Politics, Culture, and the Gospel: Ameen Hudson and Ruslan Karaoglanov | Theology in the Raw

[@emmanueltemilade2547]

I’m a simple man, I see Ruslan (Bless God Studios) and Ameen Hudson (SOUTHSIDE RABBI), I watch.

[@WhatYourPastorDidntTellYou]

Now I know why Ruslan goes by only his first name 😄😅 Karaoglanovjehdjshs

[@lisalisaknits1314]

Thank you for this conversation. As a believer in Christ I have been hungering for a come together about Jesus, politics, and race. When I hear Christians I respect, use the term “woke”, I feel like there is a wall constructed.

[@zakiasimpson8928]

Some White Americans have definitely highjacked the term and made it negative, definitely a tool to gaslight and minimize the black experience

[@danegoti8r]

I feel this exact same way!

[@Livelife95ify]

This is incredible incredible incredible I love this

[@mandelbrotset4142]

18:10 Here they move to step 2: Articulate some Biblical principles, usually about justice, and make an argument for some kind of left-leaning policy based on those Biblical principles. Ameen argues that we should be salt, light, and prophetic. We should seek the welfare of the city. Ruslan goes through Matthew 24 and 25. Ameen brings out the OT passages about how we are to treat our neighbors. Those are the Biblical principles. The discussion about actual policy starts later, at 32:50. See how Ameen argues in favor of government welfare programs and racial reparations, which are both left-leaning policy positions.

[@mandelbrotset4142]

The whole first half of this conversation is disingenuous in its framing of Christians on the right. Sadly, these guys, particularly Ameen, do not live up to the wonderful principles introduced starting at 02:30. Instead, they follow a tired but familiar formula that goes like this: Step 1: Say that the Bible transcends the left vs right political tribalism of our day. Step 2: Articulate some Biblical principles, usually about justice, and make an argument for some kind of left-leaning policy based on those Biblical principles. Step 3: Ignore arguments from Christians on the right who use Biblical principles to justify right-leaning policies. Step 4: Say (usually implicitly) that Christians on the right have a problem where they allow their political loyalty or ideology to override their Christianity. Remind everyone about step 1, that the Bible transcends politics. Christians on the right have gone wrong because they have failed to recognize this, and they are just beholden to their political tribe. Result: you are now the morally superior Christian who can argue for left-leaning policies while appearing to just simply care about what the Bible teaches and staying above the nasty political fight. I will leave other comments with timestamps showing each of the 4 steps.

[@mandelbrotset4142]

26:20 Disingenuous comment. Ameen is giving us another of many examples of step 3: Ignore arguments from Christians on the right who use Biblical principles to justify right-leaning policies. Ameen is creating a caricature of those who disagree with him on immigration. He's using scare words like "super extremist" and "hate" without any substantiation. He's pointing to irrelevant things like food, which no one is arguing about. He isn't making a serious representation of their views on immigration, particularly mass immigration. And the audience just eats it up. Listen to them laugh. And Ruslan says, "Mmm," as if Ameen said something profound. This is not what deep thinking and charitable disagreement looks like, brothers.

[@mandelbrotset4142]

27:40 Here Ameen is presenting step 4 of the formula: Say (usually implicitly) that Christians on the right have a problem where they allow their political loyalty or ideology to override their Christianity. Remind everyone about step 1, that the Bible transcends politics. Christians on the right have gone wrong because they have failed to recognize this, and they are just beholden to their political tribe. Remember that 45 seconds before this Ameen said that "nationalism ... extreme nationalism is such a crazy idea for me for Christians to get behind." He's obviously referring to right-wing Christians. He has been talking about this kingdom culture that we're supposed to bring with us. And if we don't do that, then "we may be a little bit more beholden to the space more than we are to the kingdom of God." That's the problem with right-leaning Christians: they're beholden to the "space," i.e. their political loyalties and ideologies, more than to the kingdom of God. This disingenuous tactic allows Ameen to dismiss Christians on the right without seriously interacting with their positions. Again, it looks like Ruslan and the audience think they've just heard some profound and wise points, but in reality these are just rhetorical cheap shots.

