There is a need to understand Critical Race Theory as a Worldview and so a Religion since numerous of our fellow citizens and fellow Christians ahve embraced Critical Race theory as an epistemology that provides the means of knowing what it is we say we know.
Because of this, it is incumbent upon us as epistemologically self-conscious Biblical Christians to understand what is going on with Critical Race theory in order to understand the chief contestant in the West right now to Biblical Christianity.
A second reason it is important for us to have some grasp of Critical Race Theory is that it is coming into the conservative Church elbows over knees. The Southern Baptist Convention – the largest Protestant denomination in America – has sanctioned Critical Race Theory as a tool by which we can understand cultures. Further, Critical Race theory accounts for the growing feminism in the OPC and the growing celibate sodomite movement in the PCA.
Note, that Critical Race theory is a major tool of Cultural Marxism. If we were to speak more broadly we would understand that what we are fighting as a worldview is Cultural Marxism with Critical Race theory as one of its major tools.
I.) Critical Race Theory Epistemology – CRT teaches that all truth is subjective.
CRT provides a poisonous heaping of Nietzschean relativism. This means that language does not correspond to objective reality, but is the mere instrument of power dynamics. This is why CRT folks will talk about “language games.” At this point, CRT is indebted to Jaques Derrida’s philosophical school of deconstructionism.
By the way …. if all truth is subjective what do we know about the statement “all truth is subjective?”
Christianity, contrary to CRT, insists that we truth is objective and that God has revealed truth in His Word. There is a transcendent reality to which language points to and coincides with.
II.) Critical Race Theory Anthropology – Gender, Race, and ethnicity are socially constructed
We see this coming into the Church by the numerous clergy who now insist that Race does not exist. This is a statement that no one in the West would have made prior to the rise and influence of Franz Boas. The Church has met the CRT insistence that race is socially constructed by saying that race does not exist.
In terms of Anthropology, Critical Race Theory posits the value of one’s human-ness according to what identity group they belong to.
To the contrary Biblical Christianity posits the value of one’s human-ness in the fact that man is God’s image-bearer regardless of what groups one does and does not belong to.
Also in the way of Anthropology Critical Race theory demands equality for men that is different than the equality that Christianity upholds. Christianity insists that we are all equally God’s image-bearers, all fallen in Adam, and all equal before the demands of God’s law and all equally commanded to repent. Critical race theory denies all that in favor of the concept of equity which we will reference later.
And so we see that in terms of Anthropology we have two different competing religions.
III.) Critical Race Theory Hamartiology
Oppressors against victim races and classes (Oppressed). Sin is found in power and privilege. Christianity to the contrary holds that sin is any transgression of or lack of conformity to God’s Law. Christianity does not teach that sin automatically connects to power or privilege. If Christianity did teach that God would be the chief of all sinners since no one has more and privilege than God.
We should note here that the Cultural Marxist division of people into oppressors vs. oppressed classes is nothing but a mutation of the old Classical Marxist category of the Bourgeoisie (Capitalist class) vs. the Proletariat (worker class) into racial, pervert, and/or feminist categories. In the hamartiology of CRT we see the remaining grin of the disappearing classical Marxist Cheshire cat.
IV.) Critical Race Theory Axiology
The highest value for the CRT crowd is Diversity. Diversity here is NOT diversity of ideas but the diversity of race, ethnicity and sexual identity
The axiology of CRT has moved from equality to equity. The new goal is equity which means the arrival at Equality of Outcome. This is a step beyond the previous goal of Equality of opportunity which was itself a chimera. Equity will be arrived at via the Harrison Beregon treatment.
The axiology of CRT also demands Inclusiveness. Inclusiveness is defined as Identity-based quotas pursued to reach the previously stated goal of equity. This will mean the continued practice of hiring or placement based not on merit or accomplishment but rather on affirmative action statistics.
The axiology for the Biblical Christian to the contrary of the above is the glory of God as revealed in Scripture. Christians have as their highest goal to live to God’s glory.
