Louie Giglio, White Blessing, And The New Religious Right
By: John Pavlovitch
This opinion piece is from John Pavlovitch, a Christian pastor. Here's what his website says about him:
John Pavlovitz is a writer, pastor, and activist from Wake Forest, North Carolina. A 25-year veteran in the trenches of local church ministry, John is committed to equality, diversity, and justice—both inside and outside faith communities. When not actively working for a more compassionate planet, John enjoys spending time with his family, exercising, cooking, and having time in nature. He is the author of A Bigger Table , Hope and Other Superpowers , Low , and Stuff That Needs to Be Said .
His website is here: https://johnpavlovitz.com/about/
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Recently, in a conversation about race with Chick-Fil-A CEO Dan Cathy and Christian rapper Lecrae, Atlanta megachurch pastor Louie Giglio said:
“We understand the curse that was slavery … but we miss the blessing of slavery that it actually built up the framework for the world that white people live in.”
Yes, that is a correct quote.
He actually said this.
You can watch the video here:
As Giglio tossed around an awkward, nonsensical Christian-speak word salad, inexplicably trying to connect Jesus’ crucifixion with America’s legacy of white supremacy and the savage blight of slavery, Cathy and Lecrae nodded and audibly validated—as if what Giglio was saying wasn’t an abject disaster and as if it was in any way coherent in its careless bastardization of Jesus’s life and death.
Giglio said he prefers the term “white blessing” to “white privilege.” How positively Caucasian Evangelical of him.
It’s difficult to overstate both how wrong and offensive Giglio’s statements are from a Biblical perspective and from a simple human decency perspective—and how much of an indictment of the white Evangelical Church in America a moment like this is.
Louie Giglio is dangerous in a way that is subtle but important. This is not your mother’s televangelist. He is not old guard Evangelical. He’s not from the stuffy, dusty, buttoned-up pipe organ cathedrals of Frank Graham and Jerry Falwell. He doesn’t bulldoze with damnation or pound a pulpit of brimstone warnings. He paints beautiful word pictures of the vastness of a loving God (who is decidedly male). He is engaging, passionate, and he has mastered the pastoral art of appearing spontaneous, while delivering surgically-precise language surrounded by swelling music and glowing lights, all crescendoing into an emotionally-manipulative moment that feels decidedly spiritual. (The modern megachurch blueprint is found here.)
Giglio’s Passion conferences, summer beach youth camps, and Passion City Church have largely birthed the modern, sleek, stadium rock show megachurch movement that has become ubiquitous across the country. His ministry is primarily to high school and college students, which means that he and men like him are shaping the next generation of American evangelicals; millions of teenagers who are lured in by the towering LED screens, slick branding, and stirring, anthemic choruses—unaware that this is a gateway drug to something far more toxic and addictive.
Giglio’s ministries are emblematic of the new Evangelical church communities dotting our revitalized city downtowns and booming suburbs; carefully curated, multimedia experiences that bombard attendees with vague, intoxicating talk about Love and Welcome, and are adorned with all the trappings of comfortable diversity—but when you get to the fine print of what they believe, who they hire, the politicians they align with, and the causes they support—you’ll find that it is the same decrepit, decidedly white Religious Right, with the botox facade of Twenty One Pilots choruses and selective social justice good vibes.
Giglio’s comments on slavery and whiteness reveal a more nuanced kind of Prosperity Gospel; one offering favor (not for financial contribution, as the older guard pitched), but through American whiteness (though it would never be framed as explicitly). Much like its sister organization the GOP, the new Religious Right is a movement where power and privilege are seen as evidence of God’s approval.
Combine Giglio’s influence with Lecrae’s massive fanbase and Cathy’s huge national teenage restaurant staff, and represented in a conversation like this one are millions of soon-to-be American voters, who are being indoctrinated into a religion of supremacy and misogyny in ways far more subtle than MAGA hats and racist diatribes—but that perpetuate the same gender disparities and racial inequities, all in a package so emotionally stimulating and that almost feels righteous.
Giglio isn’t stupid and he is self-aware. He will likely walk back these comments and apologize, do even greater theological gymnastics to connect the dots from a Middle Eastern Jesus to white American colonialism, or reframe the criticisms he’s getting as religious persecution to fuel his flock.
We can’t be stupid either. We need to pay attention to pastors and churches and influencers like Giglio, who benefit financially from a system they are beholden to and are perpetuating. It is precisely because he and church leaders like him are usually more subtle, that we need to scrutinize them more carefully; to look at their partners and patrons and the bedrock beliefs that lie beneath the surface decorations.
Coming at an extremely vital time here in America, when racial wounds are reopened and fresh, Giglio’s seemingly off-the-cuff comments, more than being incredibly insensitive and theologically ridiculous, were a window into a much wider and deeper problem America has: white conservative evangelicals haven’t changed as much in their supremacy, homophobia, or misogyny, as in their delivery.
