White evangelical support for the campaign and presidency of Donald Trump has hindered their racial reconciliation efforts, according to influential evangelical John Piper.
The chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary stated in a message livestreamed on YouTube Thursday evening that over the past few years, America has experienced a “constellation of sorrows” on the issue of race relations in America.
Piper, founder of DesiringGod.org, explained that he was directing his comments primarily toward white evangelicals in the Reformed theological tradition.
Piper listed six things in the “constellation of sorrows” category, which he also called six “crises.” The first mention was the Michael Brown shooting in 2014 and ensuing controversy over his death.
After talking briefly about Brown and racially-charged police shootings in general, the next “crisis” given was “the emergence of Donald Trump, first as candidate and now as president.”
“Donald Trump with his divisive rhetorical style and his adolescent pattern of blaming and his reckless Twitter form of leadership,” said Piper.
“Add to this that a huge percentage of white evangelicals voted for him even though the character issues were screaming to be taken more seriously and given a higher priority.”
Other issues straining race relations in America named by Piper included the violent protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August, the debate over Confederate statues and monuments, and the NFL kneeling protests combined with “our president’s vulgar response.”
Piper called these six crises, based on events from the past year or so, as “very sad” and noted that “underneath it is the decades-long, centuries-long, ongoing treatment of minorities with blatant or subtle, individual or structural injustice.”
Piper took issue with how many of his fellow white evangelicals were responding to these crises, especially those connected to support for Trump, whom Piper has repeatedly called “morally unfit” to lead the nation.
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SOURCE: Michael Gryboski
Christian Post
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