better, Commenters rebuke Howse in private for mocking them in public about not rebuking people unless in private. So there’s the knot.
Like Brandon said, this pointless runaround is about Howse’s marriage of Christianity and conservative politics, not hypocritical shenanigans. As Howse says, “I also released an article on 85 “evangelical” leaders who had signed a left-wing global warming initiative that is being funded by radical, anti-Christian foundations.” I doubt all the people who disagreed with that one were quoting from Matthew 18 like he says.
Maybe Howse should spend more time on the cogent objections to his religious politics than he does horsing around playing word games.
Leighton said,
March 14, 2006 at 6:02 pm
I’m with Dan; the arguments for and against “tolerance” as such aren’t nearly specific enough that I could figure out what anyone is talking about, let alone come to a point where I agree or disagree with one side or other. In my experience, if you find yourself in a position where someone does or says something and you’re tempted to say “That’s so intolerant”, there are surely other, more descriptive adjectives you could use to chastise their behavior.
Recovering said,
March 14, 2006 at 6:19 pm
I was starting to think I’d never agree with Wildwest but I actually do here. I don’t think the guy was claiming to be Mr. Tolerant.
So I guess he’s more than welcome to be Intolerant of those who’s intolerance in the name of tolerance is intolerable…
I may be relatively conservative - but that website and this one can really piss me off at times…
Joe said,
March 14, 2006 at 7:25 pm
You might say the man was throwing rocks inside a glass “Howse”
John Mulholland said,
March 15, 2006 at 7:36 am
It’s funny, I was one of the people who supposedly “slammed” him on his posting website, rather than send an e-mail to him personally. when I posted yet another response to his articel yesterday, I asked him why they allowed for feedback if he was going to criticize people for the feedback methodology (bulletin board post vs personal e-mail). I also pointed out that the context for Matthew 18 is sin, his previous article was not a “sin”, it was intellectually disingenuous. I then offered my e-mail address as a way for him to walk his talk.
The funniest thing of all, my post has yet to appear on the site, and I bet it will not.
wildwest said,
March 15, 2006 at 8:46 am
I still don’t know what to make of those fast-growing “emergent” churches, but the more Howse and Co. condemn them, the more I like them.
Joe said,
March 15, 2006 at 11:50 am
Brandon’s comments are leaving me red in the face! Will this flush beat a full Howse?
Dan Lewis said,
March 15, 2006 at 1:00 pm
I hope it’s a straight flush. Gay flushes are not allowed.
Joe said,
March 15, 2006 at 1:55 pm
Hey Brandon, Howse it going?
meg said,
March 19, 2006 at 5:12 pm
Brandon,
I’ve been keeping an eye on those wiley worldview weekend folks for about a year now. I’m hoping to do a Philosophy of Religion on their brand of Christianity. I’ll have to cull from your blog but I’d also love to trade ideas back and forth. I’m excited about delineating the worldview of the worldview mongers - its so zen! Next up, the sound of one hand clapping.
juanito said,
March 20, 2006 at 11:59 pm
To me, the word tolerance implies a distaste, a slightly painful willingness to put up with people. Tolerance misses the point, and i guess people who are proud of being intolerant miss the point even more. Love sort of does an end run around tolerance, embracing everyone as people - precious creations of God - and leaves any issues that we may find objectionable for a later time.
Nobody should ask me to tolerate someone who habitually tries to beat me up. But Christ commands me to love them. I can strive to love everyone, but i sure don’t want to spend much time around intolerant jerks.
Mike Shannon said,
October 17, 2006 at 10:22 am
I feel bad whwn I consider what all this bashing reallyis all about. This is non other than a spiritual war shoot-out for all the unbelievers to use as another reason some will undoubtly spend eternity in hell. I don’t spend time following targets to try and sharpen my skills at giving others a reason to deny Christ’s offer of salvation by grace through faith. All I can see on this site are people wrything in conviction. Don’t attack either of these positions until you have exhausted an in depth Bible study for yourselves to see which view point is accurately following the teachings of our Chief Cornerstone and those that laid the foundations of our beliefs according to that cornerstone laid out by God. JER. 29:13
Boz said,
November 28, 2006 at 4:27 pm
I’m very concerned about the followers of the Christian Worldview Network & Mr. Howse. Be leary of wolves in sheep’s clothing. Alot of this network is nothing more than christian legalism. There is one thing that most of these Christian legalists have in common: They all assume that any others that don’t see things their way are not even Christians. They claim to be in body of Christ but their doctrine and essecially their actions attack believers that are not of their doctrine. Legalists always find fault with, they criticize, those who disagree with the laws created by the legalists. Naturally they do. For they convince themselves that God really meant to speak to create law about the matter they think important. They emagine that what they read into the Bible was really put there by God. Most of us are apt to do this sometimes. But we never should do so. Legalist seek to domineer. Since they know they are entirely and always right, they feel they must demand that their ideas/interpretations/opinions become those of all. Any desenter is doomed, for legalist know exactly what God teaches and requires. If you have followed or view Mr. Howse’s Christian Worldview Network site this may all seem a bit familular. Please take a moment and read Jude 1:3 & 1 John 4:1-3.