[@mandelbrotset4142]

07:35 These are examples of "nutpicking," which can be defined as choosing a crazy person from the opposing side of the aisle and using them as an example of the beliefs of the whole. I’m not saying that these nuts don’t exist. You may even know some of them. What I am saying is that nutpicking it is a way to ignore serious arguments made by those you disagree with, which we will see a lot of in this talk, and which I will point out every time. This is our first example of step 3: Ignore arguments from Christians on the right who use Biblical principles to justify right-leaning policies.

[@mandelbrotset4142]

35:55 Another example of step 3: Ignore arguments from Christians on the right who use Biblical principles to justify right-leaning policies. Ameen talks about a hypothetical "staunchly Republican" person as if there are no Christians on the right who have incorporated the principles from the gleaning laws into their political theory.

[@mandelbrotset4142]

06:40 Here Ameen begins with step 1: Say that the Bible transcends the left vs right political tribalism of our day. He says it multiple different ways, so you can't miss it.

[@jamestiffany3531]

Nobody gonna say anything about Preston and Ruslan commiting blasphemy? Literally.

[@mandelbrotset4142]

Maybe if you provided an explanation with evidence, there would be something to interact with.

[@jamestiffany3531]

@@mandelbrotset4142 Hello friend, you're most certainly correct. I'm always down for interaction. The words used by Ruslan and Preston are (I'm only writing this for explanation), "Oh my gosh" and "oh my goodness" also in other videos, "sheesh" and "jeez". Sheesh and jeez is another way to say Jesus. Look these words up Gosh is another way to say God. Look at what goodness is, along with that particular phraseology. These are essentially euphemisms. These are blasphemies. When we express surprise or disgust and we use God's name as a way of expression as opposed to using it in reverence, then this would be deemed as blasphemous. Now the other guy talking with Ruslan straight up said the full, "Oh my God". I've noticed in these liberal circles there is no consideration for holiness or reverence for the Lord For this topic I'm speaking specifically of what comes out of their mouths. What comes out of your mouth is what defiles you according to Jesus. The word "freakin" was even used here and that's a euphemism for "f***in" That's not Christ-like. They are up their making money off the name of Jesus and making careers out of selling things in the name of Jesus and yet they sound just like the world, just like the devil. Where's the Holiness (separation)? I could go on and on, but I'm sure you understand what I'm saying and what I'm driving at. Look into those words and phrases and see if what I'm saying is the truth. Don't take my word. Go look for yourself, friend. I hope one of these guys sees this. I'd love to talk to one of them about this topic. God bless, friend.

[@mandelbrotset4142]

@@jamestiffany3531 Okay yeah I understand. "Oh my God" is definitely 100% blasphemy, and if Ameen said that, then yeah that's bad. "Oh my gosh" is obviously a euphemism, and I agree it would be better not to say it. "Oh my goodness" seems to be another couple levels down, though. Kind of hard for me to see that as blasphemy. In total, though, I generally agree with your comment. Christians can be unholy in our speech, and sometimes it is so second nature to say those things that we don't even notice it. That's a problem and something that we should repent of.

[@jamestiffany3531]

@@mandelbrotset4142 Thank you for your kindness. I'm glad you receive the truth are willing to say the unpopular thing instead of trying to fit into the standards of the world. If I may, I would like to encourage you to consider this.. Adultery and fornication are sinful and those that practice these things will perish. Now, Jesus says that lusting is adultery of the heart. God will judge our hearts, so if were practicing lust, then we will perish. So, even though we aren't committing an act physically, we are committing this internally. Euphemism is the same thing. We truly mean to say one thing internally, but outwardly we change the phrase into a lighter version. We mean one thing, but we try to lighten it by saying something else. This is essentially a heart issue/sin that is being committed. Now, with the goodness phrase, let us consider what that means.. really think about the meaning and what it is that is being said. Are we good? Is the only good one God? We are not good and only God is good. So when we say (as Christians that acknowledge scripture) this word being goodness and who we are acknowledging as good, what is this that we are saying? We are called to love God with not only all of our hearts, but also our minds. What comes out of our mouth defiles us. A true born-again Christian loves Jesus. Jesus says if we love Him we will keep His commandments. How can we bless and curse our Lord out of the same mouth? These are important issues that must be carefully thought of one by one. Check these definitions and go to the scriptures that I mentioned and see if what I'm saying is true. Again, I appreciate your kindness and your truthfulness in how you see this topic.

