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Some Christians Labeled Simone Biles a ‘Quitter,’ ‘Selfish,’ ‘Sociopath’—But Pastors Should Applaud Her
By Jessica Lea -July 28, 2021
On Tuesday, Olympic gymnast and international superstar Simone Biles shocked the world when she decided to withdraw from the team final. The Olympic gold medalist, who sparked widespread support and a surprising level of backlash for her decision, explained that she was not in the right mental state to compete.
“I just felt like it would be a little bit better to take a back seat, work on my mindfulness,” Biles explained at a news conference Tuesday. “And I knew that the girls would do an absolutely great job. And I didn’t want to risk the team a medal for kind of my screwups, because they’ve worked way too hard for that.” The gymnast said she did not have a physical injury and she was withdrawing in part in order to avoid getting one.
“Today has been really stressful,” she said. “We had a workout this morning, it went OK. And then just that five-and-a-half hour wait or something, I was just like shaking, could barely nap. I’ve just never felt like this going into a competition before. And I tried to go out here and have fun. Warm up in the back went a little bit better. But then once I came out here, I was like no, mental’s not there…It’s been a long week, it’s been a long Olympic process, it’s been a long year. So just a lot of different variables, and I think we’re just a little bit too stressed out. But we should be out here having fun, and sometimes that’s not the case.”
Simone Biles and the ‘Weight of the World’
Simone Biles made her announcement following an uncharacteristically shaky vault performance Tuesday. She has also withdrawn from Thursday’s all-around, but there is still a chance the gymnastics champion could compete in individual events next week. By all accounts, her team and coaches support her decision.
In a Facebook post Sunday, July 25, Biles said, “It wasn’t an easy day or my best but I got through it. I truly do feel that I have the weight of the world on my shoulders at times. I know I brush it off and make it seem like pressure doesn’t effect [sic]me, but damn sometimes it’s hard hahaha! The Olympics are no joke! BUT I’m happy my family was able to be with me virtually They mean the world to me!”
Critics Slam Simone Biles As a ‘Quitter,’ ‘Selfish Sociopath’
In an op ed for The Daily Wire, titled, “WALSH: Simone Biles Quit On Her Team And Her Country. She Should Not Be Celebrated For It.,” writer and speaker Matt Walsh lumped Simone Biles in with other “sulking professional athletes.” Walsh, whose bio says he is “one of the religious Right’s most influential young voices,” called her a “quitter” and said that those encouraging us to celebrate her decision are encouraging us to “celebrate cowardice.”
People would not praise a male athlete for a similar decision, said Walsh on Facebook. He called Biles’ behavior “disgraceful and selfish,” adding, “We now have decorated Olympic athletes quitting in the middle of the competition because they’re sad. What an absolute embarrassment. But in some ways an appropriate representation of a country that has gone soft.”
Seth Dillon, CEO of Christian news satire site The Babylon Bee, tweeted, “Simone Biles just said sitting out the big competitions shows how strong you really are. That’s like saying soldiers who run away from battle are courageous. Cowardice is not courage; weakness is not strength. Great athletes understand this.”
One person responded, “As an active duty Officer, I can say that we prioritize mental health over running into battle. If you can’t perform your job because of your demons then I would rather you take care of yourself than put your team or platoon in danger. Don’t talk about things you don’t understand.”
Charlie Kirk, founder and president of Turning Point USA and president of Students for Trump, called Biles a “selfish sociopath” and a “shame to the nation.” Kirk, along with Jerry Falwell, Jr., co-founded the Falkirk Center, a conservative political think tank at Liberty University. Kirk has since left the organization, which has been renamed the Standing for Freedom Center.
Kirk blamed Biles for surrendering the gold medal to the Russians and, like Walsh, said that her decision was indicative of the overall weakness of the American population. “We are raising a generation of weak people like Simone Biles,” he said.
