Here’s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media & culture: 05/22/24

The List of Lies
1. America is a racist nation
2. Being against abortion is a white Evangelical worldview
3. Capitalism should be blamed for poverty
4. Christianity is the white man’s religion
5. Debt can be canceled
6. Disagreement equals hate
7. Transgenders are under attack
8. If you’re anti-pornography, you’re a book banner.
9. The Bible isn’t political
10. The Church is non-essential

Those are the ten falsehoods the conservative black preacher John Amanchukwu Sr. (who I previously spoke with about his earlier book ERACED: Uncovering the Lies of Critical Race Theory and Abortion) believes the American people need to be disabused of, as listed in his new book Hoodwinked: 10 Lies Americans Believe and the Truth That Will Set Them Free (due out next Tuesday and available for pre-order now).

JWK: President Biden really leaned in on number one on your list during his commencement address at Morehouse College in Atlanta (the nation’s only only historically black private liberal arts college for men) this past Sunday when he said this:

“It’s natural to wonder if democracy you hear about actually works for you. What is democracy if Black men are being killed in the street? What is democracy if a trail of broken promises still leave Black — Black communities behind? What is democracy if you have to be 10 times better than anyone else to get a fair shot? And most of all, what does it mean, as we’ve heard before, to be a Black man who loves his country even if it doesn’t love him back in equal measure?” (You can watch or read the whole speech here.)

So, the leader of the free world certainly seems to view America as a racist nation. Why do you refute that?

Pastor John Amanchukwu Sr.: The first lie in the book is that America is a racist nation. That’s a lie that will be used during this current election cycle to convince blacks not to support the Republican Party. There are many people who would tell you that America is a racist nation but there are many things that you can point to that can dispel that.

Number one, if America is such a racist nation why are people with brown skin flocking to America and to our borders? Why are people with brown and black skin running to our borders?

Number two, according the Pew Research Center as of 2019 one in ten black Americans – about 4.6 million people – were immigrants. That’s another point that shows that, hey, if America’s such a racist nation why are there 4.6 million immigrants in America? By 2060, according to the Pew Research Center, that number will double up to about 9.5 million people. Also, if America was really a racist place why would the highest median income belong to Asians rather than white people?

Finally, if America is a racist nation how do you explain having our first black president in 2008 and 2012?

JWK: How come you see it this way but so many other people don’t?

JA: I believe that many people see it but some people love to be victims. We have made victimhood and victim mentality a badge of honor. There are people who would much rather see themselves in a pessimistic way rather than through the lens of optimism. When you know Christ as your personal savior, no man, no woman, no system, no regime, no anything can make you a victim. The Bible says that we are a holy nation, a peculiar people and a royal priesthood. We’re also a chosen generation. So, you can’t be royalty and chosen by God and a victim at the same time.

I believe this, that blacks have become the cheap prostitutes of the Democrat Party. They screw us and barely pay us and we keep coming back for more. There are people who will mentally massage us and stimulate us into believing that because you are brown and black you (can’t get a fair shake) in this country. By doing so, they keep us on the liberal plantation and they use us as useful idiots in their plan to ultimately destroy the black community which is something that comes to light in this book as well when I address the lie that if you are pro-life you are a white Evangelical. There are people who tell blacks that we shouldn’t be pro-life because you sound like a Republican – while, at the same time, they are trying to exterminate the Negro population.

Margaret Sanger in a letter to Dr. C.J. Gamble said in 1939 that she did not want the word to get out that she wanted to exterminate the Negro population. She said that the black charismatic preacher will be the person that she will use to help her do this. So, there are people who do not want blacks to remove the hood over their heads in the manner of how they see this country and this nation.

JWK: According to data I’ve read, black babies are aborted at nearly four times the rate of white babies in America.

JA: Yes, by all means. When you consider that blacks in general make up 13% of the overall population in America. Black men account for five percent and black women account for eight percent. Of the black women that are ovulating, they make up about two to three percent but they also contribute towards nearly 40% of the overall abortions in this country. So, when two percent or three percent of ovulating being black account for nearly 40% of the abortions in this country there is such a thing as black genocide that is taking place. I am trying to remove the hood from off the heads of blacks and remind them that, while they are being lied to by the Democrat Party, their community is also being destroyed at the same time.

JWK: What are your thoughts on how President Biden, specifically, frames the issue of race in America?

JA: In 2010 President Biden eulogized Sen. Robert Byrd, a former exalted cyclops in the Ku Klux Klan, saying “He was one of my mentors” and that the Senate is a lesser place for his going. In 2007 he referred to Barack Obama as “the first mainstream African-American who is articulate, bright and clean.” It that’s not racist, what is? In 2006 he said “you cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent.” He has a history of doing this. All the way back to 1977 he said that forced busing to desegregate schools would cause his children to grow up in a “racial jungle.” That’s what he said.

