Oh, and I forgot: At some point, you're also going to see the pastor dutifully hand the mic over to his overly-assertive, overly-eager, overly-made-up wife (presumably on pain of divorce, or possibly even death), who will then speak loudly and rapturously—all about herself—for the next half hour.
Not all Christian churches are like this, of course. The problem is, too many are. As the years roll by, contemporary Christian churches increasingly abnegate their scripturally-prescribed role as fortified beacons of divine truth, and instead transform themselves into vehicles for a social justice pseudo-gospel completely incompatible with Christian (or Jewish, for that matter) scriptural teachings.
This has been going on for decades, of course, but its most striking manifestation of late has been the near-total failure of the Christian church to expose and reject the destructive fraud that is Black Lives Matter.
That kind of failure requires extraordinary ignorance, extraordinary cowardice, or both. After all, it's not like the veil hasn't come off Black Lives Matter, if it was ever there in the first place. Its founders openly profess their allegiance to Marxism, history's most genocidal ideology. Its members repeatedly encourage violence, destruction, and even murder. Its website calls for the "disruption of the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure", the end of accepting heterosexuality as normal, and the avoidance of "environments in which men are centered".
At least two of its leading lights—Patrisse Cullors and Malina Abdullah—practice a Yoruban zombie religion in which they may, or may not, sacrifice animals to invite the spirits of the dead to possess their bodies during their nightly riot activities. (Abdullah says she's become very friendly with the spirits of the dead, and has had a lot of laughs with one named "Wakeesha").
In addition, the cited catalyst for the entire movement—the "murder" of Trayvon Martin in 2012—is a lie. Trayvon Martin was not "murdered". He violently assaulted a man named George Zimmerman by pounding his head into the pavement. Zimmerman then shot him in self-defense. That's precisely why a jury of six women acquitted him. Yet Black Lives Matter is still calling it a "murder" on its website.
The second rationale for the movement—that a racist white cop gunned down an innocent "gentle giant" named Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri—is also a lie. After robbing a store, Brown attacked a police officer trying to arrest him. As a result, the officer shot Brown in self-defense. Attorney General Eric Holder himself confirmed this after an exhaustive review.
These aren't the only Black Lives Matter lies, of course. It's a lie that there's an epidemic of racist police shootings. It's a lie that defunding the police will help black communities (it does just the opposite, and has already directly enabled the murder of hundreds more black people, including children).
It's even a lie that black lives matter to the members of Black Lives Matter. In reality, the only lives that matter to the Black Lives Matter crew are lives useful to advancing Marxism...which is why you've never seen, and never will see, any Black Lives Matter protests over the 250,000 blacks murdered by other blacks during the past 45 years, or the 19 million black babies aborted since Roe vs. Wade (the combined population of Ireland, Switzerland, Costa Rica, and Fiji), or the black police officers, active or retired, killed.
Those were all black lives, but Black Lives Matter didn't care about any of them. And they didn't care about them, because they weren't useful to the cause of advancing Marxism. The whole thing is a destructive fraud built on lies - and if you're a Christian, you know, or should know, where those came from.
In short, you couldn't invent an organization which more flagrantly violates a greater number of Biblical commandments and Christian ideals than Black Lives Matter. You have murder, beatings, necromancy, stealing, bearing false witness, covetousness, lying, insurrection against duly-elected leaders, worshipping false gods, assaults on the family, assaults on heterosexuality, and a transparently fake concern for the black lives every real Christian is duty-bound to see as creations of God. It's a Satanic dream.
And yet...
In the estrogen-soaked La La Land that is the contemporary Christian church, this rotten, anti-black, anti-God, anti-American, anti-human organization is now being promoted on church billboards; its talking points are being trumpeted from pulpits; and pathetic caucasian "Christians" who have never committed a single act of racial discrimination in their entire lives are publicly confessing sins they've never committed, and never would. They're even tacitly accepting the Marxist, anti-Christian designation of race as an insuperable constraint on identity by apologizing for the color of their skin, on grounds their ancestors of the same color might have once done something racist. In sum, Christian America is in such a bad state, it can't even summon the strength or clarity to see through, let alone reject, the patently deceptive and patently destructive Black Lives Matter.
And...it's not the first time something like this has happened.
When the feminists showed up, Christians began pretending I Corinthians 14: 34-35, and Ephesians 5: 23-24 no longer existed.
When out-of-wedlock sex became more socially acceptable, Christians began pretending 1 Corinthians 6:9 no longer existed.
When divorce laws loosened, Christians began pretending Matthew 19:9 no longer existed.
When gay guys showed up demanding to be married in church, Christians began pretending 1 Timothy 1: 9-10 and Romans 1: 26-27 no longer existed.
