MARXISM DESIGNED FOR THE CHURCH

 

 

My wife and I had visited a church hosting racial reconciliation meetings, something very close to our heart and also to Jesus’. He had prayed:

 

·       “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. (John 17:20-23)

 

We were informed that we were required to read their document containing operational definitions. (WWW.RACIALEQUITYTOOLS.ORG) We assumed that this would provide a helpful orientation and gladly read it.

 

The first term we encountered was “ally”:

 

“An “ally” is defined as “Someone who makes the commitment and effort to recognize their privilege (based on gender, class, race, sexual identity, etc.) and work in solidarity with oppressed groups in the struggle for justice…Allies commit to reducing their own complicity or collusion in oppression of those groups and invest in strengthening their own knowledge and awareness of oppression.”

 

I was surprised to find that the document didn’t include  a biblical analysis of sin or a teaching to achieve reconciliation. Instead, sin had been redefined as “complicity or collusion in oppression of those groups and invest in strengthening their own knowledge and awareness of oppression.” Besides, to be accepted in this group, we’d first have to become an “ally” and adopt their understanding.

 

Well, what if I didn’t see my “collusion in oppression?” What if I didn’t see that I had benefitted from my “privileged” position? Was this a sin? Would I then be an “unrepentant sinner?” According to this definition, I was sinning by failing to acknowledge my complicity. This made me wonder that if we bought something at the supermarket or paid taxes, we are also sinfully “colluding” with a sinful economic system.

 

Was Jesus in sin because He benefited (colluded with) from the evil Roman rule to preach for three years against the Jewish establishment. The Apostles benefitted from Pax Romana to travel an empire without borders to preach the Gospel. Did taking advantage of this cruel empire constitute sinful collusion? Were Nehemiah and Joseph sinfully colluding with their sinful kings as they served directly under them? It did not seem likely.

 

Paul took it one step further and privileged himself by claiming the privilege of Roman citizenship, something available to only a chosen few. Clearly, this too was not a sin. However, these “progressive” solutions indict whites for having been “privileged” by a “racist, sexist, and homophobic system.” However, this isn’t the way that the Bible defines sin:

 

• ·       For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Galatians 5:13-14)

 

I certainly could love my neighbor even if I refused to sign on as an “ally.” But we are all sinners. Therefore, every system is also tarnished by sin:

 

• ·       as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10–12)

 

I later discovered that Critical Race Theorists (CRTs), who had constructed the “Equity” document, would have us believe that some are exempt from at least the sin of racism and collusion, because of their status as powerless “oppressed.”

 

However, it became apparent that if I am not an “ally,” I would also be deemed guilty of the next term:

 

 “Collusion” is ‘When people act to perpetuate oppression or prevent others from working to eliminate oppression.’”

 

Since I do not see any present systemic oppression – yes, I do see racism but manifested within all classes of people – I could not honestly be “working to eliminate oppression.” But what oppressive laws do we now have? If anything, our laws have been readjusted to favor those deemed as “oppressed” or “disadvantaged.”

 

Collusion? Christians are a favorite target of the Left, since we willingly “collude” with the government:

• ·       Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. (1 Peter 2:13–15)

 

If this were a matter with colluding with a Hitler or a Stalin in mass genocide, it would be one thing, but colluding with a government seeking the welfare of its citizens is another thing. Is our government significantly more evil than Marxist governments? If so, this must be established by witnesses (Deuteronomy 19:15) who can testify according to tangible evidences. However, justice does not seem to be the goal of CRT but the destruction of the existing powers.

 

According to the “Bible-Believing” church that had sponsored the racial reconciliation group, I was also guilty of preventing others from “working to eliminate oppression.” I had sent them a list of my reservations about their program, which they forwarded to their pastor. Several parties wrote to tell me I was not welcome at both their church or their group.

