Cancel Culture and the Cross
I have to admit that I’m not a big podcast guy. I don’t spend time commuting, and I just don’t have a lot of opportunities to invest the time needed to listen to all of the great podcasts out there. But podcasting is a tremendous vehicle for a wider diversity of voices to speak and to be heard, to bypass the Marxist and Luciferian gatekeepers of media and popular culture, and to hear alternative points of view - which are essential to the well-rounded mind.
My friend and brother in arms under the cross, the Rev. Fr. Gaven Mize, pastor of Augustana Lutheran Church in Hickory, NC, has started a podcast from the point of view of a Tar Heel confessional and liturgical Lutheran. Think Andy Griffith meets Arthur Carl Piepkorn. It is called Cross Eyed Christian.
The first segment of his latest podcast deals with a serious issue, and one that needs to be addressed head-on. The proclamation of the Gospel (in addition to rational discourse) is being impeded by what is known as “cancel culture” - a form of intimidation used to silence opinions at odds with our narrative-shifting cultural-Marxist Zeitgeist. “Cancel culture” is basically Nazi book-burning for the 21st century. And sadly, even some LCMS Lutherans have been naively seduced by this Luciferian tactic to quash the Good News of Jesus Christ among us confessional Lutherans, this deliberate leftist strategem to reduce Christianity to a form of feel-good egalitarian “social justice” - which comes right out of Marxist doctrine. It is a warmed-over Social Gospel movement that has left behind the Salvation Army marching band and has embraced the Communist fist. It is yet another diabolical attempt to de-fang and emasculate the transcendent in exchange for the pottage of worldly political ends. History indeed repeats itself.
Another of my brothers in arms under the cross, a seminary classmate, has been placed in the crosshairs of cancel culture: the Rev. Fr. Chad Hoover, who serves on the faculty of Concordia Lutheran High School in Fort Wayne Indiana. In the aftermath of the George Floyd killing and the subsequent melange of peaceful protests and violent riots, Pastor Hoover gave a faithful presentation of the Law and the Gospel for his high school students.
And as is so common in this day and age of hostility to the Word of God, a few former students have joined forces with an LCMS pastor from another district to accuse CLHS of systemic racism, to push a narrative that Pastor Hoover’s devotion was racist and should be removed, and to besmirch the reputations of the clergy and lay faculty and leadership of the school.
Pastor Hoover was even targeted by the media in Fort Wayne. There is a ridiculous petition drive and even a staged protest at the school in an attempt to hijack a groundbreaking ceremony. I can’t imagine any school parents who would feel safe with protesters showing up at their sons’ and daughters’ school in these tense and violent times. And I would argue that members of synod should use more peaceful channels - such as the synod’s dispute resolution process or meetings between the respective district presidents - to address any grievances and accusations - real or imagined.
Pastor Mize speaks eloquently regarding this travesty against Pastor Hoover and CLHS (which has metastasized to Pastor Hoover’s colleagues the Rev. Fr. Theodore Hoham and Mr. Mychal Thom). He addresses cancel culture in general, and draws upon his own life experience with our brothers in arms under the cross from Africa - where Pastor Mize has taught.
I highly recommend giving this podcast a listen. Look for Episode 8.
And if you are not familiar with Southern speech patterns, if your podcast software allows it, you may want to speed up the delivery mode. Although that sounds like a joke or a jab, it is neither. Pastor Mize is a genuine Tar Heel, and he speaks with a delightfully deliberate pensive drawl, along the lines of a Shelby Foote or a Richard Weaver. But as our country is in many ways an unnatural marriage between North and South, some of our east-coast and midwestern brethren may become impatient, and might even hear the still small voice of the Rev. Dr. David Scaer bellowing, “Get on with it!”
In all seriousness, do give it a listen! And please keep our brothers and sisters of Concordia Lutheran High School in your prayers.