ERLC Fellow Publishes Apologetic for Drag Queen Story Hour in New Book Against Christian Nationalism
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), the Southern Baptist Convention’s long-decayed organ of political engagement, has spent the last decade or more morphing itself into a fetid hotbed of the woke mind virus defending progressive ideology. This transformation can be traced back with precision to 2013, when Russell Moore slithered into office, unleashing an intellectual and spiritual plague that has infected everything it touches.
What was once meant to be a force for cultural engagement grounded in a biblical worldview has become a think tank for compromise, a proving ground for evangelical elites eager to curry favor with the world. And now, we have Paul D. Miller, a research fellow for the ERLC, carrying the torch for this rotten legacy.
Miller’s latest contribution to the woke fever swamp is his book, The Religion of American Greatness: What’s Wrong with Christian Nationalism, a title that should set off alarms before a single page is turned. This isn’t just an academic critique of a political philosophy—it’s a full-throated assault on any attempt by Christians to exert meaningful influence over the nation’s trajectory.
Miller’s crusade against Christian Nationalism takes him so far into leftist delusion that he ends up arguing in favor of Drag Queen Story Hour. Unbelievable—the man is so desperate to tear down Christian political influence that he finds himself making an apologetic for men in dresses having play dates with little children in public libraries.
A supposed conservative, writing under the auspices of a supposedly Christian institution, ends up regurgitating the most deranged talking points of the progressive left. Here’s what he writes:
For example, to return to Drag Queen Story Hour, if Ahmari and Vermeule are right, it would be impossible for a library administrator to effectively, impartially adjudicate the requirement to sustain “viewpoint neutrality” in deciding how to allocate library resources. But that seems absurd on its face. How hard is it to say both drag queens and fundamentalist Christians can both use the library and host events there? This isn’t especially hard, no matter how deep original sin goes, no matter the noetic effects of the fall. And if it is possible, it is also desirable: drag queens are people too, and no matter your views on their sexuality, they are tax-paying citizens and deserve equal treatment under law and thus equal access to public resources. Denying them access to public facilities on the basis of their beliefs or identities would be simply unfair and unjust, a clear misapplication of government’s duty to promote good and punish evil.
His book is endorsed by an unsurprising roster of theological saboteurs. We have Michael Wear, a former Obama staffer who has built a career on laundering progressive policies through Christianese rhetoric. Karen Swallow Prior, a self-described feminist who spent years training Southern Baptist pastors at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and sides with ministries like Revoie that promote same-sex intimate (yet “celibate”) marriage-like relationships.
Samuel Rodriguez, a woke (rare) NAR “apostle” who spends his time and energy preaching open borders propaganda for Leftist evangelical organizations like the Evangelical Immigration Table and the Soros-funded National Immigration Forum. And, of course, Russell Moore, the architect of the ERLC’s leftward drift and a man whose only consistent conviction is that he must always be on the opposite side of a Christian worldview.
Miller’s argument is as unhinged as it is predictable. He dismisses the idea that public libraries should maintain any moral standard, arguing instead that viewpoint neutrality demands that drag queens and fundamentalist Christians alike be allowed to host events. He frames any opposition to this as an attempt to deny citizens equal access to public spaces.
This is the exact same delusional reasoning put forth by David French, who infamously dubbed Drag Queen Story Hour a "blessing of liberty." It is the logical endpoint of an ideology so desperate to avoid the appearance of Christian political engagement that it ends up championing the most grotesque elements of the secular revolution.
If drag queens must be accommodated, then why stop there? Strippers, sex workers, and even drug dealers are tax-paying citizens too. By Miller’s logic, why not let them indoctrinate children in public spaces? Why not remove all moral considerations from the public square and leave it as a free-for-all for whatever depravity our decaying culture can muster?