Frank Schaeffer: The Edge of Insanity (and a Warning to Us All)

Even though I’ve never formally met Frank Schaeffer, he has played a fairly interesting part in my life as a whole, and in my faith journey in particular. In high school in the mid-1980s, it was his book Bad News for Modern Man that convinced me that Christians had to fight the culture war against secularists and liberals. I soon grew out of all that and by the time I had finished college not only had I begun to see a lot of the flaws and shortcomings of modern American Evangelicalism, but I had begun to be attracted to a more traditional and liturgical Christian faith. As it turns out, it was at that time that I read his book Sham Pearls for Real Swine, which was a stark yet humorous look at the artistic and creative shallowness of Evangelicalism—it had a tremendous impact on me.

By the mid-90s, I read that Schaeffer had converted to Eastern Orthodoxy. At the time, I knew hardly anything about it. And although it would be a good 5-10 years before I even began to investigate and eventually embrace Eastern Orthodoxy, I do believe it was the news that he had converted to Orthodoxy that stuck in my mind and led me to being open to investigate it years later.

In 2008, I read his book Crazy for God and thought it was a good, humorous, albeit sometimes harsh, critique of Evangelicalism and the Religious Right movement that he and his father, Francis Schaeffer, had been instrumental in developing back in the 1980s. I even emailed him to tell him how much I appreciated the book and we exchanged a few emails over the next year or so. But then he came out with Patience with God, and then Sex, Mom, and God, and then a few other books after that—each one being a bit more strident and angrier that the one before. It’s one thing to honestly criticize the shortcomings in Evangelicalism in general, and even specific corrupt Evangelical leaders; it’s quite another to paint all Evangelical Christians with the broadest of broad brushes. The angrier and Schaeffer got in his writing, the less impressed I was with it, and so I eventually stopped reading his stuff.

And then, the other day a Facebook friend of mine messaged me out of the blue: “If you don’t read Frank Schaeffer’s tweets…don’t start. He’s unhinged. Yeow!” Naturally, that piqued my curiosity. So, I got on Twitter and perused his Twitterfeed—and YEOW was right! I joked with my friend that maybe I should write a blog post about Schaeffer, and he responded, “Maybe you should, kind of as a warning to all of us.”

And so, here is my warning to anyone who is willing to listen.

Warning! Red Light! Go No Further!
To get right to the point, Frank Schaeffer has become the poster child of rabidly angry ex-Evangelicals who utterly seethe with rage against anything remotely Evangelical, Christian…or Republican. They don’t so much give measured, thoughtful critiques as they simply boil over with foul-mouthed cursing and fury when anything or anyone resembling their life as an Evangelical comes into view. Now obviously, not everyone who has left Evangelicalism is like that (I’m one of those people), but there certainly are those who fit this description—I know quite a few.

Back in the 1980s, when Frank Schaeffer was pretty much an angry Evangelical Christian leader who railed against Democrats, secular atheists, and liberals. And yes, Evangelicals saw it not as unhinged raving, but rather as holy anger and righteous wrath against the enemies of God. Now, though, Schaeffer is an atheist, but he still is spouting the exact same kind of unhinged ravings, even more so. Only now he has simply switched to the most extreme edge of the other side of the political spectrum and thus aims his venom at Evangelicals, Christians, and Republicans. And he doesn’t just occasionally do this. It is a constant, 24/7, litany of unhinged hatred.

What I’ve now come to realize about Schaeffer, both when he was an Evangelical and now as an atheist, is that his religion has always been that of politics and he is constantly at war with anyone who worships a different political god. He is always angry; he is always fuming; he is always cursing someone. One of the books he wrote in the 80s was entitled, A Time for Anger. That title encapsulates his entire life.

Sadly, there are more than a few former-Evangelicals-turned-atheists who pretty much mirror that very description, although perhaps not as to the extent you will see on Schaeffer’s Twitterfeed. It is sad to see people like that who are so filled with anger all the time. It is exhausting just to witness it. Mind you, I’m not an Evangelical anymore—I joined the Orthodox Church back in 2006. And although I think there are some real significant problems within Evangelicalism today, I never thought all Evangelicals were horrible, all the time! I never thought to project the failings of a few bad apples onto every living Evangelical Christian. I just don’t get that.

