Back up the Bible, and Summon that Devil

Or, Helping Conservatives Own Us Libs

Those of us still on X have seen lots of twittering about the Oklahoma U student crying foul (and Christian persecution) after getting zero points on her essay on gender. The assignment was to write a 650-word essay that engaged with an assigned article and incorporated personal experiences. Love rubrics or hate them (and to be honest, I hate rubrics, but I am not a teacher), the rubric clearly stated how points would be awarded, including that no points would be given for an essay under 620 words.

From my read of the essay, the student did sort of bring her personal experience in the form of her personal religious beliefs into the piece, but she didn’t engage with the assigned article. Nor did she cite any of the Scripture she vaguely referenced when referring to “God’s plan” for gender and the demonic nature of those who disagree with her.

Also of note, her essay was well below 620 words. Even still, the graduate assistant who assigned the essay offered helpful feedback—and a lot of it. A wise student would’ve heeded the feedback, listened, and learned.

And perhaps this student would’ve—had the instructor not used the word offensive (about the student calling a people group demonic) and if the instructor weren’t transgender.

But alas, here we are.

And so, rather than learn and grow, rather than maybe gruff about it to her roommates like a normal, mature student (she is a junior Sooner), the student filed a discrimination complaint and shared her essay with Oklahoma!’s Turning Point USA chapter, who then melted down over this “discrimination.”

Lord Almighty.

As a Christian, as a writer, as an editor, of course, I have thoughts on all this. But they may surprise you.

Because I am also outraged.

Not by the terrible grade, mind you. Not because this is any kind of persecution or discrimination.

But because conservative Christians still haven’t learned how to use the Bible to back up their arguments properly. And in my nearly thirty years in Christian publishing, after nearly a decade working in a church, I have been trying to make this happen. I have been trying to help!

As have so many other editors and instructors out there. And we’re not making much progress—at least with certain groups.

Though there are exceptions, as a rule, the MAGA movement, the Turning Point USA sorts, the “Christian” Nationalists, and the regular conservative Evangelicals argue points so lazily. The talking points they parrot are so vapid. And when this is pointed out (as I try to do), they too often refuse correction and fail to “own the libs” like they desperately want to because of it.

So, once again, I will try to help.

In my role as an editor, I work with a lot of clients I disagree with. I have said it before and will say it again: I am a “bake the cake” editor. That means, I won’t refuse to edit a project because I disagree or find your viewpoint wrong.* In fact, I enjoy editing projects from different points of view, and I make it a key part of my job to help clients make their arguments—even, especially ones I disagree with—better, stronger, and more persuasive!

And what I end up telling my Christian clients (who are amazing and do tend to trust and listen to me!) again and again, is that the key to good, persuasive faith-based writing is summoning the devil.

Well, let me back that up.

First, if you want to write persuasively for the cause of Christ, study the art and craft of writing. Take a class. Read a book. Join a writers group. And learn to take freaking feedback and leave Turning Point USA out of it.

Among the things you’ll learn are how to write clearly, concisely, and for the love of God, to cite sources properly. How to quote Scripture and include the chapter and verse. How to drop a footnote when you share what some word means in the “original” language. Because you’ll understand those sources matter.

But then after you learn some basic writing skills, it’s time to invoke the devil—our inner devil’s advocate, that is.

Good persuasive writers examine our arguments from every side, pick them up and turn them around. We squint and scrutinize, pushing back on our own theses and assumptions and anticipating where and how others will disagree. When sourcing Scripture, we ask why one verse says one thing and another says the opposite (and be able to admit that yes, this happens all the time….).

We understand that writing God says is not a mic drop. Never has been. Never will be.

We understand that those who reject God says as a proof-of-a-point are not bigots or anti-Christian or persecuting anyone. They are using their God-given brains.

And we understand that persuasive writing is not for the faint of heart, the soft of spirit.

To write an opinion requires courage. To write an opinion about the Bible requires even more. To write an opinion that goes against what you think your professors or editors or clients or bosses believe requires nerves of steel.

But the nerve it takes to assume you can simply add “God says” to a piece of writing intended to be taken seriously like this student did? That’s “I love the uneducated”-level embarrassing.

And yet, I’m not without sympathy. This student has likely been raised to believe this country and Big University is against her for loving Jesus. And she’s likely been raised in a faith tradition where the Bible and pastoral proclamations are never questioned or examined (maybe even because she’s a woman, but I haven’t checked that).

This student goes to school in a state where politicians believe that hanging the Ten Commandments in classrooms will magically free kids from murderous or sexual impulses and make them love YHWH—or whatever they suppose this will do.

And she exists in a time when the president and his administration believe because they say something—clunkily, in the case of Trump and his administration; expertly, in the case of the late Charlie Kirk—it becomes truth and should be taken as such. And their followers comply. To be a Republican today is to accept what Trump, et al, say as truth—unquestioningly, uncritically. (Though, thanks be to God, I am seeing some of this changing.)

The trouble for those who claim Trump and Christ (aside from, oh, Matthew 6:24 and that gosh-dang first commandment) is that Trump may insist we follow blindly, but God does not.

God could’ve given us Holy Scriptures with clear bullet points on what God Says about X,Y,Z. Instead, God in God’s goodness gives us Scripture filled with poetry and letters, collected oral histories, laws, and prophecies, some agreeing with one another, some seemingly at odds. It’s as if God wanted us to think.

Jesus spoke in parables, telling stories so that we would wonder and ask, so we would question and investigate. And all these centuries later, the wise faithful still wrestle with the Bible, with the meanings, with the applications, with what “God says” about just about everything.

The saddest thing about this whole episode to me is that this could’ve been a great essay. This student could’ve shared how her peers in her community shaped her understanding of gender, of how she sees herself and her role. She could’ve quoted Scripture that supported her arguments—and had the courage to engage Scripture that didn’t—and connected it all thoughtfully to the assigned article. She could’ve engaged her mind and spirit, her body and soul and presented something that the TA might still have disagreed with, but have been compelled to reckon with.

Instead, it turned into an embarrassing whine fest for the student and Turning Point USA, and, of course, an unfortunate investigation for a TA who was trying to hold a student accountable and help.

All this to say, MAGA, please: If you want to change hearts and minds, if you want to persuade, if you want to draw people to Jesus, if you want to own us libs, learn the craft, summon your inner devil’s advocate, and think, question, wonder, test, explore, research—whether or your source is the Bible or something else.

Of course, I suspect most still won’t listen. After all, doing this means MAGA might become what they hate: good, interesting, thinking, feeling, caring human beings.

*I have passed on projects, the most recent one that amounted to defending child abuse.