Thread by @drantbradley

Al Coda: I did not expect this to blow up but it confirm the fact that white Calvinists refuse to see themselves as a culture. If I said, "Black church culture," people nod. But to say "modern white Calvinist culture" the response is about why I hate white people or Calvinism.

https://twitter.com/drantbradley/status/1478726982741499905

This is what happens when you're the dominant culture in a cocoon and the center of your own conversations. Everything you do/think is the standard. Standards are exempt from analysis and critique. "White evangelicalism" is a culture. It's not a theology. It can generate data.

Many parts of White Calvinist culture really does believe it is the standard by which to judge all other forms of Christianity.

https://twitter.com/TomBuck/status/1478756666149847041?s=20

To talk about "white Calvinism" is not say anything about the theology of the Reformed tradition but the culture of the people who think they own it. Whenever evangelicals say, "the church" I always know they don't mean John 17, which includes Catholics, Orthodox, Lutherans, etc.

I was raised in a traditional UMC, black church context and then became Presbyterian. I was never a part of evangelical culture. I honestly don't know why a confessional Presbyterian wants to be identified with evangelical culture. I don't get it. The OPC seems to better at this.

However, if you'd like to know my *actual* views on theology, race, etc. I have several books (that obviously based on the many of the assumptions I'm hearing) people have never read). So, start here: amazon.com/Something-Seem…

My views on politics and theology are here (don't @ me about the price. I don't get to choose where I publish books and they were the only ones that wanted it at the time): amazon.com/Political-Econ…

Race and evangelical culture (which I research for a living like one researches rural tribes in Papua New Guinea is here (read the appendix): amazon.com/Aliens-Promise…

The most disappointing response was the dismissiveness that this is some version of wokeness. That this discussion is some kind of emotional attack on the "constituencies" in evangelical culture; as if the search and pursuit of truth isn't the goal.

https://twitter.com/IVMiles/status/1478871453135212546?s=20

The goal is preaching to and supporting the tribe. Oddly, you'd think that a historian of the South would be more sympathetic to why these discussions of the lived experiences of blacks within the history of American Calvinism and evangelicalism are important & isn't wokeness.

Finally, from the many responses, it's obvious to me that the 1965-2020 was an incredibly painful experience for so many people raised in evangelical and white Calvinist contexts. I get it. I have the medical bills to prove it. Don't blame the Trinity for the mistakes of mortals.

This all started for me 1998, when I saw a then PCA pastor defending the Antebellum South against a PC-USA minister. At the end, Steve Wilkins said that it's time to "take up once again The Cause of The South." He got a standing ovation. I collapsed. c-span.org/video/?101481-…

I thought, if this is the PCA why did no one at RUF tell my that being in the PCA meant believing the South was right during the Civil War. The next blow was teaching at Covenant Seminary & received a tsunami of racial slurs, 2004-2011. No leader publicly rebuked them. No one.

"For at least 6 YEARS I have been repeatedly, and regularly called "nigger," "Anthony Bradley, the Negro Prince of the PCA," "The Token Negro and Filthy Pervert and a Stain on the Bedsheets of Life," "Anthony Bradley, the Affirmative Action Ph.D," krusekronicle.com/kruse_kronicle…

This is why Miles Smith concern whether or not scholars like me "like their constituencies" actually proves my point. He doesn't take this conversation seriously. And why would he? The constituency never called him "a nigger" or the "Negro Prince of the PCA." He can't understand.

The way Du Mez has been treated reminded me of the way I was treated and if anyone's actually read my views in print assuming that I'm "woke" is the dumbest conclusion ever or that I've "acceded to the zeitgeist and sprinkled a little Jesus on top."~Smith. Such ignorant nonsense.

Many of you have decided to leave the communities that treated you terribly. That's fine. I decided to stay, which many think is pretty stupid of me. I've recently taken flack for leaving the black community "to take care of white people's kids." Do what's best for you & move on.

For all you who sent encouraging comments and were kind enough RT and offer encouragement, I want to offer a heartfelt "Thank You." You all were a great encouragement to begin 2022!! Love y'all!!