Dear Friends,
I’ve complained for years about the 24/7/365 news cycle and the methods of monetizing it. The media has been overdosing us on “news.” Whether there is actually any news isn’t a consideration. If it’s a “slow news” day, they will put talking heads on a screen to yell and scream and get us worked up about utter trivialities.
What happens when there is a huge amount of actual news? We hardly have the capacity to take it in or interpret it wisely. We are overdosed—slumped over and very difficult to rouse. It’s just exhausting being amped up all the time.
Anyway, as if a global pandemic, economic collapse, hurricanes, wildfires, street protests, riots, a Supreme Court vacancy, and a rancorous Presidential election cycle weren’t enough drama, now the President of the United States has contracted COVID-19. He is, obviously, in the “at risk” category for this disease, so this turn of events is very “on brand” for 2020.
And it is not in my self-created job description here at The Square Inch to pretend to have special insights to share with you when I don’t. Unlike the average TV Talking Head, I will try not to make up analysis or predictions. What I do know is that these are chaotic times, there are competing visions for what this country should be (and it’s not just left/right, but variants along a spectrum), and people are anxious and sometimes hysterical. As Christians, we ought to pray more than we pontificate.
It feels like God is smacking us around until he gets our attention. But as a society we’re fighting each other, even to the point of violence in some instances, over who will have power and control. I mean, think of that. Power and control? Power and control over what? The weather? Fires? Hurricanes? Viruses? We are watching Romans 1 play out in front of our eyes: “Claiming to be wise, they became fools.” You know what happens when you seek power and control, and yet you get increasingly less power and control? Fear, anger, anxiety, depression, and so on.
Basically, our national mood.
What we can do as Christians is to embody our faith and trust in the sovereignty of God. If the world at large is deaf to God’s message—that he is the Lord—we should lead the way in hearing and heeding it. God told Abraham he would spare Sodom if he could find ten faithful in the city (Gen. 18:32). Let’s endeavor to be among the ten in our time.
Hanging With Haters
One of the more difficult things I encounter when writing this newsletter is choosing a topic—made all the harder when events are multiplying and cascading as they are. I could give you some “debate” analysis, if you could call that spectacle the other night a debate. But, frankly, what happened a mere two nights ago seems like ancient history. Does anybody still care about Trump and Biden’s “Nanny-nanny-nah-nah” fight in the playground sandbox? I know I don’t. So I’ve got to write about something a little more long-lasting. So, here goes.
On October 12th the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to begin hearings on Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. (Sidebar: Democrats are now claiming that the President’s COVID-19 diagnosis ought to derail the hearings. That ought to tell you how desperate they are to stop her confirmation.)
Judge Barrett is immensely qualified to sit on the Court, and everyone knows it. I joked on Twitter:
The Thomas/Kavanaugh playbook isn’t going to work very well here, so they are going to have to find something else. And I will tell you what that “something else” is likely to be.
Judge Amy Coney Barrett hangs out with haters.
Here’s the first such salvo, in the Washington Post. It is possible that link is behind a paywall, so I’ll summarize it for you. Judge Barrett has participated as a speaker for the Blackstone Legal Fellowship, a summer internship program for Christian law students. So what’s the problem? The Blackstone Fellowship is a ministry of the Alliance Defending Freedom, the largest and most influential Christian legal organization in the country, if not world.
The “problem” is that years ago the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) designated ADF a “Hate Group,” alongside all manner of fringe white supremacist groups. The reason for this designation is not that ADF is actually full of hateful people threatening violence upon others. Rather, ADF has ideological and legal disagreements with…the Southern Poverty Law Center—disagreements that, more often than not, have resulted in the courts agreeing with ADF under the Constitution and the law. The SPLC has long engaged in this kind of dishonesty: disagree with us and we will label you a “Hate Group.”
It’s all fun and games until it nearly gets people killed. Casey Mattox explains how this very nearly happened to him in 2012. Please click and read his account here.
In reliance on the SPLC’s “Hate Map,” Amazon refuses to allow ADF to receive charitable donations through their “Smile” program, and media outlets routinely cut and paste SPLC’s assessment of ADF into their articles. This is very, very important to understand:
It is about to be widely taken for granted that Alliance Defending Freedom is a “hate group.” There is very little chance that major media outlets will question or push back on that fundamental claim.
They’ll label it different things, of course, “Anti-LGBT,” “anti-Gay,” “anti-Trans,” and so forth. The point is that ADF is judged guilty and will not be allowed to argue otherwise in the court of public opinion. This is step one of the strategy. Once we get everybody to agree that ADF is a “Hate Group,” then, step two, the mere fact of Judge Barrett speaking for an ADF event (something that can be established) is necessarily her being complicit in some kind of grotesque evil.
That’s the playbook, and I expect the Democrats to run it out as far they can.
