A far right Christian blog just referred to GRIID as a left-wing website that isn’t committed to the truth

In March, I did an interview with a GVSU art professor about an art installation that a far right group of Christians tried to censor.

In that interview, the professor quoted the student who made the art piece and had written a statement:

“The murals are aimed at addressing societal challenges without undermining the core tenants of the Catholic Faith. These murals seek to confront gender-based violence, homophobia, and mental health disorders advocating for a nuanced reevaluation of certain aspects of Catholic teachings to foster a more inclusive and compassionate culture. The intent is not to criticize, but to encourage thoughtful reflection on interpretations that may inadvertently contribute to societal issues.”

The far right Christians did not agree with this statement, nor were they willing to budge on their attempts to get the mural censored. 

A far right Christian blog has now weighed in on the issue in an article entitled, Michigan university reinstalls blasphemous pro-LGBT image mocking Our Lady.  Actually, the far right Christian site – Christianity House – merely reposted an article from Kokx News, a site that has as it’s tag line – “All things Catholicism, all things politics, and everything in between.”

Stephen Kokx is the founder of Kokx news and also included a video interview with one of the GVSU students who has been involved try to censor the student-created mural. In this video interview with GVSU student Noah Mullins, Kokx and Mullins both display blind allegiance to Catholic teaching in such a way that is very similar to the pro-fascist Catholic group known as Opus Dei. Mullins then says that, “the Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy is a very, very far left, and I would almost describe it as a Socialist press company.” Stephen Kokx simply labeled GRIID as “propaganda.” 

Later on in the interview, Mullin again referred to “GRIID as in no way interested in the truth.” However, what is most concerning to me is the fact that they include in the video interview a photo of one of the GVSU professors and their contact information, essentially they were doxxing this professor. 

Getting back to the article, here is the reference to GRIID: 

In an interview with left-wing website Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy in March, Colley downplayed the blasphemous nature of the image. He claimed that it was simply meant to “promote dialogue” and that Catholic students at Grand Valley were overreacting. He also referred to Our Lady of Guadalupe not as a woman but as an “it.”

Ok, so I could care less if Christians are bad mouthing GRIID, especially since it wouldn’t be the first time. What I do object to is how both GVSU Student Noah Mullins and Kokx News founder, Stephen Kokx ,are doxxing GVSU professors. 

I also object to how the Christianity House website normalizes hate and potential harm towards the LGBTQ community, how they normalize Patriarchy, how they normalize the genocide happening in Gaza and how their embrace of Christian Zionism has weaponized antisemitism. These issues are no laughing matter, which is why GRIID has made it a point to report on both the political and religious right in West Michigan for the past 15 years.