Celebrities often speak out on subjects they know nothing about. Yet, because of their stardom, they're considered wise sages, whose expertise is all encompassing. However, when Dolly Parton told Billboard Magazine, "I understand people having to make themselves known and felt and seen," I suspect she was addressing a subject with which she is well acquainted, as are all celebrities.
However, Parton quickly departed from the subject of her expertise—lust for the limelight—and took up the subject of Black Lives Matter (BLM). While her comments on this controversial movement may have been motivated by her desire to keep herself in the limelight, by jumping on today's popular BLM bandwagon, I'm afraid Dolly has no idea of what she's done by exchanging her "coat of many colors" for a black BLM hoodie.
In her interview with Billboard Magazine, Parton spoke about changing the name of her Dixie Stampede in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. According to her, she changed the name of her popular dinner attraction after learning that the word "Dixie" was offensive to some people. She went on to offer this sage advice to us all, "As soon as you realize that [something] is a problem, you should fix it. Don’t be a dumbass."
In the spirit of inoffensiveness, I'm sure Dolly will soon be requesting the defacing and destruction of her iconic statue in front of the Sevier County Courthouse in Sevierville, Tennessee. After all, it is, like so many other statutes today, seen by BLM militants as an offensive monument to "white privilege." In addition, I'm sure Dolly will be rolling out Dollywood's red carpet for BLM rioters to riot in the streets of her popular Smoky Mountain theme park, as well as to cordon off part of the park as a BLM autonomous zone. Otherwise, Dolly would be what she's told us not to be—"a dumbass."
Continuing her sage advice to us all in her Billboard Magazine interview, Dolly donned her theologian's cap and chided Christians for judging others for simply being themselves. Of course, this kind of preaching by padre Parton echoes the popular excuse employed by contemporary sinners for all committed sins. Sin, according to them, as well as to doctrinaire Dolly, is not chosen, but inherent. It is not us being sinful, but us simply being ourselves; that is, who God wired us to be. Therefore, our behavior is inborn, divinely inbreed, and immune from judgment.
According to Dolly Pardon, "the last thing" Christians are "supposed to do is to judge one another." Contrary to Dolly, the Apostle Paul taught the opposite. In 1 Corinthians 6:2-3, Paul taught that Christians, who are to one day judge the world, as well as angels, are to judge between themselves. Furthermore, Paul proclaimed in 1 Corinthians 2:15 that the spiritual man judges all things. While it is true that only Christ can judge the heart—man's motive—because he alone knows what is in a man (John 2:25), which explains why the Father has committed all ultimate judgment to the Son (John 5:22), it is not true, as is popularly believed, that Christians are forbidden to judge.
The proposed prooftext proffered by "the judge not that you be not judged" crowd—Matthew 7:1-2—is not a prohibition against all judging, as is proposed by today's nonjudgmental whitewashers, like indulgent Dolly. Instead, it is a prohibition against judging others' motives, which we are incapable of doing, as well as a prohibition against improperly judging others' actions, which we do when we judge by our own subjective opinions rather than by God's objective Word.
Contrary to popular belief, Jesus did not teach us not to judge. What He did teach us to do is to judge correctly, by judging things by His Word, not incorrectly, by judging things by their appearance (John 7:24). Our Lord even taught us that in the end, His ultimate judgment of all men would be based upon His Word (John 12:48). Therefore, for us to judge the beliefs and behavior of others by God's Word, which is our spiritual authority; that is, our standard for faith and practice, is not for us to be judgmental toward others, but for us to simply share with others God's judgment concerning their beliefs and behavior. Far from being out of bounds, we're actually obligated to do so, not only by Christ's Great Commission, but also by our great compassion for a lost and dying world.
I think Dolly needs to shut up and sing. What do you think?