So, he goes to Morehouse because he thinks he’s going to win over some blacks who aren’t smart enough to research his record. He goes to Morehouse for two reasons. He wants to pander and get the black vote. Number two, he’s down in comparison to 2020 as it relates to the number of blacks who are supporting him…So, yes, I expect President Biden to go on a campaign to black universities promising stuff, telling us that we’re gonna get reparations, reminding us that we are victims because of our pigmentation and I expect him to call this country a racist nation because that’s the best way for him to get more black voters.

JWK: So you see him as discussing the issue in a cynical way.

JA: Oh, very much so, very much so.

JWK: Another lie you list in the book is that capitalism is the cause of poverty.

JA: In America there is a constant flow of people fighting to get into our country to realize what is called the American Dream, to experience our constitutional republic and to embrace life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Milton Friedman once said that “underlying most arguments against a free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.” There are people who want to destroy our capitalistic system so that they can push communism and socialism. They’ll tell us that the enemy is capitalism and “the rich” – overlooking the fact that one of the greatest ways to become financially settled is to start a business, to own something. There are more tax write-offs for people who own a business than for those who don’t. So, there’s much to gain from the free market but the left wants to convince us that capitalism is death to America. That is not true.

JWK: Beyond just black people, there seems to me to be forces out there that want to disempower the population in general and to foster a culture of dependency. Do you agree with that and, if so, why do you think that is?

JA: Well you know in order for Marxism to thrive there must be anarchy, chaos and division. When you go back to the Frankfurt School of Germany and you consider many of the ideologies of that time frame, you know, there was this racial tension and this class tension that was pushed. It was the bourgeoisie versus the proletariat. In modern-day times it’s black versus white, the vaxxed versus the unvaxxed, the patriarchy versus the matriarchy, the LGBTQ community versus those who are straight. So, in order create an atmosphere that’s conducive for socialism and communism, there first and foremost must be division. Through communism we see that the people are stripped of their precious liberty. People are robbed of their freedom so that the state controls everything and doles out to the citizens what the state deems necessary. Whenever you have that you have the formula for Auschwitz, you have the formula for a country that kills the most innocent amongst them.

JWK: Another lie you say is the notion that debt can be cancelled. I take it your referring to Biden’s plan for student loan forgiveness.

JA: Yes, that’s correct. Liberal logic says 10,000 people took out a loan. Collectively they owe $150 million so, therefore, we need to help these people. We need to get rid of their debt. The question is who is going to pay the $150 million? Someone has to pay that debt.

You know, I can’t go to a restaurant with you and a group of people, maybe a total of ten people – We all eat good. We have crab legs; We have lobster and steak. We order an appetizer and we have salad. Some have water, some have Sprite and then we have dessert – then, when the bill comes out and is sitting in the middle of the table, everyone begins to look at the bill as if they didn’t know it was coming. We say to ourselves “Well, I guess you’re gonna pay for it” or…you know how some people do – “I left my wallet in the car.” So, that’s where we are. No one wants to pay the bill but everyone wants to be a consumer…When we create an atmosphere where you can go into debt and not take care of your own responsibilities we are not teaching our up-and-coming generation the right thing. We’re teaching them to make commitments void of the long-term support toward making sure that they fulfill and make good on what they committed to do. The Bible says it’s better to not make a vow than to make a vow and break it.

JWK: Another lie you suggest is that The Bible isn’t political. Like Eric Metaxes, I think you suggest that people of faith are cowed into not expressing their faith in public.

JA: Every square inch of this world belong to the Kingdom and belongs to God. Christians should not just focus on issues during Sunday morning service and (within) the four walls of a church. We should engage – even on the political front. What we saw during the pandemic is what happens when the Church fails to engage. You get encroached upon. The government comes to the Church and begins to tell the Church what the Church can and cannot do.

JWK: But you wouldn’t be in favor of a theocracy where one religion had control over the government, would you? You are in favor of the right to believe differently or not to believe, right?

JA: I think the wonderful joy of Christianity is that God did not make us robots. He gave us all free will. He could have stitched it where we didn’t have free will – but He didn’t. The beauty is falling in love with a holy and just God that died upon the cross and was the Savior. That’s the beauty of it. We all go through our own experiences but ultimately, and hopefully, get to that point. Do I believe that this country was founded upon Judeo-Christian principles? Yes. Do I believe The Bible when it says “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord”? Yes. Do I believe the Scripture when it says that “righteousness exalts a nation”? I believe that as well. Should people have a choice in their religion and what they choose? Yes, they do – but I’m biased. I want to win as many as possible to the Kingdom so that they experience eternal life.