I confess–this morning I feel like one of my students that’s just sitting down at the computer @ 11p.m. and they have a seven page paper due the next day, and they really don’t know know where to begin. My problem is I am really still struggling to process and understand some things that on the level I know are deeply disconcerting, and yet I’m not well-versed enough to write with confidence on how a Christian worldview should approach the issue (on the specifics). So, with less confidence than usual, let’s think about the ongoing debate about anti-semitism on the right, and we’ll circle back at the end to where we can have complete confidence, as we’ll appeal to Scripture itself.

It begins with Tucker Carlson’s platforming of Nick Fuentes on his podcast. While I had heard of Nick Fuentes (only when Donald Trump was criticized for hosting Mr. Fuentes and Kanye at Mar-a-Lago a couple of years ago), I had never listened to him. Indeed, this is part of my problem in writing this, I’ve not been a consumer at all of much of the online right material. Certainly not Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens or Nick Fuentes (nor any of the other online alt-right influencers). I’m aware they’re out there, and they’re unhappy (often for very justifiable reasons), but I’ve not got the time to live in that online world, and I’m also aware that much of it is a cesspool. Yet I’m not unfamiliar with Tucker. I’ve watched him periodically since he was at CNN, then crossfire, and even occasionally at his own show on Fox, where he ultimately was fired in part for his role in the Dominion Voting scandal that cost Fox millions. I was never a fan of his style, although generally he took the conservative position and was obviously very intelligent and an able articulator of those values. My own negative journey with Tucker came when the Ukraine war first broke out, and I was pretty much a news junkie wanting the latest in the days immediately following, so I would have Fox News on in the evening while finishing up the day’s activities. Tucker brought on Colonel Doug MacGregor, who treated us to his confident and sad assessment that Ukraine would crumble in days before the mighty Russian army. While I didn’t like to hear bad news, it was possible, and initially not many (certainly those in the Biden administration) gave the Ukrainians a chance. Yet as the Ukrainians fought back, Tucker would have him on again and again to say the same thing, without ever really challenging him to explain why he was wrong before, and why we should believe him now. Tucker himself became (perhaps already was) very hostile to any U.S. assistance to Ukraine, and continued to platform MacGregor and other guests with a negative view of Ukraine. And then he gave us his sycophantic interview with Mr. Putin, and his narrative that life is so much better in Russia than America. Shades of Walter Duranty!* In my mind, Tucker Carlson had betrayed the conservative fight for freedom, and was trying to make America First! into America Only! So it was admittedly with some satisfaction when this past spring the now-isolationist Tucker argued that if we do anything in Iran that “tens of thousands of Americans would die” was proven completely wrong by Mr. Trump’s decisive action, and Mr. Trump reminded the world that he, not Tucker Carlson, was the arbiter of what America First meant.

Yet there is already the broader fight over the concept of what it will mean to be a conservative in the post-Trump world that is coming. And there are many people with their own pursuit of power that are trying to postion themselves as the heir to take over the conservative movement. This was compounded by the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Mr. Kirk’s death has opened up an opportunity for those on the online right to try to take his mantle of the champion of young conservatives, which Mr. Kirk had the dominant role. Hence people like Candace Owens and Nick Fuentes are trying to fill that gap, among others. Mr. Carlson’s platforming of Nick Fuentes (and yes, platforming is the right word**) on his show generated tremendous controversy, as his soft handling of Mr. Fuentes was seen as normalizing or mainstreaming the provocateur’s views. Given Mr. Carlson’s non-stop criticism of Israel and Jewish influence in America, some on the right began questioning if Mr. Carlson himself was an anti-semite. His own words about Pat Buchanan come back to haunt him:

Jewish conservative Ben Shapiro had a brutal takedown of Tucker Carlson over Nick Fuentes, highlighting many of Fuentes’ toxic views. There is so much more down this rabbit hole, but let’s get to what we can clearly say biblically.

I want to be careful here, as my younger readers may agree with the characterization I’ve read that Zoomers really despise being told what is acceptable to think and who they can find funny. My admonition to myself and all of us, including you zoomers, is that the Bible gives us authoritative ways to think about this. We need to begin by understanding that it isn’t boomers or the broader culture, or Washington DC or Brussels or anywhere else that is saying we shouldn’t think certain things (although they are at some level), but there is a Holy God who tells us that our minds and our emotions and the things we find attractive are so messed up that our minds must be renewed (Romans 12:1-2). This is part of our being conformed to the image of Christ, and renewing the Imago Dei that was so marred at the Fall. Our natural condition will be attracted by all sorts of worldly influences and unhealthy ideas, but we are called to take every thought captive for Christ (2 Cor 10:5). And when we think that certain groups (Jews, elites, politicians) are our enemy, Christ reminds us that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” And as he reminds us again through the Apostle Paul, we are to:

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Philippians 4:8

We have to be informed about the things of this world. We are in the world. But we are not of the world. We can’t go down and live in the cesspool. We are called to so much better. Be careful what you read, be careful about who you stand by, and who you walk by. Let us remember Psalm 1:

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

We cannot allow our minds to be shaped by those who claim to know Christ but are espousing hatred. Christ calls us to so much better.

PS: I didn’t even get to the fall of the once great Heritage Foundation. Oh how the mighty have fallen. Another day.

* Walter Duranty was a pulitzer prize winning writer for the NY Times who was a Soviet apologist in Moscow, who wrote soviet propaganda for American consumption in the 1930s, including denying the intentional starvation of millions of Ukrainians by Stalin (who Fuentes is a fan of!) in what is known as the Holomodor. Said Duranty in 1932, “any report of a famine in Russia is today an exaggeration or malignant propaganda”.

** Virtually no one suggested that Tucker didn’t have complete freedom to bring whoever he wanted on his show. The condemnation is that he didn’t confront him on any of Mr. Fuentes many outrageous statements, e.g., his anti-semitism. After all, Tucker was happy to excoriate Ted Cruz for his support of Israel.