Josh Benner

Category: Politics

  • Roe overturned

    Roe overturned

    I still remember the moment when my wife got an update on her phone about a leaked Supreme Court document that SCOTUS was going to overturn the historic Roe v Wade decision from 1973.

    Before that, I never thought I’d see the day. Today, it became official as the court overturns a constitutional right to abortion.

    The aftermath of this decision will lead to intense debate. From the most ardent supporters of abortion, there will be sackcloth and ashes. Over the past several weeks, we’ve heard the various talking points about how necessary abortion is, and about how women will just do them illegally.

    Overturning Roe doesn’t make abortion illegal. But it does give states broader authority to limit abortion. Numerous states already had laws to limit abortion already in place in case Roe was overturned.

    Sadly, all abortions will not yet be stopped and there is still more work to do. But lives will be saved.

    Before Roe v. Wade was decided by the Supreme Court in 1973, 30 states had made abortion illegal and it was only allowed under certain circumstances in 16 more. We hear a lot about democracy and “threats to democracy.” Roe was a threat to our humanity. Roe went against the will of the people and in the process, led to horrendous casualties. 

    We’ve made termination the easy way out over choosing life. We’ve undermined the value of life of those conceived in cases of rape and incest and made them political pawns as if their lives are expendable. We’ve talked about people being raised in less stable families as if they’d be better not being able to live at all. Millions of people who have lived through similarly challenging upbringings would beg to differ. 

    In the 50 years since Roe, I think of the sixty millions of babies who have been aborted and I don’t understand how all people aren’t heartbroken by that number. Tens of millions of lives have been created and terminated. Tens of millions of lives have been created yet never got to be lived. We’ve devalued life. We’ve taken something precious and made it a problem to be dealt with. We’ve taken something as tragic as abortion and turned it into a big business, both for abortion providers and those who work to lobby on its behalf. 

    Fifty years of this barbarity. I think of the millions of lives lost but also the kids and grandkids those people would have had. At the end of the movie Schindler’s List, they give Liam Neeson (who plays Oskar Schindler) a ring with an inscription from the Talmud which says “whoever saves one life, saves the world entire.” 

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  • Popular pastor says evangelicals are too concerned with winning

    Popular pastor says evangelicals are too concerned with winning

    Atlanta based megachurch pastor Andy Stanley has a new book coming out titled “Not in it to win it: why choosing sides sidelines the church.” 

    From the description of the book: 

    “Is it possible to disagree politically and love unconditionally? The reaction of evangelicals to political and cultural shifts in recent years revealed what they value most. Lurking beneath our Bible-laced rhetoric, faith claims, books, and sermons is a relentless drive to WIN!

    But the church is not here to win. By every human measure, our Savior lost. On purpose. With a purpose. And we are his body. We are not in it to win anything. We are in it for something else entirely. That something else is what this book is about.”

    Umm…

    We’re in the middle of a major cultural shift where numerous things have become mainstream which are antithetical to the gospel, and Andy Stanley wants to concern himself with evangelical Christians trying too hard to win? 

    A baker in Colorado had to go all the way to the Supreme Court to assert his right not to have to bake cakes for gay weddings. And he’s been harassed by LGBT groups ever since. This week, a handful of baseball players for the Tampa Bay Rays refused to wear pride themed jerseys and they’ve been vilified. Chick-fil-a is a constant source of ire because the company has evangelical Christian values and used to donate money to some causes who had the audacity to affirm traditional marriage. Charlotte, North Carolina lost the 2019 NBA All Star game because the state would not allow transgender people to use their preferred bathroom. And countless other examples. 

    There’s incredible venom and vitriol against any who stand up to these social pressures. The culture bullies anyone who stands up against these social issues and labels them as hateful and bigoted.  

    And Andy Stanley wants to say evangelicals are too focused on winning? 

    Evangelicals are just trying to stand up against being forced to comply with this paganism of our society. 

    Think of all of the major cultural institutions who have thrown in with the progressive left in the culture wars. The media, Hollywood, social media companies, higher education, healthcare, (increasingly) big corporations, professional sports, and on and on and on. 

    And so with all of these major institutions already being to the left, Stanley’s comments are easy to make about those on the right. It’s easy to say that too many evangelical Christians and leaders make too much of an idol of politics. But what’s hard to say is that there are too many liberal churches who have embraced abortion and the LGBT movement and that these beliefs are unbiblical. 

    I don’t find Stanley’s thesis to be particularly interesting or original. Russell Moore says similar things, Beth Moore, the Gospel Coalition, Tim Keller in his own cryptic way. I feel like I see a similar commentary every week. In the mainstream Christian media (Gospel Coalition, Christianity Today, Religion News Service), the call for political moderation only seems to go one way. It’s the argument that evangelicals are too conservaitve (and everyone else is just fine).   

