Kill Your Darlings

Stephen King is just one of many to remind would be writers of what may be the most difficult part of writing well- cutting superfluous words. Concision is king. Every word needs to pass this simple test- does it make the writing clearer, more informative, more effective. If not, cut it out. Kill it, mercilessly. Dispatch with extreme prejudice.

As a professional editor I can’t tell you how many times I’ve come across this nugget, “In today’s world…” Seriously? Is the writer afraid that unless he warns me that he is talking about here and now I might assume he’s talking about Venus in the paleolithic era? Or this one, “According to Webster’s New Collegiate dictionary, ‘bulwark’ means…” If you won’t kill your darlings, at least consign them to footnote purgatory.

Which is why I was troubled to see Stephen Wolfe recently suggest on twitter that “White evangelicals are the lone bulwark against moral insanity in America.” I’ve never met either of the Wolfe brothers, nor have I read Christian Nationalism. While I have a long history of thinking through political issues from a Christian perspective, I haven’t felt the need to take a side on this one. All this to say that I consider Mr. Wolfe to be a brother who has labored to think through the same kinds of issues. For such he should be commended.

I don’t, therefore want to pounce on him with a simple “gotcha.” That said, as an editor, I’m left asking this simple question- what does the word “white” add to “White evangelicals are the lone bulwark against moral insanity in America”? What is it about “whiteness” that makes it important to note here? It is true enough that various polls make note of how people of varying pigmentation tend to vote. They could, however, just as well run their polls to see how the red-headed voting bloc came down on an issue, or where the left-handed caucus leaned.

There is nothing in hair color that drives one’s perspective on political issues. There is nothing in skin color that drives one’s perspective on political issues. If a disproportionate percentage of biblically thoughtful, widely read, homeschooled, church going, Jesus Changes Everything podcast subscribing, over 6 feet tall people vote conservatively does their height really matter? And what would it say about a perspective that not only wants to point out the tall people, but excludes the short people from being a part of the lone bulwark against moral insanity? Nothing good.

Adding “white,” even if it was included in someone else’s research, not only doesn’t add anything, but subtracts. It distracts and diminishes the real issue, submission to the Word of God. Whites are no more a voting bloc than left-handed people are a voting bloc. We don’t need more whites, but more morally sane people. We don’t need more people whose ancestors were born in Europe, but more people who have been born again. We all ought to pray that God would raise up an army of us, so long as we know that “us” are His children, no matter the skin color, hair color, height or dominant hand.

The issue here isn’t one of mere appearances. My concern is not public relations, that my brother said the quiet part out loud. The issue is conflating something as utterly adiaphorous as skin color with something morally significant. My sincere hope is that my brother will see this. I should warn him, however. When you have racist fellow-travelers following you, cheering you on and you then publicly embrace the gospel truth that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, they will turn on you like a pack of wild dogs. Like superfluous words, however, it’s better to be rid of them.