To answer that question, we must first know what Critical Race Theory (CRT) is. Put simply, CRT is an academic theory about race and racism which stems from a broader theory called Critical Theory. Critical Theory was born out of the Frankfurt School, which was originally going to be called the Institute for Marxism.[1] As its original name implies, the Frankfurt School was concerned with dismantling “Western prescribed” traditions. For instance, one of the Frankfurt School’s directors, Max Horkheimer “claimed that traditional theory fetishized knowledge, seeing truth as empirical and universal” while “Critical theory, on the other hand, ‘held that man could not be objective and that there are no universal truths’.”[2] Knowledge was reduced to nothing more than personal experience and truth was replaced with story-telling or counter-narratives.
Like its intellectual forefather Marxism, Critical Theory views everything through the lens of power. According to Dr. Neil Shenvi, who did his PhD in Theoretical Chemistry at UC Berkley and later became a Christian apologist, “Contemporary critical theory views reality through the lens of power, dividing people into oppressed groups and oppressor groups along various axes like race, class, gender, sexuality orientation, physical ability, and age.”[3] Critical Theory seeks to find a society’s pressure point, whether that be racism, classism, sexism, ableism, or ageism, and use it to usher in a new order of society. While Marx used the pressure point of classism (economics) to usher in Communism, the members of the Frankfurt School saw a different opportunity in America. They chose the pressure point of racism. As Mike Gonzalez, senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Allison Center for Foreign Policy explains, “Culture has replaced economics as the driving force of change. The working class has been replaced by a coalition of minority groups, whatever the social and economic status of its members; and armed revolution will no longer be the vehicle; the peaceful takeover of institutions from within will now be the strategy.”[4] Indeed, Critical Theory has infiltrated America’s institutions, from academia to entertainment to bureaucracy, seeking to awaken the “oppressed” to their oppression and rouse them to throw off the “systems of oppression” that are holding them back from success.
Critical Race Theory, then, seizes racism as the opportunity to put pressure on the culture and usher in a new social order. Critical Race Theory (CRT) asserts that racism is systemic in America and divides people into the oppressed group or the oppressor group based on their skin color and ethnic identity. According to CRT, all non-white people are oppressed, regardless of any individual’s accomplishments or success. And all white people are oppressors, regardless of any individual’s thoughts or actions. As Dr. Neil Shenvi points out, “CRT defines racism not merely in terms of overt acts of racial hostility by individuals but also in terms of the subtle and covert means by which racial disparities are perpetuated.”[5] In other words, anywhere that a racial disparity (difference in outcome) exists, CRT sees racism, regardless of the various other factors that may explain that disparity. For this reason, the entire American system of government must be changed in order to eradicate racial disparities and usher in social equity.
Now, equity is not the same as equality. While equality means treating everyone the same regardless of any immutable characteristics (like race or gender), equity means treating everyone differently based upon immutable characteristics in order to ensure that everyone has the same exact outcomes. While equity sounds desirable, it is impossible to achieve without totalitarian government. Because different people groups have different inclinations, and because different individuals within those groups hold different priorities and make different choices, all people will not naturally end up in the same places. As the black economist Thomas Sowell put it in his book Discrimination and Disparities, “neither in nature nor among human beings are either equal or randomly distributed outcomes automatic. On the contrary, grossly unequal distributions of outcomes are common, both in nature and among people, including in circumstances where neither genes nor discrimination are involved.”[6] While equality of opportunity (freedom from discriminatory laws) is certainly desirable and attainable, equity (forced equality of outcomes) is not desirable because it will inevitably come at the cost of freedom to everyone. In his book, The Quest for Cosmic Justice, Thomas Sowell also quotes the economist Milton Friedman, saying, “A society that puts equality—in the sense of equality of outcome—ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality nor freedom. The use of force to achieve equality will destroy freedom, and the force, introduced for good purposes, will end up in the hands of people who use it to promote their own interests.”[7] The only way to ensure that everyone ends up in the same place is for the government to forcefully hold back some and push forward others. This social order—a socialistic, totalitarian government system—is the goal of Critical Race Theory.
From this alone, we can see why many Americans—Christian or not—might oppose CRT. It is not that they seek to embrace racism or avoid dealing with racism. Rather, it is that they view CRT as a trojan horse for the cultural revolution that it is. And this is not a positive cultural revolution. It is a cultural revolution that will diminish freedom and increase government control in the name of equity.
However, many argue that CRT offers some nuggets of truth that can be helpful to the Church in dealing with racism. For instance, at the beginning of the summer of 2020, the largest Protestant denomination in America, the Southern Baptist Convention, endorsed CRT as a tool for understanding racism. Then in the fall of 2020, The Council of Seminary Presidents of the SBC declared CRT to be “incompatible with the Baptist Faith & Message.”[8] According to two professors of religion at the Seattle University School of Theology and Ministry, such a denouncement of CRT is aiding and abetting the perpetuation of racism in America. These professors wrote in an opinion piece at the start of 2021 that “Biblical theology alone cannot save Christians from their prejudice . . .”[9] In other words, some, like these professors, suggest that Christians must acknowledge CRT’s division of people into groups based on skin color/ethnic identity in order to combat racism in society in general or in the Church specifically. These professors go on to say, “As an analytical tool Critical Race Theory is not perfect. Some adherents take the theory to absurd positions, but it is the best tool available for analyzing and understanding racism, and every religious leader needs familiarity with it.”[10] They are essentially saying that Biblical theology is great and all, but it is not enough to “save Christians from their prejudice.” Only CRT can do that.
