Over the Christmas break I read a Facebook post that read, “It’s an unwed mother who carries God. It’s the pagans from the East who recognize God. It’s the workers in the field who hear from God. It’s the marginalized neighborhood who welcomes God. It’s God who chooses the broken and lowly to rise. Christmas is here. Let hope in.” This description accurately describes the heart of God towards the marginalized and oppressed. The rising generation of Christians is rightly concerned about the link between Christianity and the oppression of racism. The problem is that many ideologies claiming to overthrow oppression are based upon destructive, anti-biblical worldviews. As the leaders of our homes and churches, how can we guide those under our care to oppose racism passionately, but be discerning enough to reject ideologies, that are not only false but have proven to be destructive? That is our goal as we examine Critical Race Theory in this episode.
Being the leader of your home is not for sissies! Protecting others in this fallen world has more to do with watching what ideas are invading their thinking than protecting loved ones from physical harm. Guarding those under our care in 2022 is just like it was in the first century when Paul wrote, We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ (2 Cor 10:5). Our job is not just to protect them from destructive thinking but to equip them to think for themselves with a biblical perspective. The world needs men like David’s mighty men of valor who understand their times—to lead our homes well. So, we have no alternative but to understand Critical Theory—a subset of which is called Critical Race Theory, not to load our kid’s guns with bullets to argue others down in their mini-skirmishes in the culture wars, but to build the maturity to wisely see through this worldview and winsomely point out its deficiencies.
OVERVIEW OF CRITICAL THEORY
Critical Theory is a way that some in our culture try to explain and confront power structures. To understand Critical Theory, we need to understand its two primary claims. 1) Everyone can be divided into two groups—those who have power and those who don’t. 2) Those who have power always OPPRESS those who don’t. How do we know who the oppressed and who the oppressors are? According to Critical Theory the categories of oppressed and oppressor are based on your group identity. Membership in categories of race, gender, religion, immigration status, income, sexual orientation, and gender identity determine whether we are oppressed or one of the oppressors. Of course, someone could be part of the oppressed group in one way, but one of the oppressors in another way. That is where the concept of intersectionality comes from. Intersectionality seeks to measure someone’s level of oppression, based on how many of these oppressed groups they identify with. For example, a black man is less oppressed than a black woman, but a straight black woman is less oppressed than a black lesbian.
In Critical Theory, the degree to which you are oppressed determines your level of moral authority. The more categories of oppression someone identifies with, the more weight their words should have. As a result, the perspective and experience of a gay black woman is more valuable than the perspective of a straight, white man, regardless of whether what they say corresponds to reality or not. The only way that members of an oppressor group, like straight, white, males gain moral authority is by become “woke,” i.e. becoming an activist who embraces Critical Theory’s worldview. Also, the more oppressed someone is, the less they are morally responsible for their actions. We see this worldview expressed when looting and vandalism is excused in inner city neighborhoods.
HISTORY OF CRITICAL THEORY
Critical Theory traces back to Karl Marx’s view of history as class conflict, and parallels his view of animosity between the oppressed proletariat (workers) and the oppressor bourgeoisie the (business owners). He defined capitalism as the exploitation of the masses and predicted that the workers in the industrialized nations would revolt and overthrow the capitalist establishment. Marx died in 1888. Though his ideology led eventually to the bloody Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 in Russia and execution of millions of landowners by Mao Zedong in the 1950’s, this revolution never took place in the industrialized West. Why not?
Later, one of Marx’s followers, Antonio Gramsci, (writing in the 1920’s and 30’s) provided an explanation for why this revolution never took place: cultural hegemony. The word hegemony is normally used of nations that exert dominance, authority, or influence over other nations. But Gramsci applied this term, hegemony, to the capitalist establishment who, he argued unjustly gained cultural power and dominance, (not just economic dominance as Marx argued) and has victimized everyone else. Gramsci defined cultural hegemony from Marx’s class warfare perspective, as: Domination or rule maintained through ideological or cultural means. It is usually achieved through social institutions, which allow those in power to strongly influence the values, norms, ideas, expectations, worldview, and behavior of the rest of society (Voddie Bauchem, Lecture: Cultural Marxism). The oppressed worker that Marx predicted would revolt against capitalism didn’t because that worker was also oppressed by cultural hegemony.
Have you ever wondered why women, who outnumber males in the world, are considered a minority? Because women are not seen as part of the cultural hegemony. The cultural hegemony in US culture is based on unjust patriarchy. The cultural hegemony in our society is white, male, heterosexual, cisgender, able-bodied, non-poor, and born in the USA. EVERYONE who IS that is part of the PRIVILEGED OPPRESSIVE CLASS and corresponds to Marx’s hated bourgeoisie. Everybody who IS NOT that (which corresponds to Marx’s proletariat) is a victim of the cultural hegemony (including, especially racism) established by THE PRIVILEGED CLASS, and ought to be at war with them.
