A brother forwarded a link to an Atlantic Monthly piece titled “The Coddling of the American Mind” reporting on the prevalence of coddling of emotionally pampered college students who are using emotional blackmail to imprison their profs and fellow students. It’s an excellent article…
Here’s an excerpt:
This new climate is slowly being institutionalized, and is affecting what can be said in the classroom, even as a basis for discussion. During the 2014–15 school year, for instance, the deans and department chairs at the 10 University of California system schools were presented by administrators at faculty leader-training sessions with examples of microaggressions. The list of offensive statements included: “America is the land of opportunity” and “I believe the most qualified person should get the job.”
…The current movement is largely about emotional well-being. …it presumes an extraordinary fragility of the collegiate psyche, and therefore elevates the goal of protecting students from psychological harm. The ultimate aim, it seems, is to turn campuses into “safe spaces” where young adults are shielded from words and ideas that make some uncomfortable.
This imprisonment has prevailed in our churches for several decades now. Reformed worship today is effeminate, and therefore insipid. It must never rise above the fears of the wives of session members. It must never be allowed to attain manly faith and zeal. The “grace” movement in preaching and pastoral care is our denial of Jesus’ warning that the Kingdom of God is suffering violence and violent men are seizing it by force. We say, “Oh no. Oh, oh no. The Kingdom of God must be brought in gracefully. Soft and effeminate men must feel safe enough to cuddle up.”
What the Atlantic describes is a feminized society where women are listened to and feared, so God isn’t. Quite naturally, these women we fear have raised our children in such a way that our kids’ emotional wellbeing has never been threatened by any such thing as a father bearing some infinitesimal resemblance to the Father Almighty. Having seen no hint of the fear of their father or the Father Almighty then, of course our kids are now off at college and coming out of the closet.
Which is to say, knowing no fear of God, our covenant children are gay—or at least bi.
Where do these covenant children forsaking the covenant come from?
Reformed seminaries are producing grads who have been trained to lead in such a way that Momma is happy. Imagine what Women in the Church—the PCA’s deep state—would do if a pastor tried to encourage his congregation to sing the imprecatory Psalms. Even the last couple verses of Psalm 139.
By God’s mercy, our congregation has been blessed with elders’ wives who never try to manipulate their husbands and pastors away from risk, discipline, and manly zeal.
Life is terribly risky—especially at worship. God made it that way and we must never allow ourselves and our children to be corrupted by preachers and church musicians who deny the danger.