    “Evangelicals are too political.” I think of churches where I’ve served and attended. And yes, more people were probably voting republican than democrat. But politics was not the focal point of what we were doing or what was being taught. And someone who believed differently about politics was still welcome (and many such people served these churches in meaningful ways). 

    Are there evangelical churches that are more politicized than the churches that I’ve attended and served? I’m sure there are. 

    But for every evangelical church that wants to conflate republicanism with the gospel, there are rainbow flag waving churches who clearly have cast their own political lot with the left. For those churches, not only are they too political, but they’re also out of step with the Bible. Where’s the call for these churches to repent? 

    Stanley argues “By every human measure, our Savior lost.” It is true that Jesus willingly gave up his life for his people. Jesus was unjustly arrested, tortured, and crucified. And he also never turned a blind eye to sin.

    A common argument I hear is that evangelicals should be more loving to our neighbor. Stanley writes, “The moment our love for or concern for country takes precedence over our love for people in our country we are off mission.” I would argue that part of loving the country and the people within the country is wanting what’s best for both the country and its people and that the progressive cultural issues which dehumanize the unborn, which say that gender is a social construct are both bad for the country and for its people.

    It isn’t loving to stand idly by. Yes, we can’t force people to live a certain way, but we should stand up to a society that is trying to force a contrary set of values upon us and everyone else. And one of the tools to combat these issues is politics, how we vote, who we vote for, and what we support. 

    I too would say that we should not make idols of politics or make saviors out of politicians. Politics and “winning” are not all important. But they are also not unimportant. 

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  • Leaked Supreme Court docs point to a potential end to Roe v. Wade

    Leaked Supreme Court docs point to a potential end to Roe v. Wade

    Many years from now, I think I’ll remember where I was when I heard the news that documents had been leaked related to a Supreme Court opinion on Roe v. Wade, the controversial landmark decision from 1973 which made abortion legal throughout the country. 

    I feel like I can’t let myself get too excited until the decision is officially overturned. Justices who have reportedly sided with reversing Roe can still change their minds. But it is exciting that overturning the decision looks to be a real possibility. 

    To be honest, it’s not something I ever thought I’d see. 

    If the changes go forward, the work will not be done for either side as the issue would go back to the states. It’s estimated that 20-26 states could ban abortion. Blue states like California and New York would allow abortion full term. Other states would be in between and allow abortions to ceratin points or under certain circumstances. 

    Before Roe v. Wade was decided by the Supreme Court in 1973, 30 states had made abortion illegal and it was only allowed under certain circumstances in 16 more. We hear a lot about democracy and “threats to democracy.” Roe was a threat to our humanity. Roe went against the will of the people and in the process, led to horrendous casualties. 

    We’ve made termination the easy way out over choosing life. We’ve undermined the value of life of those conceived in cases of rape and incest and made them political pawns as if their lives are expendable. We’ve talked about people being raised in less stable families as if they’d be better not being able to live at all. Millions of people who have lived through similarly challenging upbringings would beg to differ. 

    In the 50 years since Roe, I think of the sixty millions of babies who have been aborted and I don’t understand how anyone doesn’t find that number heartbreaking to every American. Tens of millions of lives have been created and terminated. Tens of millions of lives have been created yet never got to be lived. We’ve devalued life. We’ve taken something precious and made it a problem to be dealt with. We’ve taken something as tragic as abortion and turned it into a big business, both for abortion providers and those who work to lobby on its behalf. 

    If this decision goes well, many will demonize the Supreme Court. There will be those who talk about adding more justices, about trying to pass federal laws which allow abortion, of trying to ban the fillibuster. But for the justices who look set to reverse Roe, if they hold true to that decision, millions of lives will be saved. 

    Fifty years of this barbarity. I think of the millions of lives lost but also the kids and grandkids those people would have had. At the end of the movie Schindler’s List, they give Liam Neeson (who plays Oskar Schindler) a ring with an inscription from the Talmud which says “whoever saves one life, saves the world entire.” 

    Tonight at dinner, I was looking at my six month old son and I thought “for all I know, this decision could save the life of his future wife.” 

    Again, there is work to be done and the pro-choice side will never let this go and will fight fiercely for a woman’s so called right to have an abortion. But for those who stand for life, this is an exciting day. 

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  • CNN host calls Parler an echo chamber. Fails to realize CNN is its own echo chamber

    I was struck by recent comments from Brian Stelter on CNN. In a conversation with Pamela Brown, they criticized the new Twitter-alternative, Parler.

    Stelter said: “People are going more and more into their own echo chambers. More and more into their own bubbles, especially Trump voters. There’s this new social media app called Parler getting a lot of attention. Because Conservatives are leaving – saying their leaving Twitter and Facebook, and going off to Parler because they believe Parler is a safer space for them. What we’re seeing is even more of a bunker mentality from right wing media, and ultimately that is not good for the country.

    Brown goes on to call that a “threat to democracy.”