Critical Theory was furthered by a group of German philosophers in the 1930’s known as the Frankfurt School. In 1935, these cultural Marxists moved to Columbia University in New York City. Their goal has been to overturn the cultural hegemony, (which, by the way includes the influence of Christianity). Their goal in shaping the culture is to control the “robes of society”—judges, professors, pastors and to gain political power through identity politics. As we lead our homes further into the 21st century, we need to first help the rising generation evaluate this teaching, biblically, and then give some ideas about how to winsomely argue against this worldview in the secular arena.
PUTTING A BIBLICAL LENS OVER CRITICAL THEORY
A. Scripture DOES validate the INTENT of Christians who support CRT, though not CRT’s ideology.
- Christians ought always to be concerned about the oppressed. James 1:27 says, Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction. This exhortation is not because widows and orphans are more important than widowers and other children, but because they are most likely to be exploited.
- One of the first trips that Jesus made early in his ministry was to Nazareth, his hometown, where he confronted the elders of the synagogue, many of whom were the fathers of childhood friends and likely his uncles over their racism towards the Gentiles, many of whom lived just five miles away in the Roman town of Sepphoris. Luke tells us they were so angry they tried to throw Jesus over a cliff. Majority culture racism was repugnant to Jesus; he constantly affirmed the value of despised Gentiles. We ought to pray, Lord, search my heart and show me the majority culture biases that shape my opinions of those outside my tribe. Give me compassion for those unlike me.
- Institutional racism exists. Institutions are shaped by fallen humans. The US Constitution, approved by our forefathers, considered a black slave to be worth 3/5 of a white man for determining representation in the House of Representatives and denied him the right to vote, himself.
- Christians must freely admit the sins of Christians and churches embracing both slavery and the Jim Crow laws that followed the civil war.
- Aspiring to diversity in our churches is a godly virtue. Theologian Herman Bavinck argues that the image of God is far too rich to be fully realized apart from those of every tongue and tribe, and nation. He writes, The image of God can only be displayed in all its dimensions and characteristic features in a humanity whose members exist both successively one after the other and contemporaneously side by side. Only humanity in its entirety—as one complete organism, summed up under a single head, spread over the whole earth….only it is the fully finished image, the most telling and striking image of God (Reformed Dogmatics Vol 2).
Fortunately, the rising generation passionately wants to correct the church’s past racism. But that very passion can lead them to naively embrace Critical Theory.
B. Critical Theory offers a wrong view of human personhood. It argues that our identity is rooted in categories like race, gender, income, economic status--all features that differ from one another and become the basis for hostility towards one another as oppressors or those who are victims of such oppressors. Scripture bases human identity upon all being made in God’s image. That truth gives all individuals worth and dignity, no matter what subcategories he or she belongs to. The biblical worldview leads to harmony, respect for other’s ideas, and justice. Critical Theory deliberately fuels class warfare and reverse racism. We need to help the rising generation see this!
C. Critical Theory teaches a wrong view of oppression. Oppression is not the result of being born into privilege. Nowhere does the Bible teach the Marxist class division and warfare that is the basis for so called “cultural intersectionality”—making white, male, heterosexual, cisgender, non-poor, able-bodied, natively born, by definition, oppressors. Jesus was a white, male, heterosexual, cisgender, able-bodied Jew. I guess this makes Jesus an oppressor. Oppression is using whatever power you have to harm another. The Bible teaches that every race oppresses others. In his book, The Third Option, Miles McPherson, a light skinned black NFL player describes his being bullied by BOTH the White and Black communities. His wife, Debbie’s, growing up years were even tougher. She grew up in a predominantly African American low-income community in Connecticut. But unlike the other kids, her mom was White, but her dad was Black. “It wasn’t uncommon,” said Debbie, “for neighbors to throw rocks through their windows, causing shattered glass to fall on them while they were in their beds.” Every human on planet earth has used his power at times to harm others. That harm is called oppression. It is exhibited by the “privileged class” and “the oppressed class.” Oppression comes from human sinful nature. Now the works of the flesh are evident: … enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy (Gal 5:20-21).
D. Critical theory teaches a foolish view of truth. The degree to which you are oppressed gives you the moral authority to make truth claims. The degree to which you were born into one of CRT’s “oppressor” categories delegitimizes any truth claims you make. This is silly. No one actually lives this way. If you have a stomachache, you don’t find someone from the most oppressed group to get their opinion about what is wrong; you go to the doctor. If your car breaks down, you don’t find the person on your block with the highest intersectionality rating (the number of oppressed groups he belongs to) to find out what is broken about your car. Such folly is from the world of academia, which is disconnected from reality.
Furthermore, the Critical Theory definition of oppression turns the loving action of being truthful with someone on its head. Critical Theory advocates see practices like, discipleship, leadership, correction, and reproof as sinful assertions of power if the speaker’s identity group is among the oppressors. The Apostle, Paul was clearly an oppressor for commanding Christian wives to submit to their husbands, identifying homosexuality as a sin, or saying, “If a man does not work, neither should he eat” (2 Thes 3:10). At the same time, CRT excuses sins like jealousy, envy, anger, hatred, bitterness, unforgiveness when they occur by the so called, “oppressed.”
ARGUING AGAINST CRITICAL THEORY IN THE PUBLIC ARENA
(What Might Your Say at Work During Your “Diversity” Training?)
