Cultural Marxism, Critical Theory, & Cries Of “Institutional Racism” In The Christian Reformed Church

Though the term “institutional racism,” has been around at least since the 1960’s it seems, of late, to be entering more and more into the conversational lexicon of the Church. The Christian Reformed Denomination, for example, as a overture before it that calls,

“The denomination to repent of the personal and institutional racism that causes separation between fellow members, excludes some from full participation in the life of our denomination and hinders the denomination in achieving the diversity goals it has set for itself.”

When the overture insists that we need to repent of institutional racism we should back up and consider the meaning of institutional racism so that we can know what we are repenting of. The term “institutional racism” describes societal patterns, as implemented through our various cultural institutions, that have the net effect of imposing oppressive or otherwise negative conditions against identifiable groups on the basis of race or ethnicity. “Institutional racism,” it is thought, is so pervasive that only those people who admit to its existence can see it for what it is. “Institutional racism” has so stacked the deck in its favor that if one denies that “institutional racism” exists that only proves that one has been infected by “institutional racism.” So, if one agrees that “institutional racism” exists in our culture, it is an affirmation of the reality of “institutional racism,” but if one disagrees that “institutional racism,” exists it is also an affirmation of the reality of “institutional racism” in as much that such disagreement only proves that “institutional racism” is successfully doing its evil work causing the “institutional racism” deniers to not see that they are victims and so perpetrators of “institutional racism.” It is always convenient to back a theory where those who agree with you prove your theory, while those who disagree with you also prove your theory.

The phrase “institutional racism” was coined at least as far back as the 1960’s by Kwame Ture (nee — Stokely Carmichael). Carmichael felt that it was important to distinguish personal bias, which has specific effects and can be identified and corrected relatively easily, with institutional bias, which is generally long-term and grounded more in inertia than in intent. So, as originally coined, “institutional racism,” is a incarnating of personal racism into our civil-social institutions that remains pushing the culture as a whole in a racist direction because the institutions themselves supported racism. So, here we are as a culture which transfers billions of dollars annually to minority communities through various entitlement programs and people want me to believe that we suffer from “institutional racsim? Here we are as a culture which has created affirmative action programs, quota requirements, and minority set aside expectations in order that minorities might get ahead and still we are being told that we suffer from “institutional racism?” Here we are absorbing, millions upon millions of minority immigrants and the intellectual elite want to convince me that there is work yet to be done in tearing down “institutional racism?” We just elected a Black President, who named a Black Attorney General, who has refused to apply the law to Black Panthers because they are Black and we are yet informed that “institutional racism” is a ongoing problem in these united States?

What most folks don’t realize is that “institutional racism,” is just the most recent expression of the critical theory Hermeneutic that belongs to the Cultural Marxists. Critical theory is the Cultural Marxist tool of destructive criticism intended to pull down Western Civilization, as influenced by historic Christian categories such as domestic family, commonwealth, authority, hierarchy, tradition, decentralized and diffuse civil government, sexual boundaries, and other similarly Christian informed realities that comprised historic Western culture. Critical theory’s technique was to see all of these historic Christian categories as wicked tools of oppression against minorities, women, and heretofore those considered sexual deviants. The work of Critical theory was and is to place and spin these Christian Categories so that they are seen to be the means of power by which victims are kept down, abused, and negated their rightful place of cultural hegemony. Critical theory has, as its goal, the replacing of the formerly Christian cultural gatekeepers with new cultural gatekeepers who will build cultural institutions that reflect the values of cultural Marxism. The cry of “institutional racism,” is, more often than not, the cry of those who desire the values of variant forms of Marxism to be the shaping influence on Western Society — values that include Marxist economics that call for redistribution of wealth, Marxist sociology that calls for a leveling of all formerly stratified hierarchic relationships (men vs. women so that matriarchy is superior to patriarchy, heterosexuality vs. homosexuality so that the marriage of two men is superior to the marriage of a man and a woman, children vs. parents so that children have equal rights with parents). The end goal is to create a distinction-less, egalitarian New World Order. And as all this is embraced by large swaths of the Church it has the added benefit of having a Jesus candy coating on it that makes it “Christian.”

Critical theory’s technique is akin to what C. S. Lewis described as the technique of the “Spirit of the Age,” in his book Pilgrim’s Regress,

In A Pilgrim’s Regress, C.S. Lewis wrote about a man who ordered milk and eggs from a waiter in a restaurant. After tasting the milk he commented to the waiter that it was delicious. The waiter replied, “Milk is only the secretion of a cow, just like urine and feces.” After eating the eggs he commented on the tastiness of the eggs. Again the waiter responded that eggs are only a by-product of a chicken. After thinking about the waiter’s comment for a moment the man responded, “You lie. You don’t know the difference between what nature has meant for nourishment, and what it meant for garbage.”

In Lewis’ story the Spirit of the Age (Waiter) had captivated John (Lewis’ main Character) and insisted that what was intended for nourishment was garbage. Like the Waiter, in Lewis’s work, the Cultural Marxist critiques the healthy and normal as unhealthy and abnormal.

