THE READER David K. attended the same college as Rachel Held Evans, author of Evolving in Monkey Town and a recent guest columnist for the religion section (so they call it) of The Washington Post. David sent a letter to Mrs. Held Evans in response to her piece.

He wrote:

Dear Ms. Rachel Held Evans,

Wow. You know you’re doing the right things when you grace the pages of The Washington Post religion section.

It certainly took a lot of guts to expose the underbelly of evangelicalism and to take on such names as William Jennings Bryan and his ilk. Also taking the opposite view of your parents and church and broadcasting that to the world? Well, you certainly deserve all the social approbation and results that such a maneuver warrants.

And it’s great to see you’re promoting your book Evolving in Monkey Town for Bible study groups. Too often such groups are blithely unaware of the many extant scientific and other errors the Bible contains. They need to understand it’s the themes of the Bible that matter and not the actual words. And they need to see how they can conform their faith to the rigors of the scientific method. Otherwise,the cognitive dissonance is just too much.

Also, holding yourself out as a model of moving from doubt back to faith is sure to be of great benefit. Too little is taught about role models like Thomas who even had his book excluded from the canon at the whim of a council of old dead Europeans.

Speaking of Bible study, it should be refreshing for young people, including young men, to be taught from a female perspective. So many evangelicals take a dim view of the Biblical passages on women teaching and preaching. After all, since your book is all about challenging interpretations of Genesis, why stop there? I’m sure other tropes will be hauled out into the glaring light of progress as well. Such as that of women being a helpmeet to men thereby reaffirming patriarchal stereotypes. It’s good to see you’ve thrown off such conventions by maintaining two last names(?). Your husband should be proud.

Finally, it’s good to see a self-professed evangelical disengaging from the culture wars and instead writing on such topics as fair trade, protecting the environment, supporting gay rights, and honoring freedom of religion for Muslims, as well as how it’s ok to vote for pro-abortion candidates because it serves the greater good. All too often, Christians misinterpret James 4 and don’t realize that a future good justifies certain compromises.

If more evangelicals would follow your example, such a change would happen that they wouldn’t even recognize themselves in a few years. Maybe one day the evangelical church will look more like its enlightened Anglican or Episcopalian neighbor — you know, really relevant, having their pews filled with eager young minds ready to take on the important social issues.

Best,

David K.

                                                                — Comments —

Youngfogey writes:

Rachel Held Evans is one more of the current crop of young evangelicals eager to demonstrate to the liberal settlement that they are really nice, nice people. There has been such a long string of these people in the last decade it is now hard to greet them with much more than a yawn.

It is worth noting that this particular author is a young woman who has been liberated from every traditional restraint and is now at work replacing those traditions with half-truths and comforting misunderstandings. She has laid the foundations of quite a career, no doubt, given what a profitable industry has been built from deceit.

The shallowness of Ms. Evans thought is revealed in that she thinks her brand of religious liberalism is the future of evangelical protestantism. Once, I would have been perturbed by this. Now, I only find it laughable. All around us we see liberalism imploding and more and more people doubting its claims and promises. Yet, this naive perky blond thinks she can save Christianity’s cultural clout by shouting, “Hey, everybody! Evolution is true! Evolution is true!”

Her naiveté may someday be dispelled as the consequences of liberalism grow ever more dire and undeniable. I doubt it. Ms. Evans’ relative affluence and the approbation she will receive from within the evangelical movement and from some liberals will probably shield her from the worst of the coming collapse, for a while at least. In the meantime, she will bounce around the world spreading her message and damaging the faith of many, many people.

Randy B. writes:

First and foremost, thank you, Laura, for bringing to my attention that David K. was joking; I completely missed that in my first read of his post. 

I made it about half way through David K’s joking hero worship of Ms. Evan’s modern day psycho-babble; before I had stomach contents find their way into the back of my throat. This very modern trend (no more than 30 years old), of completely deconstructing the Bible in the name of progressive thought is utterly sickening, and needs to be offset by thinking people using logic over the emotionally unstable. The Bible (like it or not) is the foundational document that gave a very small window through which a country called America was born. All of our original laws, freedoms, people over government concepts and practices, were directly and divinely inspired using the Bible as council, as per countless writings by our founding fathers. Ms. Evan’s owes 100% of her ability and protections to write this human spittle to the Bible, and the second its protections are removed; she will be one of the useful idiots taken out by those she has empowered. I don’t have to like the fact that there are millions out there who believe exactly what David jokes about, but I do need to welcome and encourage debate without apology so that they might see the error of their ways. 

What is amazing to me is the sewer full laundry list of actions and beliefs that Evans heralds (as presented by David – I have not and will not read her puke): 

Environmental protections, gay rights, freedom of religion in America for Muslims (terrorists all), pro-abortion, and fair trade (never fair to America). Each and every one of these “noble” pursuits specifically originated with the sole intent of tearing down American values, deconstructing our political system, and the nuclear family. 

Hats off to Evans and the other Socialists amongst us for letting us know who they are up front. That way, when we have been so beaten down to the point of despair that we choose to fight back, we will know who to personally thank when we are face to face.

Randy adds:

In 1962, Russian Premier Krushchev said, “We can’t expect the American people to jump from capitalism to Communism but we can assist their leaders by giving them small amounts of Socialism until they awaken one day to find out they have Communism.” He also said that Communism would take over America “without firing a shot.” Karl Marx said, “A new revolution is possible only in consequences of a new crisis.” The modern takeover of organized religion is more of the same. If you can deconstruct the Bible and all of its absolutes, it all becomes morally relative as determined by the wants and wishes of the individual. God is no longer the absolute highest authority, as he is being replaced by man asserting man’s rules. This has successfully happened in the political theater, we know that God or Jesus are persona non grata in the public schools, if you put up a cross or have a Jesus screen saver at work it was nice working with you, and a more modern trend is to limit visual reference to Christendom on both public and private lands. After this incremental loss of religious freedoms is complete, you can and will experience the same in the privacy of your own homes. “Oh, that could never happen.” Just like how homosexuals constantly lying about how equal rights would never be used to force their beliefs or practices upon the normal population, or how Roe-v-Wade would never be used to create public funding for abortions, or how desegregation would not have negative effects on local communities and neighborhoods. 

Public schools are turning children against their parents. Politicians are pitting American citizens against each other through class warfare. Illegal immigration has created a standing act of war against American citizens. Islamic (Muslim) proliferation in America has put us at constant threat of terror attacks. Our government is rapidly expanding Socialist programs and associated debt. All of the Democrats, and 70% of the Republicans are spending American tax dollars like Sailors on shore leave in Subic Bay PI. We only have one way out, and it’s not by apologizing God’s laws and rules out of the public light.

Adam Skelton writes:

I’m completely in the traditionalist camp, but I do think that Christianity needs to be disassociated from young earth creationism. It’s really not an intellectually tenable position, and whenever I hear a Christian preacher or teacher advocate it it makes me cringe. If we can’t harmonize the Christian story with an old earth, a relatively late mankind, and death (at least animal death) before man was even here and could have Fallen, then the Christian worldview has a huge, serious hole in it. And these issues have nothing to do with evolution per se, but stem only from the recognition that the earth is old and man is not, relatively. I’ve had several intelligent and well read priests and preachers tell me they thought the earth was ten thousand years old and animals didn’t kill each other before man fell, and it was disappointing for me. I can’t believe that. If Christianity implies these things, then we are in trouble.

Laura writes:

Agreed. Very few Christians I know embrace young earth creationism.

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