    I think that’s all very rich. You have a progressive news network criticizing Conservatives for going into echo chambers. They need to look in a mirror. I love that they want to say this is “not good for the country,” when people are making an exodus for apps like Parler because of progressive liberalism, its influence on tech, and its crackdowns on free speech. So then what is good for the country? A nation where the only discourse which is acceptable is what progressives deem worthy? That’s great for a free society and for democracy.

    I’ve heard progressives justify the censorship of big tech as that simply being the free market at work. Well so are apps like Parler and Rumble. That’s the market correcting itself.

    Our society has become an echo chamber for progressive thought. They control the mainstream media. They overwhelmingly control higher education and public schools. Liberals control Hollywood (how many outspoken Conservative actors can you name). The sports industry has gone woke. And so has tech. Social media platforms who were created as platforms which once promoted free speech now have political agendas.

    Don’t get me wrong. Echo chambers are a bad thing. That’s why I regularly get my news from a diverse array of news sources such as the New York Times, Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, NPR, BBC, the Federalist, and Daily Wire. And while they’re not a good thing, all people, regardless of political belief can be susceptible of falling into echo chambers. That’s why I value having friends who have a diverse array of opinions.

    People love to attack the “right wing conspiracies,” but why does no one question the conspiracy theories of the left? We went four years hearing how Trump colluded with the Russians and how Trump stole the 2016 election. People mock the right for questioning this election, but the left was questioning the integrity of the process before the election happened. My point? Both sides can be capable of echo chambers and conspiracies.

    But creating an account on Parler does not mean you’re doomed to fall down that rabbit hole.

    Stelter and Brown can call apps who do promote free speech to be threats to democracy but what they really are is threats to the power of progressivism in controlling what people see and think.

    No, people are not going to Parler just to spread conspiracies. But not all stories which are censored on Twitter and Facebook are objectively false, and people don’t want platforms to dictate what they can post. Secondly, as these sites increased their crackdown of opposing views this election cycle, I think many people have signed up for alternative platforms as a hedge against being kicked off of Facebook and Twitter (I’m not saying I think it will come to that).

    You can follow me on Parler @Joshbenner or on Twitter @JoshBennerBlog

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  • Whoever wins this election is not a savior

    The political division is incredible. The name calling. The condescension. The assumptions we make about the people who support the other candidate. It’s unfortunate.

    We have so many news sources, websites, social media platforms, and “fact” checking websites, all to backup one’s adopted views. For many, more and more time is invested, which raises the level of interest (because you have to psychologically justify the amount of time spent following politics). It becomes a vicious cycle and fosters an environment of perpetual debate. It’s the most popular reality show in the world.

    Because we are more constantly needing to defend our views, in arguments, we dig our heels in and we make these things out to be much bigger issues than they oftentimes are. We tie our happiness and joy to whether or not our person wins. We tie our hope for the future prosperity and potential of our society into whether or not our person wins.

    And because people get so invested, it means million are going to become obnoxious and have a false sense of hope in the Messianic figure they’ve made their candidate to be. And millions more will think we’re doomed as a society, that our last hope is gone, that we’ve elected a dictator-to-be.


    I think far too many people, on both sides of the political aisle, look at our politicians as saviors. We place too much hope in imperfect people. If your life is going great, it’s not because of the president. And if your life is terrible, it’s not because of the president.

    I also see this within Christianity. Too many people of faith fall into the same traps that many in our society do. Of putting too much stock into politics. Of focusing too much on things that are far away and distant than things that are right within our own communities and neighborhoods. Christians need to understand that, regardless of which candidate you support – and I know many who support both major candidates – that if your candidate loses, there’s no reason to lose hope, because there’s no reason to place hope in any person.

    That’s not to say we should be apathetic or oblivious to what’s going on in our world. But to remember that God is God, he is good, he is sovereign. Regardless of what happens in Washington, that everyday is an opportunity to know God and serve him. That regardless of if a politician we don’t like is in power, that this doesn’t hinder our knowledge of God. I’m not saying we should lie down and give up our rights, but to keep perspective.

    I see stories of the oppression of people throughout the history of the world, and the oppression that many still face. Even in those times, God’s Church has grown. We put our comfort on a pedestal. The Bible continually talks of tests and trials. They’re part of life. It’s not that these things are good in themselves but that they don’t hinder our opportunity to know God and have faith in him. Again, that’s not to say anyone should have the desire to be oppressed, but I also feel like the things that Christians face in America pale in comparison to the things that God’s people face in other places and at other times.

    There are many things that influence our lives. And Christians have a daily opportunity to live lives of faith, to model the love of Christ, and to tell people a message that transforms a soul for eternity (rather than a country for 4 years). There might be issues where we think a president will have great influence (and sometimes they undoubtedly do), but even when our candidate isn’t in power, it’s not a reason to give up. It’s a reason to get involved.

    An updated version of “the next president is not a savior” from November 7, 2016.

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