V.) Critical race theory doctrine of sinners vs. saints
In Christianity, sinners are those who refuse to look to and trust Jesus Christ as their only relief from the just anger of God. Saints, to the contrary, have trusted Christ and so have peace with God.
For Critical Race theory, all those who have power and privilege are sinners while all those who don’t have power and privilege and so are marginalized are saints.
The list of the saints in Critical Race Theory who don’t have power plus privilege are
Disaffected (Cultural Marxist) minorities
The Sexual Pervert Class
Feminists
Non-Christian Religions
VI.) Rabbit Trail — Intersectionality
This brings us to the slight detour of “Intersectionality.” Intersectionality seeks to measure ones “Oppression Quotient.” One can be more or less oppressed depending on how many of the identity groups they are members of fall under the umbrella oppression.
The degrees to which you are oppressed determines your level of moral authority. The more groups you fall into which are oppressed the more moral authority you have.
So… for example, a Black man definitely oppressed because of his “blackness” but he loses some points because he is a member of the oppressing male class. Therefore an Hispanic female has more moral authority than a black male because she languishes from being in two oppressed class – minoirty and female. However, a Hispanic female who is disabled would have more moral authority than a straight Black female because in not being disabled she is part of the oppressing class. Now add categories like gender and sexuality and you have a host of possible permutations in this Intersectionality. Needless to say that Straight White non-disabled Christians have no moral authority whatsoever.
Of course for Biblical Christians, any moral authority they have corresponds to how much they are standing on God’s Law. The more they stand on God’s Law-Word the more moral authority they have.
Now there is a corollary here. Remember we said in Intersectionality that to the degree one is oppressed determines one’s level of moral authority. The corollary here is that in Intersectionality the more oppressed one is the less moral responsibility they have. So, if one falls into several oppression categories one is given more latitude for their behavior. This explains why BLM could burn America down this past summer with very little consequence while young men like Kyle Rittenhouse are having the book thrown at them. The rioters, because the organization taking credit is so oppressed they do not have the same level of responsibility as a straight white male. Not even close.
VII.) Critical Race Theory – Soteriology (Doctrine of Salvation)
In Critical Race theory, one is saved by political activism that pursues social liberation by the throwing off of the Oppressors. In order to be saved straight, White, Christians, and Christianity must be eliminated in order for social-order salvation to be attained.
In Christianity, one is saved by the finished work of Jesus Christ appropriated by faith and repentance as clothed in Baptism.
VIII.) Critical Race Theory Teleology
The goal or destination of Critical race theory is the egalitarian Kingdom of man. I would insist that the Critical Race theorist, like all non-Christian worldviews is seeking to build a Utopia. Blood always flows where the pursuit of Utopia is taken seriously.
For the Biblical Christian, the goal or destination of man is the Kingdom of God. Biblical Christians are postmillennialists seeking to put feet to the prayer Jesus taught us, “Thy Kingdom come, the will be done on earth as in heaven.”
Further sundry observations;
In critical race theory, the individual no longer exists. One no longer has individuality but simply is considered as a member of a group whether race, gender, or sexual preference. We need to keep in mind here that inasmuch as individuality is lost then people are innocent or guilty of being oppressed or oppressors simply by their belonging to a particular group.
This means if you are a white heterosexual you belong to the oppressing class no matter what and will only be tolerated if you surrender your place to the oppressed class and constantly denounce your people as oppressors and victimizers. According to one New York Principle as following a chart created by a chap named Hesse,
By Barnor Hesse
There is a regime of whiteness, and there are action-oriented white identities. People who identify with whiteness are one of these. It’s about time we build an ethnography of whiteness, since white people have been the ones writing about and governing Others.
