By Zac Adam
Our Dilemma
Pointing fingers always comes before pointing guns.
It’s no small thing. Humanity by and large has suffered now for centuries under the weight of its own treachery and vice. Desperate for peace and haunted by violence, the idea that man needs salvation is not novel and not controversial. Yet as you might have guessed, people disagree sharply over what plagues us and what remedy is able to cure our most dreadful condition. Chants of racism, inequality, injustice, and white privilege fill the air and portray America, not as a beacon of opportunity, but as a cauldron of cruelty—unfit to remain in existence. And while there may be aspects of truth mixed in with these cries for revolution, our problem is actually much deeper than even most realize. We are starting to believe that hate can drive out hate, and that’s a very dangerous place to be.
I will make the case that there are two competing views at war with one another this moment over the soul of the West and that racism is being used as a pawn to destabilize society in this aggravated clash of attrition. Both sides offer a remedy, but only one of them can deliver us a cure. Christ and Marx are at odds and our choosing which one to follow will decide the fate of the Free World.
First, Marx
There is a narrative we’re being prodded to accept. And that narrative is this, “Our world is comprised entirely of two groups—those who have been oppressed and their oppressors.” According to the people who know better, such is the lens through which we must gaze in order to comprehend and better this troubled world we call home. Only when the last oppressor is made subservient to the dictates of the wounded shall the earth be truly and finally free to dwell in that blissful aura of state-sanctioned, compulsory peace we’ve all been longing for—the Communist Utopia (#kumbaya). But on a serious note—the aim of Marxism is Communism, a society where all are touted as equals and equally share in the fruits of their collective labor. It just so happens that everywhere it’s been tried, people starved and guns have been necessary to keep morale in a good place.
So draw your own conclusions.
The Godfather of these ideas of course is Karl Marx. Building off of Hagel, Marx surmised that such a society could only come about via class conflict, where dissatisfaction would inevitably culminate in an uprising of the dejected and disadvantaged—in his mind, the workers. And such struggles would continue until that which makes for disparity between people is no more.
To the Marxist, most (if not all) of society’s woes are the result of manifest greed; and so the remedy is not to address the heart that lusts for material over-abundance, but to socially engineer uniformity so that nobody has any more or any less than their neighbor.
It’s no coincidence that the majority of those who champion such a doctrine are atheistic. If you believe this world is all there is, that Heaven is not in your future, you’ll demand it now. Feasibility doesn’t matter, it’s now or never.
But what, you ask, does Karl Marx have to do with white privilege, racism, and social justice?
Well, Marxism relates to racism in much the same way that gasoline relates to fire. Gas doesn’t start the fire, but it sure doesn’t help matters once you have one.
Marx preached a damning gospel. By supposing that unvarnished equality is the goal and waits for humanity on the other side of bitter insurrection, Karl Marx allowed already sinful people to conclude that those things which breed contention amongst men no longer have to be viewed as hindrances to progress, but rather its servant. An idea not lost on later Marxist thinker Antonio Gramsci, who proposed that economic grievances alone weren’t enough to topple capitalism, but that society would change as a result of many grieved parties coalescing to undermine and attack the cultural makeup which keeps capitalism alive—and only then could revolution win the day. What this has morphed into is basically the notion that any conglomeration of people with a felt grief can converge to unseat anyone else they deem responsible for their sorrow, and all can be done under the banner of driving society forward into a future free from the kind of tyranny that gave us smartphones and the Tesla Roadster. Therefore, as tensions rise, whatever engenders more animosity is encouraged as a means of disrupting the established order; and few issues are more contentious than those issues surrounding ethnic hate (aka racism)—especially given our checkered past in that area.
Further, because Marx redefined oppression to include more than blatant acts of malice and partiality, racism too became susceptible to the same revision. And now to be racist might mean something as trivial as not knowing how to cut someone’s hair the right way or as ghastly as buying a house in Suburbia.
Granted, there are real and serious injustices which do occur, especially along socioeconomic and sometimes ethnic lines. For instance, it’s common knowledge that children born to wed parents are exponentially more likely to live productive lives, free from lawless ventures and marked by financial self-sufficiency. And since the implementation of the War on Poverty Act in 1964, which offers clear incentives for expecting–unwed couples not to marry, the percentage of children born out of wedlock has more than quintupled—ravaging the poorest of our communities and greasing the grade one must tread to be free from generational, abject poverty.
That’s not to say that institutionalized ethnic-bias doesn’t still exist, but it’s at least one example of how good intentions and not conspiratorial suppression has resulted in suffering for a great many people—much of them minority. All that to point out, not everything that’s being condemned as racist these days is in fact a result of racism.
