Critical Race Theory

I've heard critical race theory described as a religion, complete with original (white) sin but without grace:

Critical race theory proponents, who have infiltrated nearly every aspect of our culture, would say that no one could blame Baucham if he’d ended up jobless, homeless, or in prison. The movement—which sorts all humans according to their immutable characteristics and ranks them in hierarchies of oppression or victimhood—would claim that Baucham was born a victim simply by virtue of his skin color.

Instead, he became a standout Division I football player and went on to earn a pile of degrees that space does not permit me to list. He’s written scores of books, pastored a church, and is currently dean of the School of Divinity at African Christian University in Zambia. His new book, Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism’s Looming Catastrophe  (Salem/Regnery), is not only a repudiation of Marxist critical justice theory, but also a warning to the church about the growing divide between two Christian camps: one that relies wholly on scripture as a source of truth, and a second that relies on a dangerous, unbiblical ideology—one that Baucham calls a cult (more on that in a moment).

Baucham defines and explains critical justice theory—a broader term that encompasses more than just race—by prodigiously citing the writings of its proponents, using an earthquake as a metaphor for the “seismic shifts in the evangelical landscape,” a fault line, if you will. From the very first chapter of this excellent book—a must-read for anyone who wants to understand critical justice theory—Baucham insists that ethnic tensions are not the problem, nor are political divisions. Rather, the problem is social justice versus biblical justice, the former being “incompatible with biblical Christianity"...

“My heart is broken as I watch movements and ideologies against which I have fought and warned for decades become entrenched at the highest and most respected levels of evangelicalism,” he adds. “I want this book to be a clarion call. I want to unmask the ideology of Critical Theory, Critical Race Theory, and Intersectionality in hopes that those who have imbibed can have the blinders removed from their eyes, and those who have bowed in the face of it can stand up, take courage, and ‘contend for the faith that was once for all delivered fo the saints’ (Jude 3).”

Christians must “identify, resist, and repudiate” these dangerous ideas. “We cannot be held hostage through emotional blackmail and name-calling.” Instead, the church should heed Colossians 2:8: “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human traditions, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ"...

Baucham calls CSJ (critical social justice) a “new religion” with “many of the hallmarks of a cult.” Several years ago he coined the term “ethnic gnosticism,” which he defines as “the idea that people have special knowledge based solely on their ethnicity,” which results in a “single black perspective,” the notion that white people cannot “see” without black voices, and the belief that “narrative” trumps truth.

The Bible, insists Baucham, flies in the face of ethnic gnosticism: “The very idea of dividing people by ethnicity, then declaring some of them wicked oppressors and others the oppressed, is inconsistent with the biblical doctrine of universal guilt” described in Romans 3: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

Sin “is not the state of white men; it is the state of all men,” Baucham says. Ultimately, the current CSJ movement is a “covert attack on the sufficiency of Scripture"...

“I oppose BLM and have refused to even say the phrase. Moreover, I think the movement (and by extension the phrase) is a Trojan horse that poses a clear threat to the witness of the Church… The movement has a name that Christians find attractive because we love God and our neighbor and have a desire to see justice done. And for some, that has come to mean embracing the false narrative of ‘state-sponsored terror against black and brown bodies' "...

“One of the biggest problems with antiracism is the fact that it is law-based. It condemns based on melanin, and although it constantly uses the words, it holds out no hope of salvation, restoration, or reconciliation. Because antiracism is law-based, its ultimate end is changing and establishing laws, then enforcing those laws authoritatively.”

Antiracism “is powerless against racism,” he insists. “It is Christ and Christ alone, ‘who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility (Ephesians 2:14),” he says. “This doesn’t mean that black and white Christians won’t offend or sin against each other. It also doesn’t mean that the sin of racism will not raise its ugly head in the broader culture, or even in the Church. What it does mean is that we have an answer"...

“The most powerful weapon in our arsenal is not calling for reparations: it is forgiveness. Antiracism knows nothing of forgiveness because it knows nothing of the Gospel. Instead, antiracism offers endless penance, judgment, and fear.” Baucham urges Christians to “love your brothers and sisters enough to contend with them and for them.”

The article is so good that I just keep excerpting and excerpting.  Read the whole thing. 

Update, 6/19/21:  Here's an 18-minute history and summary of critical race theory.  Arm yourself with this knowledge.