That'd be interesting. Dominance & control are important motifs. Machismo also encourages a detached attitude toward the suffering of other creatures (e.g. the stoic hunter; the meatatarian) which jibes w/the Calvinist chastened compassion toward the reprobate (objects of wrath).— Tentative Apologist (@RandalRauser) October 14, 2018
If there's an affinity between Calvinism and masculinity, does that mean there's a corresponding affinity between freewill theism and effeminacy?
ReplyDeleteGiven the number of overly sensitive freewill theists/anti-Calvinists, who regularly whine like big girls, quite possibly.
DeleteWell, apparently so. The implication of Rauser's tweet is that he is a praiseworthy, compassionate individual, because he feels sorry for his hamburger (or hypothetical hamburger, if he's a veggie). And if that's not effeminate girly-man nonsense, what is?
DeleteLol, if a bunch of non-Calvinists want to identify Calvinists as machismo manly-men, who am I to complain? That just means they think it's virtuous to be less manly! What a bunch of wusses. Oh, but that's just me being a bully in their eyes. Oh well. Some total wimps will think less of me. Pretty sure I'll get over it.
ReplyDeleteAnd these are theologians?
ReplyDeleteThey should just stop, step down and move to the amazon for such stupidity.
I definitely believe that there's a link between Calvinism and meatatarians because I personally identify as both.
ReplyDeleteArminian-Calvinist skirmishes remind me of the war of words between political pundits on the right and left. Liberals portray Limbaugh and Hannity and Coulter and Levin as beastly, harsh, and rude while the rhetorical nastiness of Franken and Behar and Colbert and Bee and Olberman are left unmentioned.
ReplyDeleteSimilarly, the Arminian penchant for beastliness disappears off their own radar. Machismo may be part of the "reputation" of Calvinists, but Arminian apologists regularly best them when it comes to fighting down and dirty. Arrogance and bullying know neither party affiliation nor theological persuasion. They are part of the human condition.
When this kind of stereotyping comes up in my own discussions, I remind my interlocutors that everyday, ordinary Calvinists in the pew tend to be a rather sedate lot.
Our warriors are warriors. Just like theirs. Civility is a two-way street.
Very true. Political and philosophical conservatives are fair game for ridicule, gross generalisations and crude labelling. The sanctimonious liberal-left is unhesistant in its contempt for conservatism, whether it be American conservatism or British and European conservatism. The 'progressive' cause against traditional consevatives and institutions is so 'righteous' that a blind eye can be turned to all the venom and hypocrisy.
DeleteSimilarly, Calvinists are fair game for the same sort of treatment, but on a lesser scale. Take the example above, where Rauser speaks of 'the Calvinist chastened compassion toward the reprobate...' Not only is this a gross generalisation and a crude Arminian trope, but the hypocrisy is astounding in its own lack of compassion towards Calvinists! It is simply fair game to take off the thinking cap and generalise in such crude terms. It is beautiful in its self-defeating hypocrisy.