Thinking is hard.
Critical Race Theory (CRT) is an outgrowth of Marxist philosophy. It's difficult to untangle as much of the literature on the subject is shrouded in dense theoretical language and inter-disciplinary references that leave most of us scratching our heads. Analysis is further complicated by Critical Theory’s denial of objective truth. For years, CRT was largely confined to higher education. More recently, it’s permeated lower education and “woke” corporations, the federal government and, now, the church.
The belief is that the United States, and now the church, is inherently racist; that racism is endemic, not aberrational. In the struggle for racial and social justice, American legal ideals of neutrality and color-blindness have replicated rather than undone racism. Personal experience and historical studies should inform analysis. CRT takes the widespread principle of racial colorblindness and flips it on its head: neutral rules support a culture of white supremacy, so people of color (POC) must mobilize to empower themselves. Culture, including education, corporate America and now the church, must become woke to the white hegemony.
Voddie has addressed this topic over the years in various sermons and articles, discussing what he’s coined “ethnic Gnosticism”, an argument whereby POC assert they have “secret knowledge” or world-view, based on their life experiences, that non-POC cannot know. Essentially, as Jerry Lewis said at the end of one of his yearly MD telethons “For those who understand, no explanation is necessary; for those who don’t, no explanation will suffice.” Non-POC cannot escape their inherent racism even if individuals don’t see themselves as racist; POC cannot be racist.
Thomas Sowell addressed the political implications caused by the divide between those who view man as perfectible and those who don’t in A Conflict of Visions. In secular settings, James Lindsay addressed CRT in Cynical Theories as did Douglas Murray in The Madness of Crowds. Gad Saad’s Parasitic Mind also explores how common sense is being killed by “an epidemic of idea pathogens” coming from progressive safe zones. Civil rights leader and Woodson Center Founder Bob Woodson of 1776unites.com says, in calling out the race grievance industry, “Don’t use blacks as an excuse to destroy this nation.”
Voddie Baucham shows how CRT’s pernicious ideology is infecting the church and exchanging the Gospel of Christ for one of Marxist wokeness. Quoting John MacArthur who called CRT “the greatest threat” to the Gospel in his lifetime, he presents Critical Theory as a man-made philosophy, a worldview, attractive to some groups and ministries because of their desire to fight what they see as a problem of racial injustice. While Voddie sees growing ethnic tension as a problem, he says it is not the main problem: Christians who forget Christ, creator of the “new man”, is our answer, not man-made solutions. Reconciliation is through Christ, not the competing ideology of CRT.
The problem is the fundamental assumptions of the incompatible world-views: are we perfectible through our own efforts or through Christ? “Those belonging to the social-justice crowd present themselves as the only ones pursuing justice; to the exclusion of all who disagree with their assessments—who, by that definition, are pursuing injustice.” He continues “perhaps the most troubling aspect of the current struggle is that it mischaracterizes Christians that way too. On one side are ‘compassionate’ Christians who are ‘concerned about social justice.’ On the other are ‘insensitive’ Christians who are ‘not concerned about justice.’ This is wrong.”
Voddie believes the current concept of social justice is incompatible with biblical Christianity.
Voddie’s goal is to address this looming trouble in the church between the two competing worldviews, Critical Social Justice and Biblical Justice, saying “there are plenty of sincere, though perhaps naïve Christians who, if they knew the ideology behind it, would run away from the term ‘social justice’ like rats from a burning ship.” We must be certain we pursue justice on God’s terms, not man’s. “Today, people are rioting and demanding justice before knowing the facts, and in most cases, without ever considering [God’s] principles. And here is the key: People are ignoring these principles because the standard of justice upon which their pleas are built does not come from the God of the Scriptures. While that may be fine for others, those of us who claim to know Christ are held to a different standard.”
Voddie addresses the false narrative and double-speak used to mislead and promote this insidious ideology, particularly as used in several high-profile shootings in the news cycle over the past few years. He describes the new religion—or new cult—of antiracism that borrows from the familiar and accepted and infuses it with new meaning. He demonstrates how it stays close enough to the bible to avoid immediate detection, hiding the fact it is a new theology and new glossary of terms that diverge ever-so-slightly from Christian orthodoxy.
Fleetwood Mac said “tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies”. Someone else has written “some ingredients of truth with pure lie makes the perfect lie.” But the secret of a beautiful lie lays in an ugly truth: social justice and antiracism “offers no salvation–only perpetual penance in an effort to combat an incurable disease” and “as tools to be used for political purposes” where “it is a denial of guilt that is seen as proof of guilt.”
Denied by CRT proponents is that racism, the new unpardonable sin, is a human condition, not a “white” condition. Providing examples throughout history and nations, Voddie states “my goal here is to help the reader see that these ideas [about racism] are part of a system, a theology. Christians have been using the terms regularly of late, and in most cases, using them the same way the secular antiracists use them”, only to be accused of not having done their homework and expressing their internalized racism. “According to Critical Social Justice, without social science, the Bible doesn’t make sense.”
Wading through the CRT propaganda flooding the church without a guide is treacherous. Good people, wanting to do the right thing but not thinking deeply about these issues, may unintentionally mislead or be misled. We are an instant society and often defer to “experts” to do our deep thinking for us. And our memories are short: we forget we’ve seen the results of societies blaming one group or another as the source of all problems throughout history, or think “this time it’s different.”
Fault Lines is an important contribution to the CRT discussion, the first I know of to address the looming catastrophic divide in evangelicalism. I believe it should be widely read and discussed. People of goodwill may disagree with Voddie’s conclusions or thinking. But we should be examples of thoughtful consideration and rational discourse and at least be able to acknowledge and define the issues. More importantly, we need to be aware of the divides on either side of the fault lines and choose whom we will serve. We are, after all, supposed to be Christ’s representatives on earth.
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