 

Does skin colors make us guilty of collusion as part of the group deemed “oppressors?” If this group takes the Bible seriously, they would know that we cannot judge according to color or ancestry:

 

• ·       “Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin.” (Deuteronomy 24:16)

 

The next term demonstrated that collusion was a matter of having the wrong beliefs:

 

“Cultural Racism…refers to representations, messages and stories conveying the idea that behaviors and values associated with white people or “whiteness” are automatically “better” or more “normal” than those associated with other racially defined groups. Cultural racism shows up in advertising, movies, history books, definitions of patriotism, and in policies and laws. Cultural racism is also a powerful force in maintaining systems of internalized supremacy and internalized racism. It does that by influencing collective beliefs about what constitutes appropriate behavior, what is seen as beautiful, and the value placed on various forms of expression.”

 

Although there still must be whites who look down on blacks, there are also blacks who look down on whites as morally inferior and as “oppressors.” Indicting entire groups of people is sinful but is endemic to our sinful human condition. Thankfully, Biblical law doesn’t require us to judge the heart and its motives, something that we are incapable of doing, as the Lord had warned His Prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 16:7).

 

However, CRT denigrates and devalues whites for their alleged beliefs and motives – guilty until proven innocent. Instead, it is the system and its elites who are doing all they can to denigrate straight, white, Christian males.

 

This is racism. In contrast, the Bible forbids judgment based on skin color, wealth, national origin, or even according to our beliefs but according to our behaviors:

 

• ·       “You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice, nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit.” (Exodus 23:2-3)

 

Instead, it is plainly evident that CRT’s remedy divides, inflames, and breeds hatred, and violence. It wrongly tells their “oppressed” groups that the system is still racist and still oppresses. No wonder the crime rate is soaring and hatred abounds. In contrast, the Bible offers equality, brotherhood, forgiveness, and love. Nevertheless, CRT deconstructs, in every way possible, this culture as corrupt and, therefore, needs to be overturned:

 

“Implicit Bias” is “Also known as unconscious or hidden bias, implicit biases are negative associations that people unknowingly hold. They are expressed automatically, without conscious awareness. Many studies have indicated that implicit biases affect individuals’ attitudes and actions, thus creating real-world implications, even though individuals may not even be aware that those biases exist within themselves.”

 

Perhaps it is CRT that harbors the bulk of “implicit bias?” Even if we are genuinely ignorant of “implicit bias,” we are still the guilty “oppressors,” who must be re-educated by the “oppressed,” who are assumed to be free of any such biases and who can better appraise the “implicit bias” of the system. Jesus warned against such unbiblical judging:

• ·       “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you…You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:1–2, 5)

 

Have the CRTs examined themselves to remove areas of their blindness? They simply assume that the “oppressors” are blind while they, who claim to be woke, can see.

However, for CRT, racism seems to run deeper than anything Christian confession can touch or correct:

 

 “Individual Racism… refers to the beliefs, attitudes, and actions of individuals that support or perpetuate racism. Individual racism can be deliberate, or the individual may act to perpetuate or support racism without knowing that is what he or she is doing.”

 

It seems that only whites can be guilty of racism, while non-whites are exempt and are justified in saying any demeaning words against white males.  They cannot be racist. The group leader wrote me that “reverse racism…is NOT real and doesn't exist.” The good guys – the “oppressed” – are not capable of wrong, while the whites must be re-educated or else. This is a double-standard that will surely embitter and further divide the Church. However, Jesus had warned:

• ·       “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:14)

 

Critical Theorists just criticize the prevailing culture and those associated with it. No mention of the equality and mutual love we are to share in Christ:

 

• ·       “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34–35)

 

Instead, the Marxist program hypocritically uses racism to counteract racism. This is like using gasoline to counteract a fire. CRT’s multiple degrading definitions pour out racist allegations:

 

 “Institutional Racism…refers specifically to the ways in which institutional policies and practices create different outcomes for different racial groups…” “Internalized Racism…is the situation that occurs in a racist system when a racial group oppressed by racism supports the supremacy and dominance of the dominating group by maintaining or participating in the set of attitudes.”