COMMENTARY
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was born in 1906 to an aristocratic German family. Evidently gifted, he chose to study theology and swiftly graduate with a doctorate at the age of twenty-one. In the first of what were to be many international connections, he worked for two years with a German congregation in Barcelona. He then went to the United States to study for a year at a liberal theological college that he found shallow and uninspiring. He was, however, impressed by the African-American churches he worshipped at, appreciating the congregations’ zeal and sympathizing with the social injustices they endured.
Bonhoeffer returned to Germany in 1931, lecturing and pastoring a church. Horrified by the rise of the Nazis he spoke out publicly against Hitler from the moment he became Chancellor in 1933. His was not a popular view: many German Christians, encouraged by Hitler’s manipulative use of Christian language, saw him as the nation’s savior.
Bonhoeffer found himself part of the resistance against Nazism. He spoke against the persecution of the Jews and when Hitler demanded a church that swore loyalty to him, Bonhoeffer helped create the Confessing Church which declared that its head was Christ, not the Führer. Bonhoeffer gained only limited support and, disillusioned by the direction Germany was taking, he went to pastor two German-speaking churches in London. There he would gain even more international connections, having developed friendships with British church leaders.
Returning to Germany, Bonhoeffer was soon denounced as a pacifist and an enemy of the state. In 1937 he became involved in the secret training of pastors for the Confessing Church. He also wrote one of his most important books, The Cost of Discipleship, in which he rebuked shallow Christianity that he termed cheap grace: ‘the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession . . . Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.’ It is a warning that continues to be valid today.
With war looming, Bonhoeffer, committed to peace and refusing to swear allegiance to Hitler, realized that he could be executed. An opportunity to escape conscription appeared with an invitation to teach in the USA. Bonhoeffer took the chance and left in June 1939. Yet once in the States, he realized that he could not be absent from his own country at a time of war and within two weeks took the boat back to Germany.
When war did break out, Bonhoeffer found himself drawn into the circle of those patriotic Germans who sought to overthrow Hitler. In order to again escape conscription, he joined the German military intelligence agency, a body which included many who were opposed to Hitler. On paper, his task was to utilize his many international church connections to advise the military, but in reality, he used them to try to find support for the German resistance.
As the war went on Bonhoeffer found himself on the edges of various plots to assassinate Hitler. Increasingly aware of the horrors the Third Reich was unleashing, he found himself reluctantly concluding that the assassination of Hitler would be the lesser of evils.
In 1943, Bonhoeffer became engaged to Maria von Wedemeyer, but shortly afterward his role in helping Jews escape to Switzerland was uncovered by the Gestapo and he was arrested. At first, he was able to write and receive visitors who supplied him with books and took away his writings; many of these were incorporated into another classic book, Letters and Papers from Prison.
In July 1944, Bonhoeffer’s imprisonment became more severe and he was sent to Buchenwald concentration camp. The accounts we have of him at this time describe him as a man of peace, a man full of grace and kindness, and a man who was occupied in pastoring and counseling those about him.
In the spring of 1945, Bonhoeffer’s name was linked with an old plot against Hitler and his execution was ordered. He was hanged on April 9th, 1945, just two weeks before the camp was liberated. His last recorded words were, ‘This is the end – for me the beginning of life.’
I found the faith of Dietrich Bonhoeffer to have many striking characteristics.
First, his faith was displayed in doing. Bonhoeffer could have stayed an academic theologian quietly writing. Instead, he insisted that Christianity had to be lived out and to be a disciple of Christ was to do something. Beliefs must have consequences: whether it was to work for good or against evil. Bonhoeffer was no armchair Christian and we shouldn’t be either.
Second, his faith was displayed in daring. One of the first German Christians to denounce Hitler, Bonhoeffer worked against Nazism for twelve years, knowing that at any moment he could be – as ultimately he was – arrested, imprisoned, and killed. It’s particularly hard not to be impressed by how, having made it to the safety of New York in 1939, Bonhoeffer then took the boat back to Germany. We could do with a lot more daring today.