They’ve gotten catchier music and better megaphones—but the song remains sadly the same.
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trolling, taunting, and off topic comments may be removed at the discretion of group mods. NT members that vote up their own comments or continue to disrupt the conversation risk having all of their comments deleted. please remember to quote the person(s) to whom you are replying to preserve continuity of this seed.
Also, I had to seed this opinion piece without the fetch tool. Please forgive my lousy cut and paste skills
oh look, more turd polishing by fake xtians.
watching horizontal tap dance solos by thumpers might be my favorite part of the civil war trumpsters want so badly. go tucker go.
This guy is a prolific writer. He has some great stuff on his blog site
I was referring to giglio. his "happy negro" justification for slavery infuriates me. this is what happens to civilizations that let the insurrectionists live.
I know who you meant. I was hyping up the author of the piece. He has even more stuff like this on his website. And he's to one that attacks the so-called evangelicals except I couldn't find it
Prosperity Gospels are the modern day false prophets...
Now isn't that just white ''Birth of a Nation'' racist shit.
That's exactly what it is...but there's no racism in the white churches or in White America!
Anyone catch that?
Remember ladies, the curse is actually a blessing that you will miss after menopause.
I don't miss it one bit thankuverymuch
Really?
Amazing isn't it?
Makes me sick.
F' him and the racist crucifix that he rode in on.
LOL - now I have that scene from the Exorcist in my head.
Oh..no...not that one!
Yes, that one.....
I'm glad that I could help.
Update.
Lurching from being canceled by the left to being canceled by the right? He's all over the place. Perhaps he should choose a new line of work?
He's definitely put his foot in it.
Maybe he'll say his words were "taken out of context?"
So the "update" is just his attempt to walk back his initial statements where he clearly was pointing to the 'silver lining' of slavery which was what he called earlier a "white blessing". Now he's trying to have it both ways by admitting to the existence of white privilege and the blessing it has been to whites while also denouncing the actions that created it. He seems to be saying "Hey, terrible things were done to get here, it was a road paved with centuries of gross injustice, but now that we're here, why should white Christians like us reject the rewards?".
If he believes white privilege to truly be a "white blessing", I wonder from which God he believes it came? Does he believe Jesus was responsible for creating this apparent "blessing" for white Christians? Which supposed God are these white evangelical Christians actually serving? I suppose if it's the ancient Hebrew God of the Old Testament that condoned slavery and ordered the murder of women and children when 'gifting' the 'promised land' flowing with milk and honey to his 'chosen people' even though it was already occupied, it would make sense. If it's the Christ depicted later in the bible that taught to turn the other cheek, do not return evil for evil, treat others the way you want to be treated, then this apparent "white blessing" from such a God seems hard to imagine.
Once again you get right to the meaty part
The "update" is simply that. More recent information relevant to the story.
Really, really improbable.
Oh, I really do think the man thinks that white privilege is a "blessing".
You may be right.
But it still seems highly improbable, given the number of Millennials and Gen Zs he has coming to church every week and the numbers he has coming to his conferences. You can't build a young congregation like that with ideology from the 1950s.
I think the more probable situation is that he just really, really, really fucked up what he was trying to say.
Pavlovitz makes his living catering to outraged liberals who are caught between their new religion (liberal politics) and their old one (whatever church they attend or used to). Mega church pastors are easy prey if they put a single foot wrong, or sometimes even if they don't. He'll ride this until somebody bigger puts a foot in their mouth.
How do you know they haven't been taught 1950s ideology?
I notice that when someone has problems with coming up with a cogent argument, they immediately attack the author of the piece
The overall set of data points just makes it seem incredibly implausible. Out of curiosity, why would you imagine they have?
The numbers on this are pretty stark. 90 plus percent of churches in this country regardless of religion or denomination are on the decline because they are failing utterly to connect with Millennials and Gen Z (mostly Millennials). It's widely documented, and most churches are engaged in some combination of confusion and panic over it.
The cool thing about Millennials is that they'll actually tell you what they're looking for if you ask, and people have. When polled, Millennials and Gen Zs say that things like "racial justice" and "disability rights" and "environmental issues", are important to them. They also say they don't think most churches care about those things, which is why they don't go.
https://baptistnews.com/article/american-young-people-report-huge-gaps-between-what-matters-to-them-and-what-appears-to-matter-to-the-church/#.YYLnBZ5OlPY
Churches that get those things right and do connect with those younger groups are doing very well, because to nobody's surprise younger people are looking for meaning in their lives just as much as Boomers.
This guy is not attracting 65,000 young people to a conference if he's ignoring all the things they care about.
Pavlovitz is basically a liberal version of Robert Jeffers, except without his own church.