It seems to me that a significant number of ex-Evangelicals, like Schaeffer, feel as if they have to constantly atone for their past perceived sins of simply being an Evangelical earlier in their lives by constantly attacking everything associated with what they once were. It is like they grew up with complete certainty that they were right, and that Evangelicals were the only true Christians out there. But when they came to the realization that there were some pretty significant problems and sins within Evangelicalism, they became utterly disillusioned with all of it. They felt cheated and lied to—that righteous certainty was a lie! And so, they not only chuck it all, but they take on a new kind of “faith”—that of “Ex-Evangelicalism.” With that self-label, they the attack everything that represents what they once were with that same sense of righteous certainty they had when they were zealous Evangelicals. Only now their new battle-lines are drawn up on the complete opposite extreme of the political spectrum and their cannons are aimed at their childhood homes. Like Kylo Ren, it seems they just want to burn it all to the ground.

Let’s Get Political…with Frank Schaeffer
Make no mistake, the driving force behind all this is politics. The Moral Majority of the 80s-90s was a political movement that really did corrupt a segment of Evangelicalism. And now, when you come across many ex-Evangelicals like Schaeffer, the topic of debate is always politics. And with on Schaeffer’s Twitterfeed, it is always politics—rabid, unhinged, political ravings, especially now, during the presidency of Donald Trump. Now, I get it if someone doesn’t like Trump or disapproves of things he has done as president, particularly during this recent pandemic. I don’t care if you are conservative or liberal, whether you love or hate Trump—hopefully you’ll admit that what you’re about to read doesn’t really qualify as rational and intelligent discussion of the issues, at all.

These days, Schaeffer’s Twitterfeed is all about the Covid-19 virus. Just yesterday, within a span of four hours, he tweeted OVER 20 TIMES about how Jared Kushner was a “slum-lord grifter” whom Trump has put “in charge of YOUR life!” He called for people to “united to destroy, then obliterate Jared Kushner and his family from American life.” He said that it was “time to DESTROY the GOP!” He even began one tweet about Trump and Kushner with, “God-mother-f–g-damn-f—k-me!”

Schaeffer’s venom isn’t just aimed at Trump, Kushner, and the GOP either. Of course, it is also directly aimed at Evangelicals. After all, they all have contempt for science! All of them! They are all “anti-science!” And, echoing that recent shameful New York Times article, Schaeffer screams, “Evangelicals have killed America!”

Perhaps the most telling example was a March 28^th blog post Schaeffer wrote, entitled, Trump and His Evangelical Backers’ Anti-Science Kill (Schaeffer tweeted this post out on his Twitterfeed EIGHT TIMES in rapid succession). Within this short post of 900 words, Schaeffer said either “Evangelicals will kill us all,” “Trump will kill us all,” or “Trump must be removed NOW” no less than SEVENTEEN TIMES.

He says, among other things, that Evangelicals are Public Enemy Number One; that they are “anti-science;” that they are killing more Americans than terrorists ever did; that Trump and Evangelicals are mirroring Communist China’s censors (?); and that this entire pandemic could have been stopped if Trump would have listened to scientists (and not Evangelicals like Jerry Falwell Jr) and had taken steps early on to combat it.

Trump kills! Evangelicals kill! Schaeffer is certain of it!

Here I Go…Defending Trump and Evangelicals, Sort Of
Now, if you find yourself nodding along with all  that, you need to be warned that you have left the arena of intelligent discussion and debate and have hopped on board a train to crazy town—a very angry crazy town that is on fire, because it is on the doorstep of hell. That is not righteous anger. That is not thoughtful and insightful critique and criticism. That is unhinged ravings. Unfortunately, that kind of stuff really is appealing to people who are so paranoid and angry at “the other side.” It worked with Evangelicals in the 80s when Schaeffer was spewing his venom against liberals and atheists. And now it seems to be working in the other direction.

But let’s quickly look why Schaeffer is wrong here. First, the Covid-19 pandemic. Trump issued the China travel ban at the end of January, shortly after the first cases were found in the United States, and when he did, virtually every news organization and Democrat presidential candidate called him a racist and xenophobe for doing it. Publications like The New York Times and Washington Post ran articles accusing Trump of over-reacting, because the Corona virus was nothing more than the flu. Governor Cuomo, Mayor Deblasio, and other NYC officials were urging New Yorkers to go out and celebrate Chinese New Year and then go on with their daily routines as recently as mid-March. Why should anyone be surprised that NYC quickly became the epicenter of the pandemic? That being said, there were a lot of conservative pundits who were playing down the dangers as well. And why? Because China had been lying about what had actually happened in China and hadn’t alerted us about the real dangers sooner.

