Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Milgram’s gatekeepers

Milgram’s gatekeepers

Last updated on: February 7, 2019 at 4:15 pm by Fred Clark

Milgram’s gatekeepers 2019-02-07T16:15:03-05:00 Fred Clark

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Ken Wilson writes — from experience — about the gatekeepers of white evangelicalism:

Often public-facing evangelical leaders — including one who prefer other monikers than evangelical — present a softer image on issues like LGBTQ. But the base rules even the most progressive leaders under the evangelical umbrella. These leaders cannot cross the base without being punished. Toe the line? Sure. But cross it, and the electric fence that bounds evangelicalism (and all organizations that depend on it) zaps them … hard.

Yes. ‘Twas ever thus, as we discussed here a while back when looking at “Five sentences that contain the entire history and explanation of white evangelicalism in America“:

[Carl Henry] was in a tough spot. A whole generation of white evangelical “leaders” have followed him in that very same tough spot, and very few of them have even tried, as he tried and failed, to do the right thing. Most of the people who have inherited his role of nominal leadership haven’t even had the courage to try to challenge the actual leadership of the moneymen and the guardians of white privilege. They’ve simply recognized — correctly — that this was a power struggle they couldn’t hope to win. Alienate the moneymen or those other “segments of the constituency” and you’ll only wind up getting Ciziked or Gaebeleined. Easier just to play along the way that Henry’s heirs are, even now, at this very moment, playing along.

The functional gatekeepers are the employees of the donors and funders (sometimes formally “Trustees,” but often not). These guys — the ones tasked with hitting the button to “zap … hard” any person or group crossing the line — often hate that aspect of their job. Henry didn’t like having to tell Frank Gaebelein not to praise the Civil Rights marchers. Wilson’s former Vineyard authorities didn’t enjoy having to tell him to be cruel. But they did it anyway because the people who write the checks demanded it.

Wilson’s use of the term “the base” for these donors and funders is potentially confusing. In politics, talk of a party’s “base” usually refers to the masses, the hoi polloi of the majority of supporters. That’s not who these donors are. They are far, far, far, far, far to the extreme right of most of white evangelicalism. And I mean the far right politically, because these wealthy donors fueling and shaping white evangelicalism have no theology other than extreme right politics.

These donors give instructions. Sometimes directly, on the phone. Sometimes also indirectly, mobilizing their heavily subsidized astroturf networks of frightened and gullible followers gleaned from the actual masses to create the illusion of widespread popular support.*

The professionals hired to serve them as gatekeepers always take their phone calls. They don’t relish those calls. They usually wish this wasn’t part of their job or their “ministry.”

But they do what they’re told. Reluctantly, regretfully, unhappily perhaps, but always obediently. They think that’s their job.

Eugene Peterson said what now? Sigh. Yes, sir. I’ll handle it.

But she’s our first-ever tenured black woman professor, we can’t just invent some pretext to … Yes, sir. Of course. Right away.

World Vision? Don’t worry, I’m on it.

InterVarsity is getting all Frank Gaebelein-in-Selma about Black Lives mattering? Yes, sir. I understand we can’t have that. We’ll make that perfectly clear.

This donor/funder “base” of oilmen and segregationists and their equivalents does not wield this power because they are especially devout or pious, or because they possess an elevated spiritual concern for the gospel or for the church. They wield this power because they are wealthy. Very wealthy. So wealthy that it doesn’t seem to matter to anyone involved that they are also an especially impious bunch with a depraved spiritual indifference for the gospel and the church.

But they sell lots of soap and herbal supplements. (Or, more accurately, they exploit an army of people into exploiting other people into trying to sell soap and herbal supplements.) And that lets them write big checks.

Very big checks.

They write those checks to evangelical publishers and institutions, universities and ministries, denominations and parachurch organizations. Not because they want those ministries to thrive, but because controlling them is a relatively cost-effective way of influencing politics ever-rightward.

And the Very Nice People who run those publications, institutions, universities and ministries believe they are dependent on those big checks and that they dare not disobey the instructions from the donors. When their “uneasy conscience” struggles with that, they convince themselves — as Wilson says — that a limited amount of cruelty and injustice may be justified in service of the greater good of whatever it was they originally wanted to do when they first got involved in their ministry.

And so those otherwise Very Nice People do what they’re told, told to do.

But the dynamic Ken Wilson describes is only the tip of the iceberg:

When the base is aroused, pastors, denominational officials, and local congregants who are otherwise considerate and supportive, fall quickly in line. Really good people hit the electric fence, get zapped, and back off. And this happens all the time.

The larger mass — the larger, more dangerously corrosive effect — is unseen below the water. The harsh “zapping” commanded and deployed to get people to fall back in line has the larger pernicious effect of making sure that no one dares even to think about falling out of line. It means that questions won’t be asked, even silently to ourselves. Even when those questions are obvious and urgent. Even when we already know what the answers would be.

– – – – – – – – – – – –

* The Pavlovian letters or calls or emails orchestrated through these networks are sent by real people — actual, flesh-and-blood members of the multitude of people who make up the white evangelical “base” in the more traditional sense of that word. But it’s inaccurate to imagine that such letters are in any way representative of the majority of that base. Or even a plurality.

What they represent, rather, is a loud, perpetually frightened and perpetually angry minority fraction of that base.

And that tiny, angry, fearful and hateful fraction is composed, frankly, of awful people that deserve to be ignored. Why? Because they are people who relish extortion, blackmail, threats, and ultimatums. That is what drives them. That is what they have chosen and are choosing to be.

This is why the particulars of their feigned outrage changes from week to week. Those inconstant particulars always matter far less to them than the thrill of scoring points or claiming scalps — the ugly thrill of wielding power via extortion, blackmail, threats, and ultimatums. They don’t really care about whatever it is they’re pretending to be upset about. They care about the game of bullying others by pretending to be upset.

Awful people, really. They need our prayers. They need Jesus. But they surely do not need — or deserve — any more respect or attention than they’re willing to show anyone else.

Some small portion of those people might also be small donors, but it seems likely that most of those firing off letters angrily informing World Vision that “You’ll never get another dime from me” had never sent a dime in the first place. And I’d bet that nearly all of the people angrily threatening that they’d never read another book by Eugene Peterson had never previously done so and were unlikely ever to do so. The people angrily threatening to cut off their support for InterVarsity? They already exclusively supported Cru because IV had Tony Campolo speak at Urbana decades ago.

Maybe — maaaybe — deleting the angry emails from that crowd and ignoring their threats would result in a small, short-term reduction in donations. But that would be a tiny price to pay for you and your organization not having people like that trying to run your life.

class warfare

evangelicals

gatekeepers

Previous Post

February 6, 2019

An alternate history and an alternate future

Next Post

February 8, 2019 LBCF, No. 222: 'Unlikable'

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category class warfare evangelicals Iraq Left Behind Mammon music Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

According to 2 John, anyone who does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have what?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The Holy Spirit God Salvation Truth