Third, his faith was displayed in defying. Faced with a threatening government and a church that remained silent, Bonhoeffer spoke out boldly against both. There are times when we, too, need to stand up and speak boldly.
Finally, and it’s uncomfortable, but Bonhoeffer’s faith was displayed in dying.
July 8, 2021 by The Presbyterian Outlook
Laura M. Fabrycky
Fortress Press, 275 pages
Reviewed by Lisa D. Kenkeremath
Laura Fabrycky’s book is a captivating melding of genres: part travelogue, part history/biography and part spiritual memoir. “Keys to Bonhoeffer’s Haus” is a deeply personal account of Fabrycky’s immersion in the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer while serving as a tour guide at his boyhood home in Berlin. From this three-year engagement, Fabrycky draws spiritual and ethical lessons and considers the claims that Bonhoeffer’s life and theology make on us today. The book’s narrative structure is based on seven “keys” that help unlock the “haus” of Bonhoeffer’s life, relationships and teaching. Using these keys, she explores themes of belonging and identity, boundaries and inclusiveness, the use of language to reveal truth or serve as a shield against it, the obligation to care for others and facing mortality.
A central question animating Fabrycky’s inquiry into Bonhoeffer’s life and the choices he made (or that were made for him) is how ordinary German citizens, mostly Christian, fell for the lies of Hitler and the Nazi party, and how Bonhoeffer and his colleagues were able to resist them.
As the wife of an American diplomat assigned to Berlin, Fabrycky saw Bonhoeffer as a hero as she entered her experience in Germany. This long-held image was challenged one day while she conducted her usual tour and reflected on Bonhoeffer’s leadership of the seminary at Finkenwalde, which was shut down by the Nazis after two years of operation: “The Confessing Church seminary … was an innovative effort marked by both its brevity and its intensity – terms commonly used to describe something doomed and futile. Indeed, its brief dates, its relatively ad hoc existence, and its far-flung location distant from recognized power centers marked it, by and large, as a failure. … The seminary’s fleeting and fragile reality gripped me as I described it to the group, and a flood of pity swallowed me as I imagined Bonhoeffer and the seminarians there.”
She goes on to conclude that Bonhoeffer’s life, rather than a model of heroism and success, was “a masterpiece in the art of dying.”
by Thom S. Rainer
Founder & CEO
Many churches still have potluck meals. Some have them once a week; others celebrate this tradition once a year at a homecoming event.
I remember them well in some of the churches where I served as pastor. One of the most challenging issues for me occurs when a church member asks me to try his or her dish. I still have nightmares about those experiences.
So, I went to social media and asked for feedback (pun intended). What are some of the strangest and weirdest dishes you have seen at church potluck meals? We had many responses. It was tough to highlight just twelve of them, but I decided to throw up, I mean throw out, these responses.
I know I left out many good and nauseating responses. These are not listed in any particular order:
1. Alpo casserole. Yes, a church member admitted that the dog food was the “meat” in the dish.
2. Raccoon. The respondent did not indicate if the raccoon was grilled, baked, or fried. That would make a lot of difference.
3. Rattlesnake. I admit I tried that dish one time. It was both my first and last time.
4. Livermush. Everything about this word bothers me.
5. Grilled chicken feet and intestines. I like chicken. But there are some parts of the chicken I didn’t think you could eat. These two would be among them.
6. Armadillo cake. I had to read it twice. Yes, he did say “cake.”
7. Squirrel pot pie. I hope it was appropriately labeled.
8. Crow. I’ve eaten crow several times, but not literally.
- by Terry Shoemaker, Lecturer Religious Studies, Arizona State University
The extent to which the number of white evangelicals have declined in the United States has been laid bare in a new report by the Public Religion Research Institute’s 2020 Census on American Religion.
The institute’s study found that only 14% of Americans identify as white evangelical today. This is a drastic decline since 2006, when America’s religious landscape was composed of 23% white evangelicals, as the report notes.