My point is simple: Sure, the Trump administration has made mistakes; so did a whole lot of Democrat politicians. Sure, some conservative pundits played down threat initially; so did many liberal pundits. And the reason all that happened was because China was really deceitful and secretive about the real threat until it was too late. Therefore, to scream out into cyberspace, “Trump is killing America!” is to be willfully blind to the reality of the situation.

Second, what about the charge that Evangelicals are “anti-science”? Now it is entirely true that when it comes to the topic of evolution, Evangelicals in general reject it—and many are flat out militant about it. I should know. And when it comes to the topic of climate change, I’m just going to say it—it has become a veritable shibboleth that is used to determine whose political side you’re on. The common stat that is thrown out is that 97% of scientists agree that climate change is real. Okay, but I’m willing to bet that all that 97% of Americans really know about climate change is that stat. I know I’m not an expert. Of course, I, like virtually everyone, want to see us work toward the cleanest planet possible. I just have my doubts when certain politicians (who aren’t scientific experts themselves) throw out that stat and then claim if we don’t immediately implement their political proposal, that the world will end in twelve years. Does that make me “anti-science” or just suspicious of politicians who are vying for power?

But ultimately, when it comes to the current pandemic, all of that is irrelevent anyway. Again, I’m not even an Evangelical anymore, but this mantra that “Evangelicals are anti-science” and are therefore “killing America” is nothing more than scapegoating. There are scores of Evangelical Christians in scientific fields across the United States, and even among Evangelicals who don’t believe evolution happens, that doesn’t mean they don’t take medication, or that they are against medical advances, etc. The reason we are currently going through this pandemic is not because Evangelical Christians don’t accept evolution.

Finally, what about those Evangelical leaders like Paula White, or Jerry Falwell Jr., or Kenneth Copeland? They, along with a few others, have been getting plenty of attention in the media to show just how crazy Trump and Evangelicals are. I’m sorry if I sound cynical, but does anyone really believe Trump cares a bit about those people? Does anyone honestly think he called up Kenneth Copeland and said, “Hey Ken, what do YOU think I should do about Corona virus?” Of course not. There have always been religious hucksters, both on the right and the left. And yes, they have their followers, and yes politicians will use them to get political support—this is nothing new. To act like Trump is the first president to do this is just incredibly naïve.

Maybe my upbringing was unique, but even though I grew up in Evangelicalism, I was always aware of the hucksters like Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, or Jimmy Swaggart, or Kenneth Copeland, the list can go on. Most Christians I knew didn’t give any of those people the time of day. I never saw them as indicative of most Evangelical Christians I knew. Therefore, to point to people like Paula White or Jerry Falwell Jr. and act as if they represent all Evangelical Christianity has always seemed bizarre to me.

Here’s My Warning
I don’t care if you like Trump or hate Trump. I don’t care if you are or aren’t an Evangelical anymore. I completely understand why many former Evangelicals feel burned and hurt by Evangelicalism. I’m no longer an Evangelical and I certainly have been burned by a few Evangelicals. But when I was burned, I never thought that those few people who really hurt me represented all Evangelicals. I was hurt by a couple of really heartless individuals, not by the entire swath of Evangelical Christianity. Not only did I have to at some point lay that hurt down, I also had to resist the urge to take my disappointment with a few people and project it onto all Evangelicals. When you’re in the middle of that disappointment and hurt, that is when you are most easily manipulated into feeding that hurt and anger even more to the point where you end up, well, being like Frank Schaeffer today. You become blind to reality and incapable of calm, rationale, and measured critique and criticism. You’re just boiling over all the time and there’s a voice in your head that says, “Yes! Hate feels is good! It is righteous!” And then you get affirmed by others who are boiling over as well, and everything just spirals downward.

I’m sorry, that is no way to live.

Ultimately, my warning is simple. Don’t like Trump? Fine. Feel he’s done a bad job? Okay, explain why. Have you been hurt and disillusioned by Evangelicals? Welcome to the club, but don’t condemn everyone for the sins of the few who hurt you. But please, don’t feed that anger and disappointment to where you find yourself constantly screaming into cyberspace like an unhinged and paranoid lunatic. If you do, you’re not that different than Frank Schaeffer—and he’s one angry and insane guy.

Let Frank Schaeffer be that blinking traffic light that says, “Warning! Go no further!”