An Appeal for Charity and Moderation:
Addressing Blogger Matt Walsh’s Comments on Bruce Jenner
Addressing Blogger Matt Walsh’s Comments on Bruce Jenner
At some point last fall, An Evangelical pastor
friend of mine turned me on to a conservative blogger named Matt Walsh. Due to
my rigorous academic work here in Princeton, New Jersey, I normally do not have
time to surf the blogosphere to get the latest social and political takes of
non-academicians. A cursory examination of current trends on the worldwide web
will conclusively demonstrate that there are a lot of people on line espousing
a multiplicity of views from a myriad of ideological, sociological and
theological perspectives.
However, in my estimation there is something
unique and admirable about this young man named Matt Walsh. I personally like
the guy and think his earnest theologically informed perspective is refreshing
in a world filled with substance free rhetoric. It is very obvious that Matt
Walsh a young man on the move. He is a real mover and shaker in the American
world of ideas with a bright future as a public intellectual.
Having said this, it greatly pains me to be
an interloper and rain on his ever increasing parade. However, in diametrical
counter-distinction to many American conservatives who are praising Walsh for
his bold take on the Bruce Jenner issue, I believe Walsh’s recent Op-Ed piece
on the Blaze entitled, “Bruce Jenner is not a woman. He is a sick and
delusional man,” is pejorative and most certainly not helpful in fostering
civil and conciliatory discourse in a world awash in vitriol and polarization.
You can read Matt Walsh’s Op-Ed on Bruce
Jenner at: http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/bruce-jenner-is-not-a-woman-he-is-a-sick-and-delusional-man/
I think it is important from the onset to
communicate that I am a conservative who understands full well the audience
that appreciates this sort of rhetoric. As a younger man, I think I would have
been more appreciative of Walsh’s commentary, but as I get older, I think this
sort of cultural militancy is not serving the American people very well. Sure,
it gets conservatives fired up, but I am just not certain there will be a positive
outcome from increasing the saddening divisions already tearing this storied
nation apart.
As a an Evangelical Christian who very much
wants to honor Christ with my words and actions, I am concerned that Mr. Walsh’s
view that Bruce Jenner is little more than a “sick and delusional cross dresser,”
will hurt those who are struggling with gender related issues and only confirm
popular suspicions and commonly held societal stereotypes about Evangelicals
and other social conservatives. It is a
fact that many people in secular society believe that Evangelicals hate them.
While I am sympathetic to the idea that God
intended human beings to remain in the gender that He originally created them
to be, I believe the issue is far more complex than Mr. Walsh and others
crusading against Bruce Jenner and other transgendered individuals make it out
to be. Since time immemorial, human beings have struggled with their gender and
Mr. Walsh’s pejorative laden commentary will not change that, but will serve to
divide America further and further.
There are deep divisions in contemporary
American society as the current smoldering riots and ruins of Baltimore can
attest to, we all must do our part to be ambassadors of peace and
reconciliation to a hurting world. I am just not certain that Mr. Walsh’s
comments on Bruce Jenner are very Christian. I do not hear the authentic voice of
Jesus in his comments about Bruce Jenner.
The Bible teaches us to love our enemies and
if Mr. Walsh perceives Bruce Jenner to be his cultural enemy, I think he would
be better served to use words of compassion towards Bruce Jenner in a manner
that could potentially win him over to Walsh’s position on gender identity and
the historic Christian faith.
I am not attempting to squelch Mr. Walsh’s
considerable gifts and zeal for his conception of truth, far from it. I just
want to see a gifted man like Matt Walsh love Bruce Jenner as Christ would. I
am just not certain that Mr. Walsh’s comments meet Jesus’ criterion of loving
our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:39).
Lee Edward “Ed” Enochs (B.A. Southwestern
Baptist Theological Seminary) is an Evangelical Christian with distinctive
Libertarian views on politics and the US Constitution. Lee has also studied at
such noted schools as the Moody Bible Institute and Westminster Theological
Seminary in California and is currently a full-time graduate student in
Princeton, New Jersey. Lee is also the author of a book on the relationship
between economics and Christianity entitled, “A Biblical Defense of Capitalism”
which can be purchased at: http://www.amazon.com/Biblical-Defense-Capitalism-Lee-Enochs/dp/1505809061