There’s a few flaws in the plan, of course, not the least of which is that Alliance Defending Freedom isn’t a “Hate Group.” I know this because, among other reasons, Judge Amy Coney Barrett and I have something in common: We have both been invited over the years to speak for the Blackstone Legal Fellowship.
So I know what I’m talking about. In fact, some “dirt-gatherer” has already reached out to me hoping to get some “inside” scoop on Blackstone. As much as I wanted to tell him about the banquet ritual where we made all the women wear Handmaid’s Tale outfits and serve the meal to the men, I ignored it (Really, that is a joke, people). ADF is entitled to run private programs and events, and if anyone has questions about that they can reach out to ADF’s media department. But I do have a few things I feel at liberty to say.
Alliance Defending Freedom is a Christian ecumenical legal alliance comprised of some of the finest people I know. They are Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Evangelicals, Baptists, Pentecostals, Presbyterians, Lutherans, and more. I’ve lost count of the number of court cases their litigators have won, a great many of them at the Supreme Court, so that should give you an idea that this isn’t some kind of fringe organization. You can read the boilerplate for yourself at their website, so I won’t rehash all of that here. I could tell you what kinds of people they are for myself, but I’ll do something a bit different here. Let me show you what someone who really does hate ADF as an organization and everything it stands for has to say about them.
Mikey Weinstein is the head of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which is a kind of atheist/agnostic group opposed to military chaplains—as they see it—shoving their religion down people’s throats. It’s a kind of freedom from religion group, in other words. When Amazon decided to cut ADF off from their Smile program, Weinstein wrote a letter. I recommend you read all of it, but here’s a sample or two:
Our work often brings us into direct conflict with another group—Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). Frankly, we disagree with ADF's positions on almost everything in law and policy. For years we’ve crossed swords and fought for our respective opposing views. But it is one thing to fight for ideals, and it’s another to marginalize and suppress others—even those you vehemently disagree with. And that is what’s happening when ADF is branded a “hate” group and thrown out of the Amazon Smile program.
And then, after expressing his enduring love and affection for SPLC, he writes this:
In my long years of fighting for what’s Constitutionally right, I’ve come to personally know several senior ADF lawyers extremely well. Their religiously-based legal positions, I and MRFF TOTALLY reject. However, their integrity, compassion, character, empathy, honor, and concern for their fellow humans I will steadfastly affirm. I have seen it and I have lived it. As seemingly incomprehensible as it may seem, sometimes hell actually DOES freeze over. I consider them dear friends and I assure you that I don’t use that term lightly.
That is also the ADF that I know. Integrity, compassion, character, empathy, honor, and concern for their fellow humans. Now, when you hear it put that way—in other words, when you hear it put accurately—it makes complete sense for Judge Amy Coney Barrett to speak to such an organization.
Because with her character and qualities, she fits right in.
You are about to hear an awful lot of partisan political agenda-laden nonsense about “Hate,” and I highly recommend you ignore all of it. For my part, participating in the premier summer internship program for Christian law students has been a highlight of my career. There’s no better program, and no better group of people.
Miscellany
I was privileged to conduct an interview with James Eglinton over at The Gospel Coalition about his new biography of Herman Bavinck. And if you’re interested in that sort of thing, this video interview he did with Baker Publishing is, likewise, exceptional.
Tim Keller has finished writing a four-part series on biblical justice, and you can find the links to it here. There’s a lot of nonsense floating around about Keller on Twitter and blogs. I don’t agree with everything he writes on these topics, but I believe he is absolutely worth reading. Thoughtful and measured, as always.
Have you ever wondered why certain passages of the Bible emphasize the numbers of things? Usually the people that notice are into things like a secret “Bible Code” containing hidden knowledge. Here is a fascinating study on numbers in the Bible by James Bejon: “Counting With God: What Do Numbers in the Bible Really Mean?” It is a terrific read.
The Minnesota Twins Baseball Club has finished their season. In familiar fashion. They were, once again, swept out of the first round of the playoffs, and the mood around the Mattson household is grim. Incredibly, the Twins have lost eighteen straight playoff games. That is a record for all of North American Sports. Not just baseball. Basketball, football, soccer, hockey, you name it. No one else has such a record of futility. I confess that I just don’t get it. I watch this team all the time, and when playoff time comes, they transform into something entirely different. Year after year. I don’t know what magic it will take. But, there’s always next year. We’re fans. Not fair-weather fans.
In all my musical influences, I’m surprised I haven’t yet shared anything from Christopher Parkening yet. Parkening is a classical guitarist, widely recognized as the protege and heir-apparent of Andres Segovia, the father of the modern classical guitar. He’s a dedicated Christian, and here’s a video of him performing the breathtaking “Koyunbaba” at the Harvest Crusade in Anaheim Stadium in 1997. You won’t regret taking the time to enjoy it: