Ethen Werner - fifth columnist Christian?

[_Gadianton]

Over at SeN, the blog proprietor says:

My long-time friend John Gee, a former Maxwell Institute colleague, and, now, happily a fellow member of BYU’s Department of Asian and Near Eastern languages, brought this gem to my attention from the superb and superbly accurate Babylon Bee:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeters ... esses.html

https://babylonbee.com/news/local-chris ... -unpopular

I would do anything for my faith," local Christian Ethan Werner told a BuzzFeed News religion reporter as they met in a Brooklyn coffee shop, "just as long as I can retain my credibility with the world."

It's telling what the senior staff from the Old MI get their underwear in knots over, not to mention their standard for "superbly accurate".

The Bee writes:

He is so good at living his faith out that he got a glowing writeup by BuzzFeed News as well as the Huffington Post. Both publications praised him for being so faithful to Christian values right up to the point where they become unacceptable by the world.

If it wasn't for the endorsement of two senior FARMS hatchet men, I'd never look twice at an article like this. As it is, I wouldn't really care, it just seems like an odd claim for someone to literally say they'd follow Jesus to the end "just as long as I can regain my credibility with the world". the article by the bee implied they were attributing their interpretation of what he said to him as a direct quote.

I can't find anything about this story on BuzzFeed or the Huffington Post, but I don't have a great knowledge of how news sources work and some here might be able to quickly help me out.

What I'm trying to figure out is if Ethan Werner really did say what the Bee quoted him as saying. As it reads, it's like Korihor admitting that Satan appeared and deceived him, people rarely talk like this. I'd be far less surprised to find someone notable enough to interview, disagreeing on the interpretation of the Bible. I'm sure this same tactic has been used Christian against Christians on more traditional doctrinal differences thousands of times. "Wethen Earner believes Jesus, he says, but admits he throws out the Bible on the clear doctrine of Eternal Security".

It's more likely that Earner simply rejected the Bible taught Eternal Security, but in the way fundamentalists process the world, those who differ in opinion are lying cowards.

[_Dr Moore]

Dean Robbers,

I suspect, though context is absent, that the link is intended to provoke a negative response from readers.

However, I read the Babylon Bee article as encouraging.

Choosing to "follow Christ" while rejecting the dogmatic claims by people who claim to speak for him in modern days is likely a safer, healthier way to live. Certainly, this is the path followed by all Mormons who, for instance, opted to openly support the No vote on Proposition 8 in California, for instance, such as Steve Young.

At the time I remember thinking, Steve Young, you are in open rebellion against God! But now I realize, he was following his conscience, which was the right thing to do, and history proves the LDS church leaders squarely on the wrong side of the issue -- an issue, they claimed, had a clear path sanctioned by Jesus Christ.

[_Dr. Shades]

Hi Gadianton,

Isn't the "Babylon Bee" nothing more than the Christian version of "The Onion?"

[_Gadianton]

I have no idea, but you have to be right. So I guess they pulled one over on me eh? what a knee slapper.

A flea dying of the plague might not get over their bar for wit, I'll give them that.

Only a handful of other blogs linked to it, so assuming you're right, it appears to suck even for right-wing Onion humor.

Thanks for solving the mystery though!

[_Gadianton]

Dean Robbers,

I suspect, though context is absent, that the link is intended to provoke a negative response from readers.

However, I read the Babylon Bee article as encouraging.

Choosing to "follow Christ" while rejecting the dogmatic claims by people who claim to speak for him in modern days is likely a safer, healthier way to live. Certainly, this is the path followed by all Mormons who, for instance, opted to openly support the No vote on Proposition 8 in California, for instance, such as Steve Young.

At the time I remember thinking, Steve Young, you are in open rebellion against God! But now I realize, he was following his conscience, which was the right thing to do, and history proves the LDS church leaders squarely on the wrong side of the issue -- an issue, they claimed, had a clear path sanctioned by Jesus Christ.

you're absolutely right, in fact, depending on the day of the week, the Proprietor might even agree with you. Sometimes he'll offer some interesting comments on his area of expertise, Islam, and he's known to suggest that it's due for a reformation. But what is a reformation aside from honoring the spirit of a movement while throwing the fundamentalist baggage under a bus?

[_Dr Moore]

I considered sharing the observation with the proprietor in his living room. Truly.

However, candidly, it was a challenging week at the office, and in response my ethos demanded all power diverted to the warp drives, leaving no shield power to ward off the inevitable barrage of Maori phasers.

Temporary situation. We should be at full shield power soon enough.

[_Doctor Scratch]

It makes sense that the Mopologists would share that particular tidbit. For them, it is perfect parody, since they view their own conservatism, and their own unwillingness to adapt to social changes, as a pillar that is holding up the moral fibre of both the LDS Church, and America as a whole. I'm sort of surprised that Ralph Hancock wasn't mentioned in this.

[_I have a question]

The Babylon Bee is a news satire website that publishes satirical articles on religion, politics, current events, and well-known public figures. With intentional irony, the site describes itself as "the world’s best satire site, totally inerrant in all its truth claims."[1] It has been referred to in the media as the Christian version of The Onion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Babylon_Bee

[_Kishkumen]

Hi Gadianton,

Isn't the "Babylon Bee" nothing more than the Christian version of "The Onion?"

That was my question.

[_Res Ipsa]

Hi Gadianton,

Isn't the "Babylon Bee" nothing more than the Christian version of "The Onion?"

That was my question.

The piece is a parody of Christians on the political left. I can see it’s appeal to Peterson.