Civil Commotion

Inexplicably, Albert the Pious gets something right.

The irony, of course, is that when Mohler tells people they must be prepared to betray family and friends in order to be accepted by his cult, he is contributing to the decline.

Tom Rich goes another round with the Mohlerites who are ready to dismember their family in order to impress their Invisible Friend. This is a pastor in Texas who contemplates church discipline for members who attend a same-sex wedding ceremony.

Because, you know, when you’re a Bible-believing Southern Baptist it is forbidden to you to have thoughts; all you have to know is obey-obey–obey–OBEY. I don’t know what saddens me more, that pastors can be so deformed that they would actually presume to demand such destructive behavior of their members, or that some people are so debased they take those grotesque creatures seriously.

Notice the exclamation point!!

The Inquisition in practice was never as benign as it advertised itself to be. Confession was required before the sin of heresy could be forgiven, for example, and yet confession alone was never enough. The confession had to be abject, earnest, and complete, which meant that it had to include the betrayal of others, including spouses and children, friends and neighbors. That’s why the naming of names was rooted in both the theology and the psychology of the Inquisition — the will of the victim to resist had to be utterly crushed, his or her sense of self eradicated, and the authority of the interrogator acknowledged as absolute. The best evidence that an accused man or woman has been utterly defeated, then as now, is the willingness to betray a loved one or a trusting friend.

Jonathan Kirsch, The Grand Inquisitor’s Manual, p. 19

Successfully breaking ordinary, wholesome loyalties is proof of total ownership — and exactly what Albert Mohler demands of believers. I don’t care if he is the Very Mightiest Theologian Of Them All, he preaches the cult — and it ought to put him outside decent, educated society.