White Pastor Defends Slavery And Calls Martin Luther King Jr. A ‘Non-Believer Who Misrepresented Christ’

Source: Irfan Khan / Getty

We all know of white conservatives’ affinity for trying to rewrite the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to fit their white, fragile and disingenuous “colorblind” narrative. We’ve seen over and over again white America’s practice of reducing MLK’s entire ideology to a single line about “content” of “character” from a single speech in order to morph the civil rights leader into an “All Lives Matter” advocate who didn’t see color despite the fact that he said plenty of disparaging (and true) things about white people during his life, which makes sense considering the majority of white people disliked him even at the time of his death.

Interestingly enough, though, there appears to be a number of fringe white nationalists who have a different take on MLK—one that paints him as an immoral menace who did more harm than good for Black people and for America.

Meet John MacArthur, a pastor at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California.

According to Right Wing Watch, during Black History Month, MacArthur took time during a sermon to criticize evangelical pastor group Together for the Gospel [T4G] for honoring King years ago.

John MacArthur, an influential right-wing evangelical preacher, denounced Rev. Martin Luther King as an "unbeliever," adding to MacArthur's history of cringe-worthy comments, on race, slavery, religious freedom, and more. https://t.co/RC1ed2JQ7f

— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) February 28, 2024

Apparently, John MacArthur doesn’t think MLK was a true believer.

“[T4G] bought into the deceptiveness of the woke movement and the racial baiting that was going on a couple of years ago, and it literally put them out of existence,” MacArthur said, adding, “The strange irony was a year later, they did the same thing for Martin Luther King, who was not a Christian at all, whose life was immoral.”

“I’m not saying [MLK] didn’t do some social good, and I’ve always been glad he was a pacifist or he could have started a real revolution,” MacArthur continued. “But you don’t honor a non-believer who misrepresented Christ and everything about the gospel.”

It’s not really clear what MacArthur is on about here. He seems to have decided that since MLK didn’t live his life 100% by the good book, which no one likely has, it means he wasn’t a believer. (For the sake of bandwidth, I’ll go ahead and bypass the part where the 84-year-old white pastor is relieved MLK practiced non-violent resistance because he believes if that wasn’t the case, Black people would have been as violent and murderous as white people were.) But MacArthur’s disdain for the civil rights icon shouldn’t be too surprising considering he appears to worship a God that not only condones but demands the subjugation of Black people.

From LGBTQ Nation:

In 2022, he said that the so-called “Curse of Ham” explains racial disparities in wealth, income, and opportunity. The curse, issued by the Biblical character Noah against his son Ham for seeing his Noah naked and drunk, has been cited by white supremacist theologists for centuries as a justification for the enslavement of and racism against Black people.

MacArthur has previously said, “The Bible is abundantly clear — slavery is the heart of what it means to be a true Christian,” and “Christianity does not free slaves. Christianity does not give equal social rights. … Jesus did not propound equal rights and he did not upset the social order…. Rather, they all affirmed that, with great fear of God and great respect, you are to be submissive to your masters. Whether they’re good and gentle or whether they are unreasonable — you are to submit.”

Ahhh, so now it becomes clear. MLK was a “non-believer” not because he didn’t worship a god, but because he didn’t worship a white supremacist god.

Not only does MacArthur weaponize his faith to justify slavery and racism, but he also insists that you’re no true Christian if you’re not advocating for human bondage and racial discrimination. MacArthur’s literal answer to the question, “What would Jesus do?” appears to be, “Keep those negroes in their place!”

John MacArthur isn’t alone in trying to change the narrative regarding King. Turning Point USA founder and professional spreader of factless white nationalist idiocy Charlie Kirk recently promised his followers that he would expose the “myth” around the civil rights icon, who he has characterized as “awful” and “not a good person.”

Who was MLK?

A myth has been created and it has grown totally out of control

While he was alive most people disliked him, yet today he is the most honored, worshipped, even deified person of the 20th century

Today we are going to tell the truth and explain how this myth was…

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) January 15, 2024

Here’s the thing: Personally, I respect these takes more than I respect the watered-down, race-neutral retelling of who MLK was. I respect loud and proud white supremacists who come right out and say King was an immoral radical who shouldn’t be celebrated by (white) America more than I respect cowardly, self-serving white supremacists who pretend to honor King by making him out to be a Kumbaya negro who would’ve opposed the modern pro-Black movement in favor of the white nationalist anti-woke movement.

I mean, all of these people are miserable racists who should certainly be denounced and vilified, but there’s something to be said for white racists who identify themselves as the enemy upfront. At the very least, they’re a little less obnoxious than their closeted white supremacist counterparts.

SEE ALSO:

How Conservatives Have Weaponized Martin Luther King’s Words On Race Over The Years

‘What Are You Doing For Others?’ Martin Luther King’s Call To Action Is Answered By Youth Conference

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