Bill Muehlenberg recently offered the following response to the series of blogs concerning his background and activities that have appeared on this site during the past few weeks. This response took the form of a letter to the evangelical fortnightly New Life (2 Nov. 2006, 10):

I have long been aware of the number of people and organisations that really do not like me and what I am doing. But lately I have learned of even more hatred and animosity being directed at me, and all this makes me realise how much more I need your prayer covering. The hatred and vitriol is of course symptomatic of a deeper spiritual war, as Scripture tells us …

I continue to be amazed and grateful that neither I nor my family members have been physically attacked as yet, and our home still stands. Undoubtedly there are angels surrounding our home, and all the hatred has thus far been limited to mail, email, phone calls etc.

But I realise just how much this ministry I am involved in brings out the wrath and bigotry of others. Homosexuals, feminists, libertarians, secular humanists and atheists have been targeting me. I am aware of whole files and dossiers being kept on me, of websites monitoring my every word and action, and groups considering me public enemy number one.

Other sites are devoted exclusively to the dangers of religious activists. Indeed, one website spends page after page quoting me (and other ‘evil’ Christians). If you have been involved in standing up for what is right, you might even find yourself quoted: http://www.unbelief.org …

One atheist blogger even launched the ‘Bill Muehlenberg Trophy’ for what he regarded as my evil and nefarious ways …

… I am concerned about my wife and children, that they do not get all the flak. And it sometimes takes its toll on me. I can feel quite alone sometimes. I feel I may be on the frontline, facing a vast enemy, and when I look around, I see hardly any comrades there with me. Of course Elijah felt this way …

… [W]e must always treat our opponents with love and respect. We must respond in the opposite spirit to their attacks, hatred and nastiness … [A]lways speak the truth in love.

Just a few points about this response. Firstly, notice that (Baptist) Muehlenberg lives in an imaginary universe, extensively populated by spirit beings: Undoubtedly there are angels surrounding our home etc. Although he has some concerns about Pentecostalism - ‘In Defence of Theology‘, 26/9/06 - he’s clearly attracted to the more occultic aspects of this theology. In 1996 he participated in a Salt Shakers ‘Prayer Bus’ trip to Victoria’s Dandenong Ranges:

[This area is the] home of numerous witches’ covens, new age shops and occult groups … The trip up and down the hills was filled with plenty of praise and worship as well as intercession against the various satanic strongholds. This even included stopping in front of a new age shop, run by a self-proclaimed witch, getting out and laying hands on the building, binding the spiritual forces within. (Salt Shakers Newsletter, Sept. 1996, 13)

The point here is that people who go around touching buildings and ‘binding spirits’ are largely impervious to rational argument. Some contributors on his CultureWatch site try to convince Bill of this or that, but I’m sure they’re wasting their time as he’s far too entrenched in his fantasy world. Essentially, you don’t argue the point with people like Muehlenberg. You just keep them under observation.

Secondly, Muehlenberg habitually confuses legitimate criticism of his position with ‘hatred’, ‘animosity’, ‘wrath’, ‘bigotry’ and ‘vitriol’. Disagreement with his divinely-approved stance is always ‘an attack’. I can speak only for myself, but to the extent that I consider my own emotional response to his writings and activities, I simply feel sorry that somebody could be so misguided. I deeply regret the harm his views cause, but ‘hatred’ is far too strong a word to describe my own reaction. He once wrote that one of his sons had been injured, and I realised (with some amusement) that I’d immediately experienced sympathy for the child and empathy with his parents.

Muehlenberg’s response to criticism forms part of a more generalised fear of the world about him. He sometimes feels ‘quite alone’, facing ‘a vast enemy’. On his website he muses that his brand of Christianity may soon be ‘outlawed altogether‘, 18/8/05; that it will be ‘hounded out of existence‘, 8/9/06; and that ‘open season’ has been declared on Christians,13/9/06. Parallels can be drawn between Muehlenberg’s view of himself and the theological concept of Christ as a ’suffering servant’ later raised to glory. I leave any conclusions about these matters to better-qualified judges.

Finally, at no stage does Muehlenberg address issues raised in the earlier blogs. Almost by definition he ‘wins’ all arguments with unbelievers as God is on his side, so little matters like the precise value of his qualifications, the nature of his creationism, and the insulting attitude he adopts towards opponents can be safely ignored. He even concludes his letter by asking his supporters to treat their adversaries ‘with love and respect’, something that Bill himself signally fails to do. I’ll conclude with this recent example:

Consider the story of a Queensland couple who gave up fostering children after a number of run-ins with social workers … These faceless - and obviously brainless - bureaucrats blasted the couple for seeking to foist their version of parenting on to these foster children …

And where do the ‘brainless bureaucrats’ come from?

[O]ur universities are hothouses for political correctness and radical ideology. This is certainly true of the arts and humanities departments. Thus students today being trained in social work, child care and related courses are certain to get the latest feminist, homosexual and anti-family clap-trap. (’When PC Endangers Our Children‘, 20 Sept. 2006)

How loving and respectful can you get?

Filed in: Christian Right, People