Yes, Whoopi, there are Boneheads on Both Sides

At one point in my life, I thought that soap operas were the most mindless thing on afternoon television. That was saying a lot, given that some of the competition for soap operas were afternoon children's programs. (My personal favorite was "Lighthouse Looey," a show so completely obscure that I can't even find mention of it using a Google search, but that's neither here nor there.) But today, a show that is so stunning in its mindlessness has surpassed even the most braindead of soap operas -- The View.

Now, The View is an easy target. Five extremely politically-liberal women (actually, four extremely politically-liberal women and usually one conservative for contrast) sitting around a table trying to discuss politics and other items, but very little of what they say is worth the time that it takes to say it. Now, I don't mind them sharing their thoughts between themselves, but what I find most amazing is that they have an audience who watches this drivel. Seriously? I would rather clean out the septic tank with a toothbrush than listen to these ladies babble on.

But, unfortunately, a story came across my news feed from a recent episode of The View which mentioned Whoopi Goldberg and Joyce Behar saying something asinine about Christians. The article, entitled "Candace Cameron Bure Left Speechless After Her ‘View’ Co-Hosts Talk Christianity," had a link to the video, so, being the loyal consumer of all things Christian and pop culture, I took a couple of Imodium A-D and settled in to watch the roughly 90-second clip. Since it is possible that the video link will be taken down, let me quote from the article about what Behar and Goldberg had to say.

While discussing the Syrian refugee crisis, the hosts started talking about how some conservative U.S. officials only want to allow Christian refugees into America, prompting Joy Behar to comment that it “is not very Christian to say that.”

After Bure argued that, as a Christian herself, her values compel her to help “the poor, the orphans, the widows,” Behar — seemingly in order to prove that Christians, too, can be “evil” — said:

“I mean…Timothy McVeigh was a Christian. Just saying.”

After the audience applauded the comment, co-host Whoopi Goldberg decided to take a shot at identifying another Christian ‘monster’:

“There have been a lot of horrifying – there have been a lot of monster Christians. Hitler was a Christian…Well, he didn’t like the Catholics, remember? So he thought of himself as a Christian person.”

After a few more comments, Goldberg concluded, "There are boneheads on both sides."

Yes, Whoopi, there are boneheads on both sides, and these comments demonstrate pretty clearly that you and Joyce Behar are a couple of the boneheads on your side. Yes, lots of people claim to be Christians, but not everyone who claims to be a Christian is a Christian. The Bible teaches this when it points out that not everyone who says, "Lord, Lord" about Jesus are his followers. (Matthew 7:21-23) Rather, it is by their actions (or fruits, according to the illustration that Jesus used) that you can identify the people who are truly Christians. (Matthew 7:15-20) What are these fruits? Again, the Bible gives an answer. The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23) Each of these terms needs to be understood in their Biblical context, but they all reflect that the person who is a Christian will not be out doing the types of things that Timothy McVeigh and Adolph Hitler did.

Now, I have not heard the "Timothy McVeigh was a Christian" charge in a long, long time. I think that this is largely because Timothy McVeigh has largely been forgotten outside of the people that he hurt/killed when he used a bomb to destroy the Alfred B. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City. But since Joyce seems to think that McVeigh is a example of an evil Christian, it is fair to point out that he really wasn't a Christian in any sense that would be recognized by other Christians. He was a member of a group called the "Christian Identity Movement" which is really a white supremacist movement that cloaks itself in the veneer of Christianity. The movement starts with a belief that non-whites were among the "beasts" identified as being created by God prior to the creation of man. Coupling this with occultic influences, the "Christian Identify Movement" removes itself further and further from the faith taught by the Bible. No, Timothy McVeigh was not a Christian.

What's interesting is that the article that explains the views of the Christian Identity Movement (entitled "Christian Identity: A Religion for White Racists") points out that the Christian Identity Movement can also be tied to the Nazi movement as another example of a racist effort to cloak hatred in Christianity.

Identity adherents believe they are the only descendants of Adam and the only chosen descendants of Abraham. This is the reason for the name Identity -- they are convinced they know their true identity. They believe they are members of the supposed ten lost tribes of Israel. Identity adherents of today would include the British, Germanic, and Scandinavian peoples as those comprising the tribes of lost Israel. On the other hand, the Jew has for them become the great enemy. This insistence on singling out Jewish people as the enemy of the white race is the Identity movement's most clear link to Adolf Hitler and his Nazi ideas

The idea that Hitler was a Christian has been revealed for the fraud it is on numerous occasions. The CADRE's webpage on Hitler sets forth numerous articles about the subject. There is simply no way anyone who has done any research whatsoever can ever conclude that Adolph Hitler was a Christian. No way, no how.

So, yes, Whoopi, there are boneheads on both sides. But neither Hitler nor McVeigh are boneheads on the Christian side.

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Addendum 11/25/2015 - Richard Weikart has also commented on Whoopi's statement in an opinion piece entitled "Was Whoopi Goldberg Right that Hitler Was a Christian?: A Historical Analysis."  As with anyone else who would look at this subject without a desire to tie Hitler to Christianity, Weikart concludes that Hitler was definitely not a Christian. He concludes:

In sum, Hitler remained officially a Catholic throughout his life, and he esteemed Jesus highly.  However, he denied that Jesus was God and ridiculed Christian doctrines, rejected the Christian holy book, and hated Christian moral standards.  In one diatribe in 1941 he stated, “Christianity is the most insane thing that a human brain in its delusion has ever brought forth, a mockery of everything divine.”