Nine people murdered at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015. In August 2017, White Supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia marched with torches shouting, "The Jews will not replace us!" Eleven people murdered at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2018. Twenty-three people murdered at an El Paso, Texas Walmart in 2019. Fifty people murdered at two mosques in New Zealand in 2019. And now, ten people murdered at a grocery story in Buffalo, New York on May 14th, 2022. All of the killers were white men, and all of their targets were chosen because of race. It is racism at its most vile, empowered by the ability of one person to murder dozens in a few moments, but otherwise little different in terms of the hatred involved and the goal desired from the lynching's of the Klan. The history of this attitude in America also includes the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act and the Know Nothing party's anti-immigrant rhetoric, and similar such efforts to preserve America for people 'like us' in skin tone and culture.
It would seem like an obvious response to condemn the ideology of those who perpetuate mass murder, it was certainly what happened in America after 9/11 to Islamic Fundamentalism, but in fact the "Great Replacement" has been gaining acceptance and supports from well known pundits and politicians in recent years (in the midst of the ongoing slaughter of innocents), most notably from Tucker Carlson.
How does one avoid politics, my goal, when pundits (and politicians) are advocating an ideology that continues to inspire mass murderers? In this case, I cannot. What America's immigration policy should be is another conversation, but what cannot be mainstreamed is the notion that White lives are of more value than non-White lives. There is not way around the conclusion that the "Great Replacement" theory embraced by Tucker Carlson (and others) is making this 'us' vs 'them' mathematical calculus.
Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV) Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Galatians 3:28 (NIV) There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Revelation 7:9 (NIV) After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.
I have heard Galatians 3:28 quoted against those fighting racial injustice, along with MLK Jr's famous, "I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." Both of course out-of-context uses that twist the meaning in the opposite direction to protect racial injustice. In fact, it is the White Supremacists, and those adjacent to them advocating the "Great Replacement" who ignore the call of Scripture to ignore race for the sake of the Gospel. To God, our Creator, it is anathema to proclaim that 'we' cannot let 'them' replace 'us'. Who do 'we' think we are? By what right do we deserve this land, this nation, any more than they? Nationalism gives us reasons to thump our chests and call it 'our land', but a Christian Worldview that affirms that we are but stewards of God's Creation must reject such claims of preferential treatment, we live here by the Grace of God, not our own merits.
The Church is growing rapidly in the non-White parts of the world, it has been for the past several generations at the same time that is has been shrinking in Europe and America. The Church is less White today than it was thirty years ago, and that trend continues. That the Church in the West is struggling is cause for grief, repentance, and renewed faithfulness, that it is growing rapidly in much of the rest of the world is cause for celebration, joy, and hope.
The Gospel rejects, utterly, racial superiority. The Gospel rejects, utterly, tribalism and nationalism. The Church in America must have none of this, millions of self-proclaimed Christian Americans may look to Tucker Carlson and others pushing the "Great Replacement" as some sort of 'savior' of Christianity, but like Vladimir Putin has monstrously proven himself to be, this is a false hope, an anti-Christ (in the New Testament sense, something against-Christ). One cannot 'save' the Church through racism, one can only stain the Bride of Christ.
The irrefutable rejection of Christian Nationalism by the New Testament
White Nationalism and White Supremacy are an abomination to the Church
How should Christians feel about refugees?
Josh McDowell's folly in addition to racism: Claiming that the Bible only talks about individuals
It doesn't have to be this way, hope exists: That time UAW members worked with Quakers to build integrated housing
When the shameful past of Racism hits close to home
Taking the name of the LORD in vain: PragerU's "Social Justice Isn't Justice"
Addendum: Following the revelation that the Buffalo shooter was influenced by the "Great Replacement" Theory, Tucker Carlson responded by defending his ongoing use of it because, in his mind, it isn't a conspiracy theory but a reality. That this 'theory' is based upon an us vs. them mentality, viewing the lives of American citizens as inherently superior to those of the rest of the world, reminds us that its roots are in Nationalism and Racism, concepts that are anathema to the Universal Church.