A. It is persuasive to affirm the intentions of those who see value in the message of Critical Theory. Christians can affirm this INTENT—to oppose racism and oppression of minorities. It is also correct to affirm that Jesus came to overthrow oppression. In fact, this might be a great opportunity to say, “But Jesus didn’t teach the oppressed class—the Jews, who were under the military occupation of Rome—to rise up and overthrow Roman oppression. He challenged his followers to consider their own racism—towards the Samaritans, Gentiles, tax collectors and “sinners”—to look into their own hearts to see their own hostility and feelings of superiority towards others. Jesus taught that condescension, and mistreatment of others are symptoms of a disease of the heart—sinful selfishness—a refusal to love our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus’ answer to oppression was changing the hearts of his followers, empowering them to live out his kingdom values, like that set forth in Matt 7:12, So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
B. Second, you might ask, “Have you ever considered the way Critical Theory does NOT match reality? Do you think Abraham Lincoln was a racist? He was a white, male, heterosexual, cisgender, Protestant, and born in the USA. According to CRT, he has almost the highest possible intersectionality rating as an OPPRESSOR. CRT is a view from academia that makes no sense in reality?” Or we might ask, “An estimated 27,00 almost all white males from Pennsylvania died in the Civil War to free African American slaves. Would you call them racist, privileged oppressors? According to CRT, they have a very high racist oppressor rating.” This class-warfare concept from academia does NOT correspond to reality. Do you think there might be blacks who are hostile towards whites, feminists who are hostile towards men, LGBTQ political activists who are hostile towards the straight world?” Of course, you do, because hostility towards those outside your tribe is a matter of your attitude not a matter of your class. The CRT paradigm doesn’t match reality.
C. Critical theory’s inciting of class warfare has a long, well-established, destructive history. Here are some facts about the way politicians have often stoked the fire of anger over OPPRESSION for their own political gain.
- Vladimir Lenin generated the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 manipulating workers, peasants, and soldiers into class warfare by portraying the wealthier “kulaks,” as their class enemies, leading to the large-scale slaughter of kulaks.
- Joseph Stalin continued to play on class envy, manipulating the OPPRESSED into blaming the kulaks for their unjust wealth and land ownership. Marx’s oppressor/oppressed paradigm led to the slaughter of 20 million Russians.
- Mao Zedong gained power through the promise of a JUST UTOPIA. In the name of justice Mao’s Red Guard, slaughtered millions of factory owners and landowners, who, they proclaimed were OPPRESSING the masses.
- Pol Pot is a revolutionary whose egalitarian UTOPIAN ideology resulted in the loss of over 2 million Cambodian lives, 25% of the Cambodian population.
The atrocities of these regimes were accomplished by stirring up rage at INJUSTICE for the political gain of Lenin, Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot. It might be worth saying to your secular friend. “You figure it out. Which is more likely? That the CRT narrative is being advanced today because it is TRUE, or because SOMEONE IS TRYING TO MANIPULATE YOU AND ME FOR POLITICAL GAIN?
D. Because Critical Theory doesn’t see the problems of poverty and racism correctly, it leads to diverting resources away from the real problems. The problems in our cities are much more about the breakdown of the inner-city family than about structural racism, and white privilege. Critical Theory obscures these real problems, so that much real pain, real brokenness doesn’t get addressed. Black pastor, Voddie Bauchem, observes the way that the tragic Michael Brown shooting in Fergusson, MO by Officer Darren Wilson was used by CRT advocates for their purpose of inciting class warfare—Black Americans against the police establishment and creating a smoke screen over the real issue. (The subsequent FBI Report revealed that Wilson had id’d Brown as the one shown on video robbing a convenience store by physically intimidating the store clerk. Brown's DNA inside the cruiser proved he had reached into Wilson’s cruiser fighting over Wilson’s gun. Later, Brown was not shot in the back but was coming towards Wilson. There was no evidence that Brown’s hands were raised.) Black Pastor Voddie Bauchem, grieving over the needless death of Mike Brown wants to go back to Brown's robbery of the convenience store. He says,
As someone who grew up in drug infested, gang infested, South LA, the son of a single, teenage mother, I look at the Mike Brown situation and I want to say to all of the young black boys like him, who are young black like me, “We can’t live like that.” To all of the fathers who are not there, to the tune of nearly 75% among black children, what I want to say is, “We have a problem that needs to be addressed. We can’t live like this. We have to deal with this. There is brokenness here that hast to be addressed. There’s brokenness that has to be fixed." But the way things stand now, to say that is to blame the victim. Do you know what that means? That means that whatever pathologies there are that need to be addressed—don’t get addressed. Cause it’s the system’s fault (You Tube, Cultural Marxism.)
For Further Prayerful Thought:
- As you have seen aspects of Critical Theory being promoted in your experience, why do you think that Christians might unthinkingly buy into it?
- What part of Critical Theory do you think contradicts the teaching of Scripture most severely?
- Which principles for arguing against the Critical Theory worldview in the public arena stood out to you? What additional ideas do you have?