And now, when an organization shows up actively trying to subvert the forthcoming election, cheering on murders, beating people up, falsely accusing people, inviting demonic possession so as to more effectively impose the Satanic ideology of Marxism, and browbeating the very religion which started the abolitionist and civil rights movements in the first place...again, Christians cave, and accommodate, and seek approval, and do everything except stick to their own principles, if they can even remember what those are supposed to be. Every time the culture advances, the church shrinks in response. Always.
So here's what I suggest, Christians:
Stop retreating. For one thing, you're losing members like crazy, and one big reason is that you don't stand for anything anymore; there's no reason for anyone to stick around. More to the practical point: that your faith is in perpetual retreat is bad for the country. America needs a strong, principled, action-oriented Christianity now more than ever.
Next, politely thank the female pastors for their service - but then - how to put this? - empower the guys again. You need a testosterone injection. I realize it sounds rude, but it's the only way. The denominations growing fastest are the more conservative, more patriarchal denominations, so there's that, plus you have your own actual scriptures which prescribe male pastoring, but proscribe female pastoring. So just do it so Islam doesn't pass you this century—especially when you had a 600 year head start. How embarrassing would that be?
Next, organize some congregational disciplinary protocols for bad behavior. If someone messes up, boot them out, then help them work their way back to full fellowship through a step-by-step repentance process—by which I mean, a process which incentivizes them to not mess up again. As it is, too many Christians have come to view Christ's sacrifice as an endless "Get Out of Jail Free" card for sin, and that has to stop. You need better behavior from your people, so kindly, but firmly, hold each other accountable.
Lastly, stick to your scriptures. They're your anchor.
In Democracy in America, Tocqueville described Christianity as the social, and even political, backbone of the fledgling republic. It bound American communities together. It supported American political ideas like equality under the law, separation of religious and political authority, tolerance for religious minorities, and cosmopolitanism. It was exactly the sort of civil religion—a republican Christianity—which Rousseau had earlier suggested could never exist.
But it worked because it was a real religion; that is, its adherents really believed it, and believed in it in just the right sort of way to help turn America into the greatest country in history. And that was good for every kind of American: Christian, Jew, Buddhist, and skeptic alike. It helped keep the country stable, free, and mostly united.
So Christians: As America continues to convulse from civil unrest and ever-appearing parades of grotesquerie, get back on track. Reconnect with basic Biblical moral precepts. Be kind, but firm. Push back against the social justice loons, and help save the country. Slap a spiritual Androgel patch on to your religion, and start pumping some serious spiritual iron. America needs you strong, fearless, and certain, again.
Just like the old days.
Come back.
Wander into a typical Christian church these days, and, far from hearing a sermon challenging you to live an upright life, you're more likely to hear an unsuccessful attempt at a Jeff Foxworthy-style stand-up comedy routine, Hallmark-style stories of dubious veracity, and utterly vacuous "praise songs" which all sound like U2 album rejects from 1986. (They even feature the thumping eighth-note bass parts, echo-drenched guitar, and melodramatic vocal performances.) I've seen all of the above in Christian churches.
Steyn brings up excellent points all through the article, but he also highlights the degradation and pollution of "Worship" music that has proliferated in Western churches for the last 30 years.
Many, if not most, of today's "Praise and Worship" performers act like pop or rock stars, and think they actually are pop or rock stars.
The "Praise and Worship" portion of the average Christian service takes (in my estimation) 40% to 60%+ of the "stage time." More than the Pastor. More than the sermon. More than prayer.
I have seen it all: fog machines, laser lights, and an obsession with stage craft. Many of these "Praise" performers are praising and worshiping themselves - not God.
As I have posted her before, I attended a church where the "Praise and Worship" team probably would not exit the stage unless a hook was employed. The "closing song" morphed into two, three, four songs. Maybe more....depending on how much they wanted to "rock out."
In the COVID era, I listen to real sermons on-line. When I feel the need to praise God in song, I listen to one of the more solid modern praise songs (there are a few), or an old hymn and quietly sing along.
Jan Markell did an entire program about a year and half ago on the problem of modern Christian "Praise and Worship" music and musicians.
She played numerous "Jesus is My Boyfriend" songs. They lyrics are indistinguishable from pop love songs, and when you listen to them in the context of God and Christ, they are literally blasphemous and carnal.
I have seen female singers wail in almost orgasmic glee on stage, belting out lyrics of "Being Inside Me......Deeper.....Deeper To Know You......My Lover.....The Lover of My Soul...……"
I would like to believe that if we ever went "back to normal", many Christian churches will have reformed themselves. But I highly doubt it.