Jeffers is now infamous for the contortions he's gone through in order to pretend Donald Trump is something other than an immoral, adultering rat-bastard. Jeffers basically starts with right-wing dogma and then tries to shoehorn Christian teaching into that container so that whatever RW Republicans do ends up somehow magically aligning with God's will.
Pavlovitz does the same thing, except with left-wing dogma. It doesn't work any better for him than it does for Jeffers.
There are certain individuals here who seem stick in 1950's ideology.
And probably much darker in skin tone than many will be comfortable to admit.
( Yes Mom, I mean you )
Those people who marched on the Capitol and the Charlottesville marchers were all in tune with 1950s ideology and many of them are Millennials and Gen Z. Certainly a lot younger than me
safety is in numbers for those racist assholes.
What part of this racism don't you understand? Are you blind to the suffering of others or maybe their suffering is predetermined by your racist white god.
How, exactly, do you suggest he describe white people? Has the Crazy Train now reached the point where we're not allowed to use the word "white"?
Why would you only quote 1/3rd of the sentence?
Tell me what you disagree with about the rest of it:
That was an asinine statement to even make. This isn't a white country. It is both ignorant and racist to even mention. What exactly is the blessing of slavery, [deleted]
No shit, really? You don't say. *eyeroll*
Nothing gets by you, does it?
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Okay. Friends, I just spend time listening to the entire hour plus video (even sped it up and slowed it as needed to get proper context and sense) and here is my assessment:
The Beloved Community - Dan Cathy, Lecrae, Louie Giglio
ASSESSMENT: I FIND NO FAULT IN THIS VIDEO.
Yes, there is a 'stumbling-block of words @21:30 in the video.
In contrast, there are many incredible places in this video where the true meaning as a whole of each of these mens heart for God and for people - especially Black people-centric or -focus comes through raw and intact!
Pastor Louie Giglio Apologize for White Blessing Comments
Ignoring the obvious promotion in the opening of this second video 'log' (it is the only Youtube presentation of Pastor Giglio's apology I could find on Youtube ); @57s in this is a true heartfelt apology, and I repeat, the video "The Beloved Community-Dan Cathy, LeCrae, Louie Gigilio" is so much more than a single faux pas.
Please, friends and online family, though it is a long video, it is so jammed packed with significant quotes I could pull out and go over that I scarce can 'contain' myself. I will do it if I have to, in the course of furtherance of discussion. If you watch the video(s) speed them up to suit your taste!
Peace.
[Thank you, Trout G. for bringing this one up to our attention. Something needs to be said about it and we're doing just that!]
You're quite welcome
I can not say it louder, after listening to ever word in the video (uppermost) these men have done Black Americans no wrong; Pastor Giglio made an inarticulate statement (I know I listened to it in context and the video in total), but then aren't we all inarticulate at times?!
Time to 'heal the breach'-es! I welcome Chick Fil Lay's Dan Cathy, even, and I never understood the man before but stay away from his enterprise before. Now I will reconsider my action. Because these are powerful statements he is putting forth in the video above-I have to respect that!
And importantly, we can't afford to keep losing or 'damning' people who we pray and/or hope will stand with us in the shadows and trenches while we get drenched.
When the "break-through" we pray, need, crave comes in some people. . .I won't be found 'wanting' or holding a grudge! Welcome one and all to my world of good humanity!
He clearly only made the impassioned mea culpa because he accidently told the truth about how many white Christians feel but know they're not supposed to talk about it. He knows white conservative Christians aren't supposed to talk about 'white club', but in his inarticulate attempt to explain to his followers the benefits of 'white club' he let the cat out of the bag and is now desperately trying to stuff it back in again.
Even the Christian hip-hop artist Lecrae Moore who was part of the panel discussion admitted he's spent “years battling racism within the evangelical church,”. It's not about holding grudges, it's about the white Christian community truly accepting that systemic racism does exist, it exists even within churches, and that even though they never owned slaves they do have a certain responsibility to work for social justice and equality for all and should stop greedily holding on to their "white blessings" while refusing to do more to level the playing field for all Americans regardless of race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, faith or lack thereof.
Hi DP! Thank you for sharing. . . . I don't feel there is a need for a "mea culpa" from Giglio. I truly don't. That said, I can not tell you what you know from a White man's perspective (though I have known White men and women intimately in my past relationships) about "white club."
Forgive the abruptness. . . Did you listen to the entirety of the video yet? Or, at least did you listen to @13:00 through @24:00.
That "white privilege. . . "white blessing. . . ." referencing is not standing in mid-air but is surrounded by many more weightier words. Additionally, @1:05:20s he makes a deeply profound remark that conveys the intent of his heart. I will ask, encourage you to listen to those two areas of the video, though there be much more besides.
Forgive me for assuming you have not listened already if you have!
It won't matter if you do.
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