I am not a theologian, nor do I play one on TV.

I didn’t even stay in a Holiday Inn Express.

Still, as a convert to Catholicism, I was catechized as an adult, and have a passing familiarity with Christian theology. I also, I hope, am not a complete idiot, and it takes a complete idiot to take the new theology being pushed by the Left seriously.

Two different videos I ran across inspired me to write this piece. The first was a video of a progressive preacher explaining why drag performances are holy. Not just acceptable. Not even a wonderful expression of the diversity of human experience.

Holy.

‘Drag is holy’? Get help buddy. pic.twitter.com/l8tmlOfAsE

— 🇦🇺🇳🇿 ♀️Emma ♀️ 🇭🇺🇬🇧 (@TheCynicalHun) March 20, 2023

Holy doesn’t just mean “good,” “fun,” or even “excellent.” It means sacred. As in a sacrament. It has a specific theological meaning that even those with the meanest of intelligence should be able to understand. Certainly, a pastor should be able to.

But no. This particular pastor, The Rev. Dr. Caleb J. Lines, believes that Jesus is God in drag, and hence drag is holy.

At first, I was certain this was a parody since no Christian pastor (nor, I would imagine, any other person schooled in any of the Abrahamic faiths) could possibly make this argument. Jesus is God in drag? Who would say that?

But no, this dude is real, and people actually pay attention to him.

The Rev. Dr. Caleb J. Lines is an ordained minister with standing in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ. He currently serves as the Senior Minister of University Christian Church in San Diego, as the Co-Executive Director of ProgressiveChristianity.org, and as the Co-Host for “The Moonshine Jesus Show.” He has a passion for pursuing social justice for the marginalized, demonstrating the Good News of God’s radically inclusive love, and proclaiming a relevant message for today’s ever-changing world. At the time he was called to his current church, Caleb was the youngest Senior Minister in his congregation’s history.  Within three years, the congregation had already grown by over 50% and experienced much revitalization; a trajectory that continues.

Caleb’s views on the intersection of religion and public life have been featured in diverse publications, such as The Nation Magazine, The Economist, The LA Times, Disciples News Service, Chalice Press, The Christian Left, The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, The Center for Prophetic Imagination, the Convergence Leadership Project, and Sojourners.  He currently serves on the national boards of ProgressiveChristianity.org and Jubilee USA Network. Caleb has served churches and nonprofits in Missouri, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. Caleb is the author of The Great Digital Commission: Embracing Social Media for Church Growth and Transformation (Cascade Books, 2021), which quickly reached #1 on Amazon’s New Releases for Church Growth and was awarded a Silver Medal Illumination Book Award in Ministry/Mission.

I haven’t been published in The Economist, although I made the Opinion page of the Wall Street Journal, and I am proud of that.

So Caleb has some minor claim to fame, and clearly, there is some real money behind him and his message.

Drag is holy. Jesus is God in drag.

Lord help us.

The second video that struck me was from David Chang, who along with David French (of NeverTrump fame) and Russel Moore is part of an effort to teach Christians how to engage in politics.

As with anything involving David French these days, you just know it will be bizarre, and indeed it is. In this video, David Chang, a Professor of Theology at Duke Divinity School, explains how the COVID vaccine is just like God’s redemption.

No, I am not kidding.

Russell Moore, David French, and this guy👇join forces to create a new curriculum for churches to use to teach congregants about politics. Here, Curtis Chang argues that the COVID vaXX "redeems an abortion" just like Jesus redeems us. pic.twitter.com/RPZyECBETC

— thedissenter.substack.com (@disntr) March 17, 2023

Uh, what? That is the most bizarre and convoluted reasoning I have heard since the last time I listened to a Leftist. At least the “drag is holy” guy is obviously a nutter. This guy is smart, articulate, and a less obvious nutter. That makes him more dangerous. He teaches theology, for God’s sake.

Drag is holy. The COVID vax is redemptive.

God, in other words, is on our side. We don’t have to explain ourselves. We have God.

Maybe the global warming crazies are right and the apocalypse is nigh. What else can explain this sort of theological craziness? I’ve never been an “End Times” guy, but when stuff like this shows up you have to wonder whether Satan is roaming the land.

I tend to be skeptical of purely theological arguments for just about anything. The Jews with their Talmud scholars have a good thing going, with Talmudic scholars making arguments against each other and a lively intellectual tradition where everybody winds up arguing with everyone else. Not over the biggest things, but over just about everything else.

Catholics have Canon Law and Thomism, both of which rely heavily upon rationalism in addition to theological scholarship. Protestants? It all depends upon the denomination, and even there the theology is all over the map. It’s no surprise that in both instances the theological arguments are made by Protestants. Not because all Protestants are nuts, but because there is far more room for maneuvering, given the lack of theological authority.

I tend to like my theology seasoned with a large dose of reason and nuance. My catechist was both a priest and a professor of philosophy, and we got along great because of that. We discussed not just the theology, but the thinking behind it. Reason and revelation are not in conflict, but in harmony.

I try to rely on reason as much as possible. God gave it to us, in addition to Natural Law, in order for us to discern His will. Not infallibly, of course, but well enough to avoid falling into the trap of believing that men parading around in scanty women’s clothes is not a sacrament. I am pretty sure that if some man tried to thrust his crotch into a kid’s face Jesus’ reaction would involve whips and tables flipping over.

In both these cases you can see the sleight of hand that is a hallmark of sophistry: begin with the conclusion that something is good, and work one’s way back to the argument to support that assertion.

The COVID vaccine is similar to God’s redemption of man? Hmm. Let’s see…

Drag is holy? Well, if you assume this, you can get there…

I don’t even begin to know how to fight this idiocy. There is apparently a market for this sort of BS, perhaps because it relieves the cognitive dissonance between a Christian’s sense that God wouldn’t want children exposed to pornography in school, or the desecration of children’s bodies by demonic doctors, and their desire to be part of the cool kids’ group.

It’s the only thing I can think of. Why else would a Christian seek out such obviously evil content?