Along with a decline in white evangelicalism, the data indicates a stabilized increase in the number of those who no longer identify as religious at all. Scholars of religion refer to this group as “nones,” and they make up about a quarter of the American population. These statistics are even more drastic when considering age. In short, older Americans are much more religious than younger Americans, while millennials are likely to not practice or identify with religion.
This data is significant. Even though white evangelicals tend to be politically vocal and influential, several are known to be leaving the faith.
Increasingly, scholarship is tracking the emergence of those defecting from religion. Religious studies scholar Elizabeth Drescher’s 2016 book, “Choosing Our Religion,” examines numerous cases in which people transition away from their faith. She notes that people leaving evangelicalism “tended to express anger and frustration with both the teachings and practices of their childhood church.”
Although the statistics are sure to capture the attention of various readers, the data can give only limited insights into the more nuanced perspectives specific to critiquing white evangelicalism.
Over the past six years, I have been part of a team of scholars from various disciplines and universities examining the hesitancy and rejection of younger individuals either leaving or attempting to reform evangelicalism in America. Some younger evangelicals are disenchanted with their faith traditions’ staunch and divisive political positions and how theology has been used to prop up these positions.
Younger evangelicals’ experiences
Between 2010 and 2018, I conducted over 75 interviews with those dissatisfied with their evangelical faith and observed multiple white evangelical megachurches.
My interviewees, all white, were typically in their late 20s to early 40s and highly critical of the Christian faith of their youth. These interviewees respond differently to their dissatisfaction. Some completely leave their faith while others try to reform their faith from within. For the majority, church was a major part of their social life, and they described rigid expectations to defend their theology, politics and spiritual communities to outsiders.
Several of those interviewed during my research mentioned how politics had influenced the theology of white evangelicalism in the United States. Rob, who resides in Florida and spent the majority of his early adult life as a musician in a white evangelical megachurch, told me that his church preached “God, country and the Republican Party.” He was even taught as a teenager that “Jesus was definitely a Republican,” and he characterized God as “quite angry, a cosmic referee” seeking to regulate the lives of the faithful. Today, Rob identifies as a progressive Christian and holds a much more generous view of his god.
My research shows some younger evangelicals are fatigued with white evangelicalism’s allegiance to the Republican Party and to specific stances on racism and sexuality. White evangelicals categorize these issues as a “culture war” for the soul of America – an internal struggle for who will define and decide the future of America.
By framing these issues as a cultural battle, white evangelicals maintain an embattled posture targeting a list of such enemies as liberals, secularists and atheists. As sociologists Andrew Whitehead and Samuel Perry note in their study of Christian nationalism, white evangelicals maintain a “collective desire to protect their cultural-political turf.”
Furthermore, in a racially and ethnically diversifying and increasingly pluralistic country, some evangelicals’ experiences transform their positions on political issues. Take for instance, the issue of immigration policies in the United States. White evangelicals as a group highly favor restrictive immigration policies.
However, Jerry, one of my interviewees who lives in North Carolina and grew up Methodist, cited the white evangelical position against restrictive immigration policies as a reason to question his faith. Today, Jerry identifies as spiritual but not religious; while still an evangelical, Jerry explained, “When it came to issues of immigration, we wanted our kids to know what it means to be an outsider. We want our kids to have a global experience.” His theological interpretation of the Bible at that time taught Jerry to welcome outsiders, and he applied this to national borders.
Political changes can shift religious beliefs. Jerry’s growing cultural awareness eventually replaced his evangelical interpretation of Scripture. He notes, “As opposed to looking to the Bible or church for answers, let’s have a multicultural world perspective to answer those questions.”
Likewise, Sarah grew up in Kentucky, spending much of her childhood in church services, Bible studies and Christian camps within a Baptist denomination. “Part of me likes the idea of church,” she says, “but I think I like the idea of just helping people more. That’s my idea of what a Christian is, someone who helps others.” She admits this while maintaining that for her personally, religious identity is unimportant.