 

“People of color” are no more than victims of a “racist system.” They are so oppressed that they have been programmed to support “the supremacy and dominance of the dominating group.” Therefore, if you are a person of color who supports this “racist system,” you have fallen prey to its deception and are blind and pathetic.

 

Consequently, since people of color are blinded by the system, they are pawns and no longer responsible for their behavior. What a demeaning characterization! Only Whites are responsible and guilty. The only alternative is to overthrow this white system.

 

By now RACIAL EQUITY TOOLS’ purpose should be clear. Whites are the bad guys, who need re-education, not just confession, and people-of-color are the oppressed, and anyone who disagrees with their assessment is a racist and must be silenced.

 

Does this sound like racial reconciliation or polarization, division, and antagonism, the very increase we have observed over this past decade? More importantly, the above does not represent the wisdom of the Bible. Brotherhood requires Biblical equality:

 

• ·       For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:27-28)

 

Christ is the equalizer. We are required to maintain His unity:

 

• ·       I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:1-3)

 

If there are real grievances, they must be addressed. Instead, jealousy and bitterness over class distinctions reign. Christian unity is our hope and the model for peace and human thriving:

 

• ·       If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. (1 Corinthians 12:26)

 

• ·       Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. (Romans 12:9-10)

 

Instead of attempting to overthrow the repressive Roman system, Jesus taught us to render unto the oppressive Caesar the things that are Caesars. What did the life of Jesus look like:

 

• ·       Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:3-8)

 

Although we are counseled to “turn the other cheek,” this doesn’t mean that offenses within the Church are to be overlooked. Instead, Jesus had given us a pattern for intervention:

 

• ·       “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” (Matthew 18:15-17)

 

With repentance, there should be immediate reconciliation and healing. However, repentance is not possible where the offense consists of alleged ideas or even the sins of our forefathers:

 

• ·       Yet you say, ‘Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?’ When the son has done what is just and right, and has been careful to observe all my statutes, he shall surely live. The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.” (Ezekiel 18:19-20)

 

However, according to CRT, whites are incurably sinful. However, all of us are taught to examine ourselves:

 

• ·       Let a person examine himself…But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. (1 Corinthians 11:28–31)

 

The condition of the “oppressed” will not be improved by blaming others for their problems. Nor will it please our Lord. Pastor and founder of a seminary in Zambia, Voddie Baucham Jr, refers to CRT as an alternative religion although:

 

• ·       Antiracism [CRT] offers no salvation—only perpetual penance in an effort to battle an incurable disease. And all of it begins with pouring new meaning into well-known words (Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism's Looming Catastrophe; https://a.co/fnR8AGz)

 

• ·       the cult of antiracism [CRT] roots every aspect of its worldview in the assertion that everything begins with the creation of whiteness. More specifically, the creation of whiteness with the express purpose of establishing white people as the dominant, hegemonic oppressors and all non-white people as the objects of that oppression.

 

Shelby Steele is a columnist, documentary film maker, and a Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. In White Guilt: How Blacks and Whites Together Destroyed the Promise of the Civil Rights Era, Steele argues that the black community now suffers more through paternalistic programs and the victimization narrative than they do from their Jim Crow legacy:

 

• ·       What I've encountered in my life, most often in the white world, is good will, is people have who have wanted to help me. When I was younger and starting a career, people who mentored me, who really felt it was important to give me the best opportunity to pursue my dreams. And my sense is that that's really been an experience for most blacks who have tried to venture out and develop themselves.

 

• ·       One of the most remarkable things in all of human history is the degree of moral evolution, that white Americans have made from the mid-60s to this day. No group of people in history have morally evolved away from a social evil that quickly and to that degree in this sort of short span of time. And very often, in our calculations in thinking about race, we don't give whites credit for that.

 

While there is always room for criticism, there should also be a place for credit and praise. However, CRT has never found room for the latter two.