Give Us Barabbas: The Left Makes Its Choice
The Left takes the position that murdered Christians had it coming
The Left has responded to the killing of Christians by taking a victory lap
Leftism hates Christians because it hates Christ
The Left keeps employing the same tactics to undermine Christianity in the West
Transgenderism is fundamentally a claim of divinity
Man’s ultimate weapon is death, but this week we celebrate the fact that Christ has defeated it
And they all cried out at once, saying, “Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas” — who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder.
Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them. But they shouted, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!”
Luke 23:13-21
The Left takes a victory lap
The Christians had it coming. Trans people are the real victims here.
This was (and still is) the Left’s narrative following the murder of six Christians1 at the hands of a woman poisoned by transgenderism. The Washington Free Beacon has compiled ten examples of both major media and politicians repeating these talking points; and, as expected, Twitter is replete with far more of the same.
Corporate America didn’t miss a beat in taking sides against Christians, either. The day following the murders, Amazon’s VP of Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion posted an internal message expressing the company’s solidarity with the sexual-depravity agenda, and transgender people2 specifically.
Not to be outdone, Budweiser launched a campaign celebrating prominent trans celebrity Dylan Mulvaney’s one-year anniversary of dressing as a woman for clicks, and a performance at the Country Music Awards — yes, the Country Music Awards — openly celebrated transgenderism by including dancing drag queens.
These latter examples were supposedly done to celebrate the March 31 “Trans Day of Visibility,” but with the murders having occurred only four days earlier, these moves showed not just disregard but disrespect for the slain. Yet the companies moved ahead with their tranny advocacy anyway. Granted, it wasn’t necessary for them to comment about the killing of innocent Christians, but it was a slap in the face to make a spectacle of support for their murderer’s delusion. This was not merely tone-deaf, it was intentional.
These massive companies have entire departments responsible for keeping up appearances with the public, so there’s no way they didn’t realize how their overt support for transgenderism would be perceived in light of the Nashville shooting. The inescapable conclusion is that they simply didn’t care. And they didn’t care because they knew what we all know deep down: our leftist-dominated culture prefers its Christians dead.
Leftism hates Christians because it hates Christ
Given the option between a peaceful Christian and a violent lunatic, the Left will always choose the lunatic. This is because leftism is the political face of unredeemed human nature, and that nature is inherently at war with God. Humanity already tried to kill God once and failed, but since He is no longer physically at our disposal, we settle for killing His children instead. The evidence of this persecution covers the globe, just as Jesus told His disciples it would:
If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, “A servant is not greater than his master.” If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.
John 15:18-21
They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them.
John 16:2-4
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake.
Matthew 24:9
This is why last week’s murder of Christians in Nashville met with the Left’s tacit approval. Unredeemed man is naturally disposed to killing Christians, and he is not naturally disposed to denying himself anything to which he is naturally disposed. In other (less confusing) words: the desire to kill Christians is built into human nature, so it shouldn’t surprise us to see the Left embracing those who follow through on this desire.
We’ve seen this before
Setting aside their long history of support for abortion, euthanasia, and eugenics, this is not the first time we’ve seen leftists tripping over themselves in gratitude for a slaughter of the innocent. On September 11, 2001, militant Muslims killed over 3,000 people in the US, after which the Left responded by:
Blaming the US.
Expressing support for the “Muslim community.”3
Decrying the inevitable backlash against this community. A backlash that, incidentally, never materialized.
Slandering as a bigot anyone who said anything unflattering about Islam, regardless of whether it was provably true.
Attempting to outlaw speech unflattering to Islam.
Celebrating Islam, despite the fact that many of its teachings and practices run contrary to the Left’s advertised principles.
Incorporating Islamic teachings into public education.
Using the entertainment industry to consistently portray Islam in a positive light.
Claiming, contrary to all available evidence, that Islam is a religion of peace.
Claiming not to know the motivations of Muslims who killed innocent Westerners while shouting the Islamic war cry of “Allahu akbar.”
Leftists again employed nearly all of the same tactics in their efforts to normalize homosexuality; and having succeeded there, they are now employing these again on behalf of transgenderism.
Why transgenderism is so important to the Left
But while it makes strategic sense to align with Islam, which is projected to comprise 30% of the world’s population by 2050, it’s worth asking why the Left would pursue the trans population — a group that not only conflicts with Islam but is, in terms of population, statistically insignificant. There are at least two reasons:
First, the Left is not nearly as interested in transgender people as it is in their delusion. Transgenderism makes the claim that a man becomes a woman merely by deciding he is one. Given all the perversion accompanying this belief, it has the popular appearance of being a sexual proclivity, but it is actually something far deeper and more sinister.
Its fundamental assertion is that truth is subordinate to man rather than man to truth. This is essentially a claim that man is the source of truth, something that God claims exclusively for Himself. For this reason, the trans agenda has far less to do with men dressed as women than it does with men dressed as God. It is ultimately just a retelling of history’s oldest lie: I will be like the Most High. This was the lie that caused the fall of Lucifer and the fall of man, and leftists are embracing it in the hope that it will cause the fall of Western Civilization, as well.
The second reason why the Left is all in on trans advocacy is the same reason why it aligned with Islam: transgenderism is not only opposed to Christianity, but willing to violently act on that opposition. After all, if you can’t beat your opponent’s arguments, you can just beat your opponent instead.
“Give us Barabbas!” was succeeded by “He is risen!”
The Left has made its choice, and done so quite openly. It chooses barbarism over civility, death over life, harm over healing, evil over good, Barabbas over Christ. Its disciples are done spilling ink in service to their cause and have graduated to spilling blood. And now that the murder of Christians has been met with a societal yawn, the disincentives to further bloodshed are likely to tumble like dominos.
But it is timely that this massacre of Christians should have occurred on the cusp of Easter. Even as we see the most powerful elements of our society effectively shouting “Crucify Him!” and consenting to the deaths of Christians, we must remember that the story of Easter does not end with crucifixion but with resurrection. Death is man’s most powerful weapon, but Christ defeated it on our behalf, and His words are as true in times of persecution as they are in times of peace:
And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.
Luke 12:4
And most fittingly:
I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.
John 11:25-26
Only God knows if these people were really Christians, of course, but I refer to them as such because, from the Left’s perspective, they were; and it is the Left’s perspective that is being discussed.
There is no such thing as a transgender person because a person cannot change genders. But for ease of comprehension, I occasionally use this tainted term.
Side note: only groups useful to the Left are said to have “communities.”