Sarah’s involvement in poverty alleviation in Kentucky influenced her attitudes on how she sees white evangelical worship today: “The way that the church operates in Kentucky is so backwards. It’s all about the self. About pleasing yourself. It’s all white, middle- to upper-class people watching a big screen with a full band. I think that’s probably the opposite of what Jesus wanted.”
Why is this happening now?
For those trained and disciplined within white evangelicalism, the insular and authoritarian nature of the faith often creates circumstances where questioning or critiquing the faith seems impossible and can lead to shunning.
Written by: Rev. Canon J.John
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, executed for his long-standing opposition to Hitler, is one of the great Christian heroes of the twentieth century.
Bonhoeffer was born in 1906 to an aristocratic German family. Evidently gifted, he chose to study theology, graduating with a doctorate at the age of twenty-one. In the first of what were to be many international links, he worked for two years with a German congregation in Barcelona. He then went to the United States to study for a year at a liberal theological college that he found shallow and uninspiring. He was, however, impressed by the African-American churches he worshipped at, appreciating the congregations’ zeal and sympathising with the social injustices they endured.
Bonhoeffer returned to Germany in 1931, lecturing and pastoring a church. Horrified by the rise of the Nazis he spoke out publicly against Hitler from the moment he became Chancellor in 1933. His was not a popular view: many German Christians, encouraged by Hitler’s manipulative use of Christian language, saw him as the nation’s saviour.
Bonhoeffer found himself part of the resistance against Nazism. He spoke against the persecution of the Jews and when Hitler demanded a church that swore loyalty to him, Bonhoeffer helped create the Confessing Church which declared that its head was Christ, not the Führer. Bonhoeffer gained only limited support and, disillusioned, he went to pastor two German-speaking churches in London. There, watching with alarm the direction Germany was taking, he made important friendships with British church leaders.
Returning to Germany, Bonhoeffer was soon denounced as a pacifist and an enemy of the state. In 1937 he became involved in the secret training of pastors for the Confessing Church. He also wrote one of his most important books, The Cost of Discipleship, in which he rebuked shallow Christianity that he termed cheap grace: ‘the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession . . . Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.’ It is a warning that continues to be valid today.
by Thom S. Rainer
Founder & CEO
Note: We received the following story at Church Answers recently. The only changes I made were to protect the identity of the pastor. His self-awareness and prescriptions are very helpful.
I spent the last week with my family at the beach on vacation. We really enjoyed ourselves. I wished we had another week! While there, I hoped to detox from the constant pressures of the ministry, unplug from screens and social media, and just be present with my wife and kids.
After a few days of this detox, I had a troubling realization. I am jaded and self-protective toward people—strangers, church members, whatever — just people in general.
Avoiding People
I often find myself not wanting to be around people—even people I like. For example, at the beach, I didn’t want to meet new people or become friends with any of the other families at our condo that we kept running into down on the beach or by the pool. I smile and try to be polite, of course. But deep down, I sense this growing and alarming sense of fear at letting people get close to me.
On an almost subconscious level, I have come to distrust others, thinking that they’re going to end up scrutinizing me or adhering to some strange theological or political belief very passionately and holding suspicion toward me if I don’t hold the same view with the same level of fervor.
When Cynicism Hits
I have become cynical. Cynicism is the belief that people are motivated by self-interest. To be cynical is to be distrustful of human sincerity. I feel like most people are hard to please and easy to offend. Accordingly, I have learned to tread lightly. It has negatively impacted my ability to fulfill God’s call on my life to be a pastor to his people.
I shared my realization with my wife. She is always so supportive and mature. She said it was good that God was showing me these developments. Then, she asked, “What are you going to do about it?”
A Prescription for Pastoral Cynicism
So this morning, after my Bible reading, I made a list of responses to the question, How I can fight back against cynicism in my life and ministry? Here are my six responses. I would appreciate your feedback, especially if you’ve dealt with this sort of thing and have advice or resources you can share. Thanks in advance.
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