God is a Fag: Dr. Robert Morey on the Feminization of Christianity

Dr. Robert Morey is a Reformed Christian apologist from Southern California, who seems to relish in pissing people off. He is perhaps most infamously known as the author of “Islamic Invasion,” a critical look at the history of Islam, which argues for the pagan origins of the Muslim faith (as to be expected, his irony detector is apparently broken).

He has also struck up a friendship with Pastor Gene Cook, has appeared on Gene’s internet show, and once for a fascinating discussion with Robert Price.

(Speaking of which, it occurs to me as odd that the same close relationship between Reggie Finley and Robert Price that prompted Gene to characterize Reggie as Price’s “bitch” is very similar to the relationship shared by Gene and Morey. Better informed minds than my own have already commented on the blatant psychological projection that seems prevalent in our favorite Reformed apologists, but I digress.)

Gene took the opportunity to ask Dr. Morey about the insulting parody he recently produced which was filled with personal attacks on Reggie Finley. It seemed as if Gene was looking for some validation, since he had received a lot of criticism for it, predominantly from Christians. I think Gene was hoping to hear Morey give his approval, but he avoided making any specific pronouncement, and instead began to attack the complaining Christians, calling them “wusses,” and “girly Christians.”

Now, it should be no surprise to anyone familiar with Christianity that vicious internecine squabbles are part and parcel of the religion, and this is particularly true of Reformed Christianity, for whom criticism, both giving and receiving, is practically a virtue. It’s no wonder that Reformed organizations are a decidedly minor niche within the greater Christian corpus- even Dr. Morey’s own California Biblical University and Seminary boasts a faculty of one (the good doctor himself).

But it’s an empirical truth of religion that deities reflect the psychology of their believers, and I thought Dr. Morey’s diatribe against the feminization of Christianity too interesting to pass up.

His main thesis is that Christianity has lost its masculine traits (assertiveness, anger, violence) over the past century in favor of an overemphasis of its feminine traits (love, forgiveness, peace). He argues that an embrace of the masculine nature of Christianity is necessary for the full “metamorphosis” into a True Christian. For this to take place, one has to reject the “feminized” culture that surrounds us. Rejection of alien culture is a prevalent Biblical theme in the Old Testament, and though Dr. Morey takes note that covenantal theology teaches that Christians are given the freedom to make their own decisions about how to interact with the infidels today, he also has some very specific ideas on how this is meant to happen (not in a contradictory way, of course).

Morey: Now remember your colonial history. Three of the generals that accompanied George Washington to free this country from the tyranny of England were clergymen. The Baptist and Presbyterian ministers were at the forefront of the Revolutionary War. They had out their muskets, and they went to war in the Indian Wars. They cleared the forests, built log cabins, they settled the West, they tamed the West, they went out with their six-shooters and dealt with outlaws- in other words, there was a masculine Christianity that reflected the Reformation.

Hot damn! Forget Jim Caviezel, we need John Wayne to play Jesus! Talk about masculine- there’s nothing more fulfilling of manhood than killing people and cutting down trees. I know that my testicles wouldn’t drop until I had learned how to use a chainsaw properly- both on wood and on the necks of unbelievers. Speaking fondly of Jesus (played by the Duke) marching into the Temple grounds to drive out the moneychangers, Morey contrasts this with the development of a new kind of Jesus (perhaps played by Sean Hayes).

Morey: He was the mighty Jehovah Jesus, with a scourge in his hand, and he was strong and virile and masculine. And he- if there was a picture, he was not a white, European, California blue-eyed surfer boy. Guess when these new paintings of Jesus came out? Covering this period in the 1800’s when Jesus was now pictured as a delicate, white, weak, effeminate, long-haired, fag, from San Francisco. He was a hairdresser! He was a fairy, a FAG, from San Francisco. And he would never do anything to hurt anybody.

But it’s not just the visual imagery that puts Dr. Morey off- he doesn’t like the changes made to Christian hymns.

Morey: Have you ever sang one of these evangelical hymns? Sticky-sweet? “I love you, Jesus-“ That you felt your masculinity be a little uneasy?

Gene: Yeah.

Morey: I don’t have a male lover. Do you have a male lover?

Gene. No… no.

Morey: I… I love my wife. Gene, you’re a dear brother, I can love you with phileo- for our audience, because they don’t even know that- with brotherly love.

Gene: Mm-hmm.

Morey: I’m not interested in taking you to the sack.

Gene: [laughing]

Morey: All right?

Gene: Well that, that’s a relief.

Morey: That’s a relief. And thankfully, you wouldn’t be interested anyway.

That certainly is a relief. My goodness, imagine if these two men had sexual feelings for each other? That wouldn’t be masculine at all, would it? Well, at least for one of them (I’ll leave it to the reader to decide which). Fortunately, they have the good sense to announce their lack of sexual feelings for each other loudly and publicly, with no sense of self-consciousness whatsoever.

So, in conclusion, Dr. Morey longs for a return to the kind of Christianity where being a man meant decapitating your enemy, heterosexual(!) intercourse, and mocking anyone who believes differently from you. Love, forgiveness, and self-worth are overrated and represent a false Fag God that has been championed by the church at large.

Ultimately, of course, Dr. Morey is just begging the question of his own interpretation of the Bible against the myriad of other interpretations that have been proposed throughout Christian history. The Bible is the ultimate Rorshach test, since its contrary scriptures allow every man to see whatever god he wishes to see. Thus, his position isn’t so interesting on theological grounds, as it is a glimpse into his own psychology.