As a Christian, my question for them would be, “So, Biblical theology alone is not enough to combat racism, but CRT (created by atheistic Marxist academics) is the ‘best tool’ to combat racism? If Biblical theology is not enough to save Christians from their prejudice, then what in the world is Biblical theology supposed to save people from? If not from sin, then from what??” While the professors who wrote this article accuse the SBC for overlooking the merits of CRT and, thus, emboldening racism, these professors certainly seem to be overlooking the merits of Biblical theology. The fact that they cannot see why a Christian leader would reject CRT in favor of Biblical theology indicates that they, perhaps, do not have as good a grasp on the gospel of Christ as they do on the theories of godless academics.
They claim that CRT is the “best tool” for fighting racism, and yet it offers no solution to the problem of racism. First, CRT claims that racism is a systemic and inherent problem in America, and then it proceeds to offer no solution to the supposed system of oppression and no redemption for those that are supposedly inherently racist. The pseudo-solution it does offer—a complete dismantling of America’s republican democracy in favor of a socialistic government—only breeds more division and suffering.
Even if a totalitarian government could make everyone conform to an outward venire of anti-racism, the government could never change people’s minds. For all the progress that America has made legally and even socially in the area of racism, no amount of government programs can touch the heart of the issue—the human heart. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” The reason we see racism in America today is not that it is systemic within America; the reason is that it is endemic to the human heart. Because of our heart condition, every person of every color has the inclination toward pride, prejudice, and hatred. As Romans 3:10-11 say, “There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.” The only solution to a corrupt heart is a transformed heart. In Ezekiel 36:26, God promised, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.” How can this heart transplant take place? This is the purpose for which God sent His Son Jesus Christ to take our sins upon Himself on the cross (I Peter 2:24). When he died, the payment for our sin was paid in full. When He rose again the third day, our victory over sin was won forever. All we have to do in order to claim that victory is believe that Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection was enough to win that victory for us.
The very essence of the gospel is the sufficiency of Christ’s work to save us from sin. Matthew 1:21 states clearly that this was the purpose of His work, “for he [Jesus] shall save his people from their sins.” Not only does Jesus save us from the consequences of our sins in eternity, but He also saves us from the power of sin in the present. According to Romans 6:20-22, “For when ye were servants to sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants of God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.” The victory Christ won for us means that we have a new ability to say no to sin and to say yes to righteousness. This new ability comes from the Holy Spirit’s power. Romans 8:11 says, “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” In other words, the same power that resurrected Jesus can help us defeat sin (including racism) in our lives. If we believe that Jesus died and resurrected, but do not accept that what He did was enough to save us from sin, then we have not accepted the gospel. The very essence of the gospel is that Jesus is enough. It is as simple as that!
So, should Christians embrace any aspects of CRT in order to eradicate racism? Not if we believe in the sufficiency of the gospel. While CRT puts the emphasis on superficial differences (like skin color) and offers superficial solutions (like more government), the gospel emphasizes our common Creator (God) and our common Savior (Jesus Christ). The gospel gets to the heart of the issue—a transformed heart indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. Only when we clear away all the stodgy academic theories and cut to the heart of the issue will we resolve our differences and find genuine, lasting peace as a Church and as a nation.
[1] Jonathan Butcher and Mike Gonzalez. “Critical Race Theory, the New Intolerance, and Its Grip on America.” The Heritage Foundation, December 7, 2020, https://www.heritage.org/civil-rights/report/critical-race-theory-the-new-intolerance-and-its-grip-america.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Dr. Neil Shenvi. “Intro to Critical Theory.” Shenvi Apologetics, 2021, https://shenviapologetics.com/intro-to-critical-theory/.
[4] This is a direct quote from Mr. Mike Gonzalez’s lecture on Identity Politics for the Heritage Academy.
[5] Dr. Neil Shenvi. “Critical Race Theory and Christianity.” Shenvi Apologetics, 2021, https://shenviapologetics.com/critical-race-theory-and-christianity/.
[6] Thomas Sowell. Discrimination and Disparities. (New York, NY: Hachette Book Group, 2019), 59.
[7] Thomas Sowell. The Quest for Cosmic Justice. (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2002), 6. See https://www.hoover.org/research/quest-cosmic-justice.
[8] Georg Schroeder. “Seminary presidents reaffirm BFM, declare CRT incompatible.” Baptist Press, November 30, 2020, https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/seminary-presidents-reaffirm-bfm-declare-crt-incompatible/.
[9] Mark Markuly and Edward Donalson III. “Southern Baptist Convention makes poor decision on racism.” Tennessean, January 21, 2021, https://www.tennessean.com/story/opinion/2021/01/21/southern-baptist-convention-makes-poor-decision racism/4201688001/?itm_medium=recirc&itm_source=taboola&itm_campaign=internal&itm_content=SectionFrontFeed-FeedRedesign
[10] Ibid.