Our prevailing zeitgeist is not interested in creating a conscience that tells us that cow milk is a secretion akin to urine or feces. No, what our Cultural Marxist Spirit of the Age is set upon convincing us is that Christ informed culture is evil and that Christian white people are the devil.

Martin Luther anticipated the rise of Critical theory 500 years ago.

“It is the nature of all hypocrites and false prophets to create a conscience where there is none, and to cause conscience to disappear where it does exist.”

Critical theory is the technique of the false prophets of Cultural Marxism to create a false consciousness in white Christians, and the cry of “Institutional Racism,” is just one of the many buzz phrases that Cultural Marxists are using to overthrow Christian civilization.

Finally, on the score of “Institutional Racism” we must wonder if that buzz phrase from Critical theory is in point of fact a desire on the part of those who use it to decimate what little remains of White Christian civilization. When someone laments institutional racism they are lamenting the meager existence of white Christian institutions, and thereby, it would seem the very existence of Whites themselves.

The amazing success of the Critical theory cry of “institutional racism” is driven by its ability to laden people with guilt. Guilty people are people who then can be manipulated at will by the sense of guilt that they are seeking to overthrow. So strong is the guilt that Western Man feels now, in part due to the work of Cultural Marxism, but more because Western man has turned his back on God, that those who offer relief from that guilt (the Cultural Marxists) essentially become movement Messiahs to modern man. The Cultural Marxists use critical theory to make Western Man feel guilty. The Cultural Marxist offer a plan on how Western man may atone for his sins. Western man gladly will do anything to deliver himself of this contrived and artificial guilt.

And the blood atonement that Cultural Marxists are requiring of Western Man is his own death. The guilt that Critical Theory lays on Western Man is of such a nature that it can only be atoned for through the death of Western man as Western Man as been influenced by Biblical Christianity. And so cries of “Institutional Racism” can only be alleviated by Western Man going all masochistic and destroying himself so that he can be replaced by a new Soviet (cultural Marxist) man, who will be informed by the new faith of Cultural Marxism.

The first part of the solution to resist this is by Western man to repent and turn to Christ. In Jesus Christ Western man’s real guilt is taken away and he is raised up to walk in newness of life with Christ. Only once our guilt is seen as being carried by Christ can Western man no longer be manipulated by false Critical theory charges of “Institutional Racism.” Only once Western Man’s guilt is seen as having been born with Christ can he deal with whatever racial problems might yet remain in a way where his eyes are wide open to the agenda of those who have as their desire what is left of Christian civilization.

The second part of the solution to resist this is by thinking Biblically. As long as we are not thinking God’s thoughts after him in every area of life (History, Social Order, Economics, Family Life, Education, etc.) we are prime candidates to be blown about by every strange wind of doctrine. Cultural Marxism is a strange doctrine and critical theory is the wind that fills its sails. We have to return to the conviction that there exist distinct ways of thinking that Christians are identified by. If we refuse that conviction then Christianity becomes a wax nose that the Cultural Marxists can shape in their direction in order to call their cultural Marxism “Christianity.”

God grant us grace to repent for the open window for repentance is closing fast upon us as a civilization.

Author: jetbrane

I am a Pastor of a small Church in Mid-Michigan who delights in my family, my congregation and my calling. I am postmillennial in my eschatology. Paedo-Calvinist Covenantal in my Christianity Reformed in my Soteriology Presuppositional in my apologetics Familialist in my family theology Agrarian in my regional community social order belief Christianity creates culture and so Christendom in my national social order belief Mythic-Poetic / Grammatical Historical in my Hermeneutic Pre-modern, Medieval, & Feudal before Enlightenment, modernity, & postmodern Reconstructionist / Theonomic in my Worldview One part paleo-conservative / one part micro Libertarian in my politics Systematic and Biblical theology need one another but Systematics has pride of place Some of my favorite authors, Augustine, Turretin, Calvin, Tolkien, Chesterton, Nock, Tozer, Dabney, Bavinck, Wodehouse, Rushdoony, Bahnsen, Schaeffer, C. Van Til, H. Van Til, G. H. Clark, C. Dawson, H. Berman, R. Nash, C. G. Singer, R. Kipling, G. North, J. Edwards, S. Foote, F. Hayek, O. Guiness, J. Witte, M. Rothbard, Clyde Wilson, Mencken, Lasch, Postman, Gatto, T. Boston, Thomas Brooks, Terry Brooks, C. Hodge, J. Calhoun, Llyod-Jones, T. Sowell, A. McClaren, M. Muggeridge, C. F. H. Henry, F. Swarz, M. Henry, G. Marten, P. Schaff, T. S. Elliott, K. Van Hoozer, K. Gentry, etc. My passion is to write in such a way that the Lord Christ might be pleased. It is my hope that people will be challenged to reconsider what are considered the givens of the current culture. Your biggest help to me dear reader will be to often remind me that God is Sovereign and that all that is, is because it pleases him.

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