[@jamestiffany3531]

@@mandelbrotset4142 Brother JD (Black cross with an orange background on the picture) if you want to continue our convo.

[@zakiasimpson8928]

Both have similar upbringings however race makes their journey in life different no matter the similarities in upbringing

[@kwameopoku506]

Great conversation, things start to move forward from places like this. Caring about the humanity of each other in how we converse, think and serve will demonstrate who the Lord is. And have impact for generations and generations.

[@jessicamdenham]

Such a good convo brothers! 🙏🏽

[@Livelife95ify]

Great show .😊

[@mandelbrotset4142]

On matters of race and welfare, if you support right-leaning policies (or, God forbid, "far-right" policies), you're allowing your politics to override your Christianity. If you support left-leaning policies, well then, that just means you care about true Biblical justice, because that's obviously what the Bible teaches. Obviously.

[@TheGloryXros]

???

[@mandelbrotset4142]

@@TheGloryXros what's your question?

[@TheGloryXros]

@@mandelbrotset4142 On what exactly you mean by your post. It's a bit confusing

[@mandelbrotset4142]

@@TheGloryXros Thanks for asking, because it gave me the chance to think about it a bit more. I'm leaving more detailed comments with time stamps throughout, but I'll summarize my argument here. Some Christians like to present themselves as being above the political fray. They think they are the more spiritual Christians that are not so enmeshed in worldly affairs that they get sucked into the culture war of right vs left. They'll say, as Ameen did in the talk, that for Christians it's "not left or right but up". This is what they say, but not what they do. When it comes down to actual stances on political issues, they're on the left. Not far-left, but center-left. The Bible is presented first as transcending the left and the right, and then a few minutes later, it is presented as obviously favoring the left. This is what Ameen clearly articulated when it came to issues of racial justice. He was certain that his conservative Christian friends and colleagues would see things his way. When they did not go his way, he was in shock, and he rationalized it by saying that there was something political "attached to" their Christianity. There was no effort shown to understand the Biblical principles for being on the political right with respect to racial justice. It was simply implied that their political ideology was superimposed on top of their Christianity. And, of course, the implication is that that's bad. Very bad. It's just a disingenuous rhetorical tactic used to argue against Christians on the right and to argue for left-leaning policies. Here is the formula: Step 1: Say that the Bible transcends the left vs right political tribalism of our day. Step 2: Articulate some Biblical principles, usually about justice, and make an argument for some kind of left-leaning policy based on those Biblical principles. Step 3: Ignore arguments from Christians on the right who use Biblical principles to justify right-leaning policies. Step 4: Say (usually implicitly) that Christians on the right have a problem where they allow their political loyalty or ideology to override their Christianity. Remind everyone about step 1, that the Bible transcends politics. Christians on the right have gone wrong because they have failed to recognize this, and they are just beholden to their political tribe. Result: you are now the morally superior Christian who can argue for left-leaning policies while appearing to just simply care about what the Bible teaches and staying above the nasty political fight.

[@AcousticUplift]

@@mandelbrotset4142 I'd argue that there is no 'Biblical justification' for right-leaning policies on racial justice. Perhaps, as the panellists said, it's best to understand what you mean by racial justice. Because if you can take issue with Ameen being grieved that Afrodescendants are/were being dehumanised to the point of violent death and are systematically so, I don't know what the biblical justification for that would be. Except a scripture warped out of context. So yes, it might not be conscious but your professed faith is subject to a prevailing politics. May I be so bold as to say that calls for repentance. Indeed, I also see what I believe are biblical principles becoming subservient to politics on some issues amongst Christians who identify with the Left, as I do (I grew up in the UK, where these things tend to mean very different from the US).