As Daily Wire previously reported, BuzzFeed editor in chief, Ben Smith, published a blockbuster story Wednesday in which he identified HGTV’s popular Fixer Upper couple, Chip and Joanna Gaines, as Christians. Not only that–brace yourself–it appears as though the couple attends a church where the Bible is taught.
After backlash by several journalists and political writers, including Paul Szoldra of Business Insider, Sean Davis of The Federalist, and Charles C. W. Cooke of National Review, Smith began defending himself:
This is a story about a big company, HGTV, refusing to say whether they ban LGBT people from a TV show. They should just answer the question https://t.co/rxsbfV11mb
— Ben Smith (@BuzzFeedBen) November 30, 2016
The tweets continued from there. BuzzFeed published an update Thursday with HGTV’s response. As expected, a network spokesperson said: “We don’t discriminate against members of the LGBT community in any of our shows. HGTV is proud to have a crystal clear, consistent record of including people from all walks of life in its series.”
Despite HGTV shows such as Property Brothers and House Hunters frequently featuring gay and lesbian couples, the BuzzFeed piece notes that Fixer Upper “has yet to do so.”
Let’s set aside all pretense, and get to the point. This was a hit piece. Ben Smith found out that Chip and Joanna Gaines are Christians who attend a church where the pastor teaches biblical doctrine. Millions of Christians in the United States attend similar churches, and believe biblical doctrine stating that homosexual conduct is a sin. The difference here is that Chip and Joanna Gaines are famous, and because of that, they can be used to further an agenda.
The agenda being advanced by Ben Smith is the public destruction of anyone who, per biblical teachings, believes homosexual conduct is sinful. These hateful bigots must be made to show contrition. It doesn’t matter if Chip and Joanna Gaines treat everyone with respect and dignity; if their personally held beliefs run contrary to progressive orthodoxy, they must be targeted, and eliminated.
The public flogging of famous Christians accomplishes two objectives. First, it discourages practicing Christians from publicly disclosing their beliefs, thus suppressing Christianity at large. Second, it stigmatizes Christian doctrine. A belief system can only withstand so much sustained trauma before it either goes underground, or it alters its core principles in order to accommodate a changing world.
Ben Smith, perhaps unknowingly, is part of a secular army designed to cripple Christianity, Judaism, and any other faith (besides Islam) that doesn’t fall in line. His attack on Chip and Joanna Gaines is just the latest shot fired in a long-fought war against Christianity. Pretending otherwise is ludicrous.
