MARXISM, THE OPPRESSORS, WOKE, AND INCOME GUILT

 

One highly esteemed pastor emeritus made a highly racist, but now a highly fashionable statement during an interview:

• A friend of mine recently, who is a pastor, was talking to a Norwegian man who had just moved into his community and went to his church. And at one point he heard the pastor talking about the fact that we’re all complicit in creating this narrative that ‘black people are dangerous’ and etcetera, and so we’re implicit in this. Afterward the white, the Norwegian came up and said “no no no, I’m Norwegian. No, I had nothing to do with it,” and my pastor friend said “studies have shown, that have pretty much proven that if you have white skin it’s worth a million dollars over a lifetime, over somebody who doesn’t have white skin. https://protestia.com/2020/09/18/tim-keller-if-you-have-white-skin-the-bible-says-youre-involved-in-injustice/

This absurd statement raises several questions.

Are all those who make on the average of a million dollars more than the average black guilty of racism, like blacks over six feet six who play for the NBA? Or those who are only black by various degree? Or blacks with white skin? Or whites with dark skin?

Are all whites guilty of the sins of a few whites? Are all blacks guilty of the crimes of a few blacks? Should there be different standards of justice and punishment based upon skin color? The less pigment, the more guilt? Must we calculate pigment before sentencing?

Do more whites than blacks perpetuate the racist narrative that blacks are dangerous? Even if someone believes this way, should this make them guilty? And what about blacks who think that whites are morally inferior? Should our justice system now include thought police? Evidently, this esteemed pastor emeritus would answer yes:

• And that’s because of historical forces that have come about, and at this point you can go at it several ways. One, as I’ve mentioned, if you have that asset of white skin, right now, historical asset, then you actually have to say ‘I didn’t deserve this’ and also to some degree, ‘I’m the product of…I’m standing on the shoulders of other people who got that through injustice.” So the Bible actually says ‘yes you do…you are involved in injustice’, and even if you didn’t actually do it, therefore you have a responsibility. Not just to say “well, maybe if I get around to it, maybe we can do something about the poor people out there.’ No- you’re part of the problem.

Is it unjust to benefit from the hard work of one’s parents? Is there a single Bible verse claims that we are guilty if we have more than our neighbor? Instead, it is biblically legitimate to pass on an inheritance to the children:

• A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is laid up for the righteous. (Proverbs 13:22)

If the inheritance is I’ll-begotten, then the inheritor has a duty to make reparations to the victims. However, this pastor unbiblically assumes that any disparity in wealth is a sin. But it is assumed that we should save to care, first of all, for our own families, even if this means that we have more wealth accumulated than our neighbor:

• If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care for them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it may care for those who are truly widows. (1 Timothy 5:16)

The Bible repeatedly claims that it is fitting that those who work should benefit from their labors, while those who refuse to work should bear the consequences:

• For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. (2 Thessalonians 3:10)

Are the productive ones “the problems” as this pastor emeritus charges? While for the Marxist, they are. If you have accumulated wealth, you are automatically in-league with the oppressors and are guilty. However, we need to ask, “Did God make Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Job guilty by giving them great wealth? Of course, they had to share this wealth with those in need, usually in the form of a loan. However, it was understood that giving had to begin with those within their own  circle:

• And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. (Galatians 6:9-10)

No indication of income redistribution or equating wealth with guilt! Nevertheless, we do have a responsibility for the poor. However, in view of how indiscriminate entitlement programs have destroyed the recipients, their families, and communities, giving must be done wisely and with concern about the impact of the giving.

In regards to helping the under-privileged, Pastor Rick Warren has written in the preface to Theologian Wayne Grudem’s “The Poverty of Nations:

• Having traveled the globe for thirty years and trained leaders in 164 countries, I’ve witnessed firsthand that almost every government and NGO (non-profit) poverty program is actually harmful to the poor, hurting them in the long run rather than helping them. The typical poverty program creates dependency, robs people of dignity, stifles initiative, and can foster a “What have you done for me lately?” sense of entitlement.