{"id":12094,"date":"2020-04-22T10:46:19","date_gmt":"2020-04-22T14:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bobfelton.com\/?p=12094"},"modified":"2020-04-22T10:50:18","modified_gmt":"2020-04-22T14:50:18","slug":"mohler-flexible-convictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.bobfelton.com\/?p=12094","title":{"rendered":"Mohler: Flexible convictions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>What do you know?  Albert Mohler&#8217;s startling announcement that he is now a Trump supporter is no surprise to those who know him best: it seems he&#8217;s always been an <a href=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/2020\/04\/17\/mohlers-turn-to-trump-is-the-crowning-flip-flop-of-his-career\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">opportunist<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The leader\u2019s about-face has mystified many, given that none of his current justifications for endorsing the president address his previous criticisms. But others, including some of Mohler\u2019s friends and colleagues (full disclosure: I have known Mohler since childhood), have pointed out that <SPAN style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR: #a8f2f5\">his decision is consistent with a career marked as much by ambition as conviction<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>[ &#8230; ]<\/p>\n<p>But Leonard, founding dean and professor of divinity emeritus of Wake Forest University School of Divinity, says that <SPAN style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR: #a8f2f5\">Mohler\u2019s theology quickly evolved in the \u201980s when theological conservatives moved to take over the Southern Baptist Convention. Mohler pivoted to the right<\/span> just as it became clear that conservative factions were going to win.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think you can make the case that there was an expediency to Al\u2019s hard-right turn in those days,\u201d says Leonard, author of \u201cBaptist Ways: A History.\u201d \u201cHe saw where things were headed in the denomination and turned toward it.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It&#8217;s hardly a secret that I&#8217;ve never thought much of Mohler, but my dislike has always been grounded on the ridiculous and degrading theology he peddles; I&#8217;ve wondered often, and publicly, if he actually believes that stuff.  Apparently, it&#8217;s enough for Albert the Pious that Ma and Pa Kettle believe that stuff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What do you know? Albert Mohler\u2019s startling announcement that he is now a Trump supporter is no surprise to those who know him best. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bobfelton.com\/?p=12094\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bobfelton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12094"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bobfelton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bobfelton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bobfelton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bobfelton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12094"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.bobfelton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12094\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12102,"href":"http:\/\/www.bobfelton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12094\/revisions\/12102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bobfelton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bobfelton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bobfelton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}