The Myth of the “Competent Turk” Quote

I have said it before: We do not have a problem with socialism or liberalism or with the Left here in the US. Our greatest problem are our own Christian celebrities. We have elevated for our role models in the church men who preach false gospels, who have no idea of what the Bible says about most issues of the day, and who have no idea of our true Christian legacy. But we have put those men on pedestals, and we have practically established our own system of political correctness where the only rule is: You never criticize for his views, or theology, or practical advice, someone who for one reason or another has achieved the status of a Christian celebrity. And those who criticize those celebrities must be ostracized and excluded.

I continue discovering more and more proofs for this opinion of mine, that Christian celebrities are our worst problem.

This time it is Norman Geisler’s political surrender to cultism. Just a few years ago Geisler wouldn’t even consider voting at all. Now he is OK with voting, and especially for a Mormon, provided he is not Obama. We don’t live in a black-and-white world, you see, therefore it is OK to vote for a Mormon. The economy is also a factor in our voting, as are the Supreme Court nominees (like Roberts, y’know). And then, of course, being a good American. In other words, anything matters but the faith of the candidate. We as Christians don’t really care about the faith of a person, when we have so many other important issues to consider. What good American Christian really cares about such an immaterial issue like faith?

Of course, all the arguments that Geisler uses can be applied to a sodomite. That is, if in four years the GOP nominates a sodomite for president (and remember, Romney made pandering to sodomites an important part of his policies), Geisler will be writing an article, “Should an Evangelical Vote for a Homosexual for President?” And the answer would be in the affirmative. Why not, the same arguments can be used for sodomites too.

But there is a more important issue there. Geisler reveals his true political theology:

Martin Luther once said that he would rather be ruled by a competent Turk than an incompetent Christian.

Martin Luther never said such a thing. The quote can’t be found in any of his writings. He believed that Islam is one of the antichrists, together with the papacy; therefore, he couldn’t say that he’d rather be ruled by a Turk more than he’d rather be ruled by the Pope. Both were repulsive to him, and he saw satanic heresies in both religions.

The Roman Catholic propaganda at the time claimed that Luther wanted to bring the Turks to conquer Europe. But even they did not ascribe such an erroneous statement to Luther.

The first historical appearance of the alleged “quote” is in 1988. Yes, you read that right, nineteen eighty eight. Not earlier. It can be found in Hubert Morken’s book, Pat Robertson: Where He Stands. Morken provided no direct reference to any of Luther’s writings. He made it up.

Since then, a number of Christian celebrities have adopted it to justify their theology of cultural retreat: Michael Horton, R. Scott Clark, John Piper, Albert Mohler, Richard Land, Norman Geisler, Michael Farris, and many, many others. The false quote is very convenient to them: It gives legitimacy to their political goals of surrendering the Christian vote to what is basically a pagan political establishment. These men, accepted as authorities in large Christian circles, have actually acted as taskmasters to our modern Pharaohs, ensuring the political acquiescence of the Christian slaves. And the slaves have continued to vote for pagans, because the taskmasters keep claiming that the pagans are more competent than the Christians.

And many Christians do not stop to consider the irony of Christian teachers telling Christians that they are incompetent. Who’s responsible for the incompetence? Those same Christian teachers. What have those Christian teachers been doing for the last 40 years if all they could produce is incompetent Christians? And what should stop us from making the logical conclusion that these teachers’ main goal has been to keep Christians incompetent so that pagans keep their hold on political power?

Luther never said such a thing. The quote is a myth, and it was created and promoted by Christian celebrities like Geisler and others to whip Christians into political submission to pagans.

It’s time to wrench the whip from their hands and use it on their backs, and kick them out of the temple. We don’t have a problem with Obama, or socialism, or the Left. We have a problem with false teachers like Geisler.