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Scott Coley

@scott_m_coley

23 May

I’m often asked why my tweets tend to focus on criticism—particularly as it concerns theobros. Here’s my typical response.

I don’t have strong views on ‘biblical manhood’ (a phrase that I find ridiculous). But my sense is that most of it comes down to being a good Christ-follower, which has nothing to do with the kind of muscular Christianity promoted by some of the more vocal hyper-complementarians.

Concerning my tendency of late to engage in negative critique on Twitter dot com, without much in the way of positive proposals: there are—as best I can discern my own motives—three reasons for this.

Read 16 tweets

Scott Coley

@scott_m_coley

11 May

Christ’s description of the Samaritan’s conduct toward the half-dead traveler operates entirely at the level of universal human need. For all the parable tells us, the injured traveler was unconscious for the duration of his time with the Samaritan.

Details about the content of the traveler’s life experience, past actions, belief system and moral outlook are totally absent from the narrative. Such details are therefore immaterial to the command that follows.

The Samaritan sees a man who lacks the capacity to care for himself, and lacks the money to pay someone else to care for him. So the Samaritan arranges to pay the full cost of the man’s care—insisting that he, the Samaritan, will reimburse the innkeeper for any additional costs.

Read 17 tweets

Scott Coley

@scott_m_coley

22 Mar

How did conservative evangelicals arrive at a place where, outside of one or two causes that cost nothing to promote, many don’t even pretend to integrate their faith with their politics?

In fact, such is the disarray of the evangelical political conscience that it may be helpful to comment on what it means to *integrate* faith and politics—i.e., what it means to have integrity.

As individuals, we all occupy a variety of social roles—e.g., spouse, parent, colleague, citizen and so on.

I have integrity when I approach each of these social roles in a way that’s consistent with how I approach the others.

Read 17 tweets

Scott Coley

@scott_m_coley

22 Mar

The collective evangelical imagination has long suffered under the yoke of self-appointed spokesmen whose enthusiasm for politics goes unchecked by the limits of their own expertise.

Nowhere is the vacuum of discernment more acute than in the field of institutional moral analysis: systemic injustice is invisible to those whose moral horizons are tethered to individual piety.

There’s no future in stirring up nostalgia for the culture wars of the 1970s and ‘80s. Evangelicalism needs a vision of political life that comprehends the social infirmities that surround us. We must abandon effortless civil religion that serves politicians rather than the poor.

Read 9 tweets

Scott Coley

@scott_m_coley

21 Mar

Within the evangelical community, discussions of “social justice” often emphasize charity and devote little attention to the moral significance of institutions.

This paradigm allows evangelicals to advocate for political institutions that deprive the poor of their due, and then dispense charity as though it were a substitute for justice.

We need a new paradigm. Christ followers are required to advocate for public institutions that reflect the truth about what people deserve—not for the sake of charity,

Read 9 tweets

Scott Coley

@scott_m_coley

21 Mar

The three central tenets of the Religious Right’s worldview are as follows:

(i) Prosperity theology.
If you work hard and live a morally upright life, God will provide for your material needs. So if you’re poor, you have failed to work hard or failed to live uprightly, or both.

(ii) Christian libertarianism.
The allocation of resources should be determined entirely through free enterprise and market competition. It follows that we should allow market forces to decide the value of everything, including labor and access to medical care.

(iii) Christian nationalism.
America is a Christian nation. And American has traditionally been a great nation. But our nation has fallen into moral degeneracy. America will not reclaim its former glory unless we return to our Christian roots.

Read 13 tweets

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