JOHN PIPER IS A FAMOUS THEOLOGIAN, KYLEE ZEMPEL IS NOT: Piper made a lot of disruptive waves in conservative and evangelical circles last week with his essay entitled “Policies, Persons and Paths to Ruin.” Essentially, Piper is mystified by Christians who vote for Trump despite his abundant and obvious character flaws.
Zempel is an assistant editor at The Federalist where her official bio says nothing about her holding any theological degrees. Be that as it may, Zempel takes Piper’s arguments apart and leaves them in a scattered pile on the floor. Her basic critique is seen in these two graphs:
“Piper’s framing is at best problematic and at worst intellectually dishonest, for he doesn’t make an appropriate comparison. Piper doesn’t juxtapose Trump’s character with Biden’s character or Trump’s policies with Biden’s policies. Instead, he compares Trump’s immoral character with Biden’s immoral policies.
“It’s here that he finds himself ‘baffled’ that Christians don’t take Trump’s character seriously. Many Christians, however, refuse to equate these two unequal realms. Character should be weighed against character, and policy against policy. Piper’s value judgment comes at the disposal of Trump’s policy victories, many of which are advantageous to those pursuing godliness, and at the oversight of Biden’s demonstrably depraved character.”
If the brutal clarity of this piece is indicative of what to expect from Zempel in the future, we should all take note and look forward to her future work.
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