July 22, 2020
A special mid-week edition of The Prospectus. We will back with another edition on Saturday as well.
Quick Hit Quartet
J. I. Packer
On July 17, 2020, James Innell (J. I.) Packer died. Packer was a giant among men, writing influential books such as Knowing God, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, and The Quest for Godliness, and stood as a staunch defender of conservative, Reformed theology.
Packer the writer produced dozens of books and hundreds of articles, introductions, and essays. Packer the theologian stood for a Puritan brand of theology that honored the sovereignty of God in all things, personal holiness and devotion to the Lord, and indiscriminate preaching of the gospel to all people. Packer the churchman held the line of conservative theology in his own Anglican denomination, while many swayed to his left. I could go on and on about Packer’s influence, but the men in this recent Reformanda article honor him more eloquently than I.
Packer and his voice will be missed.
Nick Cannon
On Tuesday, July 14, Nick Cannon was fired by ViacomCBS, principal owner of television channels MTV, VH1, BET, and Comedy Central. Cannon was fired over anti-Semitic comments which were made on his podcast ‘Cannon’s Class.’ On the episode in question (which aired on June 30), Cannon interviewed former Public Enemy member Richard ‘Professor Griff’ Griffin.
In the episode, Griffin (who has a well-documented history of anti-Semitism) and Cannon discuss various anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, with Griffin standing by his 1989 comments that the Jews were responsible for “the majority of the wickedness that goes on across the globe.” Cannon responded with, “You’re speaking facts.”
Nick Cannon
Later on in the interview, Cannon refers to those who “lack melanin” as “a little less,” clarifying that he meant “Jewish people, white people, Europeans.” According to Cannon, this melanin deficiency caused “Jewish people, white people, Europeans” to act as “savages.”
The hatred in Cannon’s speech is obvious. While ViacomCBS officially fired Nick Cannon for anti-Semitism, we need to recognize Cannon’s words for what they are: Racism and ethnocentrism. Cannon, by taking part in the spread of false theories, believes that those with darker skin—high melanin concentrations—are superior to those with lighter skin. The Jews are then counted as the least of the least, while Africans are regarded as the true Hebrews. Not only does speech like Cannon’s and Griffin’s wish to demean Jewish people, they are seeking to wipe the memory of the Jewish people from the history books.
As Christians, we recognize that everyone—no matter their nation of origin, ethnicity, language, skin color, religion—is made in the image of God. The Christian life has no room for ethnocentrism or racism of any kind. Language that demeans a person or group based upon skin color or ethnicity, or even language that seeks to alter historical facts (such as the history of the Jewish people) is sinful. Christians, let’s lead the way in gracious speech to all people. The humanness of humans is not due to their skin color or ethnicity. Rather, our humanness is founded upon the image of God on all humans.
COVID-19
COVID-19 cases are continuing to rise in the US. As a nation, the US has eclipsed 4,000,000 cases. States are continuing to push forward with more restrictions, and President Donald Trump asserted that the virus “will get worse before it gets better.” The President did however for the first time endorse wearing a masks in public.
While the cases are rising and the southern and western states are still experiencing great numbers of new cases and deaths, the US did sign a $2 million contract with Pfizer for up to 600 billion doses of a potential COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine would need to be approved first by the FDA, but could be regulated and ready by December.
NBA and China
The National Basketball Association (NBA) has a long history with relations to China. The NBA brings in an estimated $6 billion from China each year. The league has been unsurprisingly touchy and overprotective about its relationship with China in the last two years. But as more and more comes out regarding China’s horrific human rights record, the NBA is finding itself in a rather nefarious position.
The NBA has long been supportive of its players making social statements. This year, players will be allowed to have one of 29 approved social justice statements on the back of their jerseys instead of their last names. The approved statements include Black Lives Matter, I Can’t Breathe, Liberation, Group Economics, Education Reform, and more.
While the NBA seems to be very concerned with social justice in the US, league officials are alarmingly silent on the social justice issues in China, its largest global supporter and partner. Just this week, footage was released on Twitter of dozens of blindfolded, shaved men—Uigher Muslims from Xinjiang—in shackles and guarded by Chinese SWAT teams. The ongoing state-sponsored persecution in China is specifically targeting the Uigher Muslims, sending them to “re-education camps,” separating families, forced sterilization, and imprisoning innocent people. China is committing genocide, while the NBA is growing rich from Chinese profits.
We should strive to be consistent in our calls for justice. We cannot call for justice on our shores on the way to the bank with a check from a country that has the worst human rights record in history. Lest we forget, China is the same country with mandated abortions, the terror of Mao Zedong, and persecution of Christians. The NBA is not only compliant now by being fully in bed with China; they are guilty.
Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) has been working to raise awareness about the NBA’s partnership with China. Read more about his interactions here.
Book Recommendation
This week’s book recommendation comes from, of course, J. I. Packer. I would commend to you the following four books: Knowing God, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, Keep in Step with the Spirit, and A Quest for Godliness. Each of these works are worth your time.
Links
Bari Weiss, an op-ed staff editor for the New York Times, recently published an open letter of resignation on her personal website. The letter is a sharp rebuke of the upper management of the Times. Weiss has been the recipient of harsh bullying and harassment within the Times staff, and has been called terrible names. Her damning indictment of the Times is worth paying attention to.
John McWhorter has written an excellent review of Robin DiAngelo’s book White Fragility over at The Atlantic. McWhorter dismantles DiAngelo’s argument as being inherently racist itself.
Thanks for reading The Prospectus.