Michigan Pastor Faces Backlash After Racist Email Tirade Against Journalist

A couple of days ago, Sarah Jeong, an attorney and journalist who used to write for the New York Times, posted a screenshot of an email she received from a pastor.

He was apparently responding to Jeong saying there should be a “Castration Lottery for white men”… which is something she never said. It’s just one of those right-wing memes that goes around the internet because most conservatives are too ignorant to do any fact-checking.

But Pastor David Muns (below) fell for the hoax — surprise! — and blasted off the email.

How about if we took all the little bitter Asian women and had a lottery and cut their clits like the Muslims do. Not a very classy position is it, neither is your trashy little bitter personality towards white men. Only in a world where journalism is controlled by brain dead Liberals do you people even have jobs.

Just like Jesus, that guy…

But wait! It gets better! Because Muns, who signs off on his emails with “Muns,” used his church email address to send that letter. Because of that, Jeong posted that screenshot along with an image from his church’s website, confirming that he is indeed the same dude who runs Christian Life Church in Macomb, Michigan.

On Wednesday, after that tweet went viral, Muns spoke to a local news station about the controversy. There was no apology. Just a lot of defensive posturing.

“My response is terrible, but what I was responding to was simply reversed of exactly what she posted towards white men and I just reversed it and said, ‘How would you feel?’” Muns said.

…

“Should I have responded? Probably not, but in light of the summer we’ve had, all that’s going on, I just caved,” Muns said.

When I “cave” due to pandemic stress, I might eat some junk food. This pastor goes full racist, throws Muslims under the bus as if they’re a monolith, and fantasizes about theoretical genital mutilation. He doesn’t even try to be anonymous! That’s how comfortable he is being an asshole.

Muns said he would be speaking to his congregation about the incident this Sunday.

The news station also published the apparent apology he sent Jeong.

“Ms. Jeong … I understand my email was off base, as I have been informed that it is not something you said. Ms. Jeong, when I read it and having prior knowledge to your position on the white race I just assumed it was an accurate post — bad mistake. For months we have been juggling peace within our country between races and (with) pastoring an inter-racial church, that (post) just threw me over the top. My attempt to reverse the roles in my email was wrong and out of frustration and anger as I viewed the meme as gas on a fire.

“Yes I am human and should never have assumed it was true or gone to such extremes to make a point. My attitude was wrong and I believe a bit fueled due to what I’ve read of yours in the past. Again, a bad mistake. I am able to successfully pastor a mixed church because of my strong passion and beliefs that we’re all just humans living in different kinds of bodies trying to live life. When I saw the post that was fired at me in a taunting fashion, it hit my deepest nerve. I hope you receive my sincerest apologies and I truly hope you have grown beyond your frustration of us white folks as we are all works in progress.

“I apologize to your followers that have had to go through this as I know they love and respect you, as their anger demonstrates. Though I am never going to be silent on injustices, especially those of the race issue, I have surely learned to slow it down and cool the head before ever moving forward again. I hope you receive this apology as it is sent out of the sincerest of hearts.”

That shitty “apology” suggests that if Jeong had actually said those words about castration (even in jest), then Muns thinks he would’ve been justified in sending that email. The problem, he thinks, is that he fell for a hoax, not that his behavior was out of bounds.

Jeong later said as much to the Detroit Free Press:

In response to the apology, Jeong said Muns “did not actually say he was sorry, and instead recounted a litany of self-justifications and concluded by saying he was ‘never going to be silent on injustices especially those of the race issue,’ which I can only take to mean that he believes his original email was written in the spirit of justice.”

She said the apology also “blamed me, saying that his original email fantasizing about female genital mutilation was fueled by ‘what I’ve read of yours in the past.’ I am not sure whether he means my reporting as a journalist, any of my actual tweets taken out of context, or the numerous falsely attributed quotes that have circulated on social media.”

For now, the church’s website has been shut down along with its social media pages. Muns said he shut down his email account too. They forgot to shut off YouTube, though. (Lots of very amusing comments under the most recent videos.)

Maybe the saddest thing about all this is how Muns’ actions aren’t surprising at all. Why would anyone expect a conservative Christian pastor to be a decent human being? Those two things aren’t synonymous. Certainly not anymore. You would only send an email like that if you’ve done it before — or at least if you’ve grown comfortable with those thoughts. No one in this guy’s social circles has ever told him he’s wrong or crude or a horrible human being — at least not anyone who got through.

I already know what’s wrong with him. Now what the hell is wrong with all the people who still attend his church?