1. White Supremacist
Clearly marked white society that preserves, names, and values white superiority
2. White Voyeurism
Wouldn’t challenge a white supremacist; desires non-whiteness because it’s interesting, pleasurable; seeks to
control the consumption and appropriation of non-whiteness; fascination with culture (ex: consuming Black culture without the burden of Blackness)
3. White Privilege
May critique supremacy, but a deep investment in questions of fairness/equality under the normalization of whiteness and the white rule; sworn goal of ‘diversity’
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White Benefit
Sympathetic to a set of issues but only privately: won’t speak/act in solidarity publicly because benefitting through whiteness in public (some POC are in this category as well)
5. White Confessional
Some exposure of whiteness takes place, but as a way of being accountable to POC after: seek validation from POC
6. White Critical
Take on board critiques of whiteness and invest in exposing/marking the white regime; refuses to be complicit with the regime; whiteness speaking back to whiteness
7. White Traitor
Actively refuses complicity; names what’s going on; intention is to subvert white authority and tell the truth at whatever
cost; need them to dismantle institutions
8. White Abolitionist
Changing institutions, dismantling whiteness, and not allowing whiteness to reassert itself
One way that Critical Race Theory has insinuated itself into the Christian church is by linking how Critical Race theory opposes oppression with how God opposes oppression.
A few thoughts on that….
1.) God does not oppose oppression of the oppressed who are in rebellion to Christ. Indeed the Heidelberg Catechism teaches speaking of those outside of Christ,
God is terribly displeased with our inborn as well as our actual sins, and will punish them in just judgment in time and eternity
So, we see here that the Wokies make a category mistake when they say that God opposes oppression. God only opposes the oppression of His people. God is punishing the oppressed for their sins in rebelling against Christ.
2.) It is true that both Critical Race Theory and God oppose oppression. It is also true that the word oppression as existing in a Critical Race Theory Worldview (paradigm) has a different meaning than the word oppression in a Christian Worldview.
For the Critical Race Theorist oppression is defined as “any people who have been subjected to Biblical Christianity or subjected to those influenced by Biblical Christian categories.” For the Biblical Christian oppression is defined as God’s people being ruled by injustice as defined by God’s Law Word.
As you can see that is two completely different classes of people and so while we have linguistic agreement with the Critical Race theorist that Christianity and Critical theory both oppose oppression we have zero substantive agreement with the Critical Race theorist at this point.
CRT has invoked whole new categories of thought.
A.) Systemic Racism
This is the idea that a whole social order is geared to favor straight white Christians even if not a single white Christian were themselves “racist.” Because of Systemic Racism the whole fabric of Western social order must be dismantled.
B.) White Privilege
This is the idea that merely on the basis of being white all white people are privileged. No distinctions are made between the white children of Appalachia coal miners and the born-to-the-manor children of Barack Obama or Colin Powell. The children of Indiana red clay dirt farmers have the special blessing of white privilege whereas the children of Ilhan Omar or Rashid Talib remain forever behind the eight ball.
C.) White fragility
White fragility is the label given any protest from white people at how utterly jejune and torpid this whole system is. Critical Race theory is by definition unfalsifiable because any argument against it is easily dismissed by invoking Critical Race Theory and so labeling all objections to Critical Race Theory as “just so many expressions of ‘white fragility.'”
This appeal to “white fragility” proves that CRT is a closed system that is impervious to any criticism coming from outside CRT.
The CRT Wokies have implemented programs that find public schools forcing first-graders to deconstruct their racial and sexual identities, then ranking themselves according to their “power and privilege”? On the other end of the spectrum, universities (Rutgers) influence by CRT Wokies is now reducing the expectations for the Queen’s English because of the racist bias found in the demand to use exacting English.
The Rutgers English Department’s new approach to grammar is racism at its most dangerous. | Rooney
The Wokies have supported a curriculum that teaches that “all white people play a part in perpetuating systemic racism.” The Wokies have supported telling white teachers that they are guilty of “spirit murdering” black children? The Wokies have supported telling white parents that they must become “white traitors” and advocate for “white abolition”? The Wokies are now implementing in Oregon ethnomathematics in order to curb the problem that “Math is racist.” The Smithsonian Museum put on a full display of the evils of whiteness until it was pressured to remove it. These are all real-world examples unearthed by media reports over the past several months, all of which the left-wing critics have deliberately ignored in their rebuttals.
