The first thing to say is that love is not good, and hate is not bad. Love can be a wicked thing, and hatred can be the perfect expression of righteousness. It is always worthwhile to keep in mind that love and hate are either good or bad depending on their subject and object.
For example, Christians are commanded to not love the world, nor the things in it, because if anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in them (1 John 2:15). On the other hand Christians are commanded to love their neighbours (Lev 19:18). This is so very important to remember when phrases like “love wins” are thrown around. Not only is homosexual practice not truly love, because it is intrinsically narcissistic, but even if it were, the slogan is compelling because we assume that love is good, and where that campaign is concerned, it most certainly isn’t.
In a similar way, we must keep all of the strength of the word ‘hate’ and not dilute it, but nevertheless acknowledge that the Bible explicitly speaks of faithful worshippers of God appropriately hating evil, arrogant pride, evil conduct and perverse speech (Prov 8:13) and the practises that go along with false teaching (Rev 2:6). That may not surprise you, but what about this? We also see the Bible positively presenting the hatred of those who hate God and rise up against him (Ps 139:21-22) and those who cling to and worship worthless idols (Psalm 31:6). This author is ready to take on correction if he is missing something obvious here, but it seems that there must be a category for righteous anger in Christians, since it is Paul (citing Psalm 4:4) who commands us to be angry and not sin (Eph 4:26). However, this author does realise that whilst there may be a category and precedent for this, it is a wildly hard thing to execute, and we imagine that this is what the Lord’s brother had in mind when he wrote that the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God (James 1:20).
Finally, a word on blasphemy laws, and the inescapable reality of ‘whether, not which’. The foundation we must start with is the ‘myth of neutrality’, which you could also call the ‘lie of secularism’. That is that there is no fact, no community, no text, no medium, no person, no idea and no practice that stands before the true and living God on neutral ground. All things, absolutely all things, are for him or against him. Secularism is the political name or manifestation of polytheism. Secularism is the idea that a society can exist with all of its various cultures, gods, customs and laws existing side by side, and respecting each other group’s right to do the same. It might also be posited as the idea that anyone can believe whatever they like, but they should keep it to their home/faith community, whereas in the public square everyone is expected to forego their beliefs and speak and act like neutral western materialists. It is a fantasy, a myth and a joke, but it is also the air we breathe, and the waters in which we swim.
We have this idea, thanks to the myth of neutrality, that blasphemy laws are a wicked thing, and that you should not be penalised for insulting someone’s god. However, all that statement reveals is that ‘someone’s god’ is not the god of the secular system. If you had insulted the god of the secular worldview, then you would be punished for it. It is not whether there will be blasphemy laws, only which god. If you find this idea hard to swallow, consider some of the most supreme gods of our increasingly neo-pagan society. At the time this is written, it is blasphemy to make any of the following statements:
- Marriage only exists between one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others for life.
- Homosexual practice is an abomination.
- Men cannot become women, and women cannot become men.
- The COVID vaccines were utterly ineffective.
- The COVID lockdowns were both wicked and counter-productive.
- The environmentalist movement is dominated by the idolatry of Gaia.
- Truth is absolute, and does not vary between people or cultures.
- It is right and just that some people have more wealth than others, and that some people make more money than others.
Dear reader, we imagine that you now see the point. Did not one of those statements make you bristle? Were you not nearly tempted to silence and defame this author with a term equivalent to ‘blasphemer!’, whether it be ‘homophobe’ or ‘transphobe’ or ‘climate denier’ or ‘science denier’ or ‘capitalist pig’?
Dear reader, if you want to find the god of the system, here is your diagnostic question: What is the court of appeals past which no appeal can be made? When you find the answer, you have found the god of the system. That is why the statement attributed to Francis Schaeffer is true and should be well remembered that if there is no god above the state, the state is god.
The good news about freedom in Christ is that this author doesn’t care about the false gods, because at the cross, Jesus made a public spectacle of them, and he will continue to triumph over them all until the world is won over by the gospel, and then he will return. Because Christ is Lord of the Dictionary, this author simply must speak truth and not lie, because to lie and play the secular game is unfaithfulness to God. We will not fear, though the earth give way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea. God will be exalted among the nations. Be still, know that he is God, and love him.
Distilled Orthopraxy 