In no way do I suggest that we give up investing in communities that struggle with poverty or hold back from stomping out real prejudice when it rears its ugly head, but let’s not make the solution worse than the problem. Perpetuating racially charged narratives will only end in more hatred. Supposing income equality is achievable and morally justified will only breed envy and encourage chaos. And much to the chagrin of Marx and his zealous devotees, there’s no Utopia waiting on the other side of that horizon. Ask Ukraine.
Human nature is far too fallen to get along like that. Political opportunists will always see such contentions as an occasion to gain bureaucratic clout because they recognize how easy it is to manipulate people when order breaks down. That’s why you’ll often see Marxist ideas espoused by people who would have much to lose if Communism were actually achieved, because it’s not actually about equality—it’s about power.
Marxism is not popular because it is virtuous. Rather, its popularity is due to its effectiveness at weaponizing social divisions for the purpose of empowering the dividers.
Don’t fall for it.
The reason white people today in mass find themselves fixed in the cultural crosshairs is in no way due to widespread, active, and malicious suppression of anyone, but because the turmoil created by agreeing on a common villain is politically expedient for those wanting to transform a nation. It’s a blame game—with interested parties stirring public emotions until eventually both sides “cry uncle” and give in to the leadership of power-hungry despots, just so they can have a judge—someone to arbitrate their raging hatred for one another.
And this may come as a shock to you, but a movement that relies on hostility to get off the ground and achieve its ends might not be the best suitor for ending hostility; especially something as hostile as racism.
But there’s a better Way.
Now Christ
The Biblical worldview speaks powerfully to the issue of race and the Bible’s central message changes hearts and blesses nations.
It’s hard to be a racist if you only believe there’s one race—human that is. Unlike Darwinism (the predominant secular theory on origins and held in large part by Marx himself), the Biblical view of humanity suggests that God created man unique from the animals in His own image (to image Him), and that because humanity as a whole is distinguished from the rest of the creatures by being thus made, humankind’s worth is therefore tied to God and not anything in the creature. This is important because evolutionists insist that humanity arrived on the scene after many millions of years existing in the form of organisms that bear absolutely no resemblance to ourselves and that in a million more years it’s completely plausible that humanity will fracture and evolve into yet weirder creatures still.
Darwinists would say that evolution has no intended goal and that fitness and survivability do not equal superiority. However, when you compare Bonobos and their excrement projectiles with our F-22 Raptor and its ridiculous armament, you can begin to understand why some people (#coughhitlercoughcough) have concluded that some species, some races could very well evolve to a point of superiority over their fellow animals. Evolutionary thought provides the intellectual warrant for treating some humans as inferior and some as superior. But don’t take my word for it, hear Darwin in his own words:
“At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilised races of man will almost certainly exterminate and replace throughout the world the savage races. At the same time the anthropomorphous apes, as Professor Schaaffhausen has remarked, will no doubt be exterminated. The break will then be rendered wider, for it will intervene between man in a more civilised state as we may hope, than the Caucasian and some ape as low as a baboon, instead of as at present between the negro or Australian and the gorilla.”
—Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man (pg. 105)
So yeah, racism leads to racism.
I can hear it now, “Oh, so you just think that race doesn’t matter or is made up? Are you colorblind bro?”
Far from it. People who live together for generations tend to look like each other (pigment, clothing, etc.), act like each other, and even talk like each other. We call that culture. And as a Christian, I’m completely free to recognize and enjoy the benign and exquisite differences between people of all cultures, without having to pretend that we’re all “the same” or deduce that one’s intrinsic value could be tarnished by the company they keep or who happens to be their forefathers.
“And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth.”
—Acts 17:26a
A Christian-racist is an oxymoron in all regards. We are a multicultural race of sinful creatures who desperately need the reconciliation that only God can offer—and has. A society that can’t bring itself to affirm that truth will forever exist as a boundless well of bitterness and rivalry.
What’s the Way forward? If Marxism can’t fix us, what can?
The only Reparation capable of bringing harmony to our hatred and bridging the extraordinary divide that’s been our modus operandi since enmity devoured Abel, is that wonderful Word which says “forgiven.” Which said “It is finished.”
We have scars.
People really do hate each other and it’s been that way for a very, very long time. Though peace between us cannot be achieved without opening our eyes to the fact that we are all one race, that’s not enough. Our darkened hearts would find something else to divide over the very next day. No matter who we decide is at fault today for the ills that plague our land, we will wake up to more ills tomorrow because we together are the problem, not any one group or any one person—if you want to know why society is so messed up, look in the mirror.
Since we all have a share in the blame for humanity’s evident sorrow, the only way forward is to forgive one another; and to keep forgiving. There are hurts that can’t be mended by raising your fist or kneeling in solidarity. Deep, sad, excruciating wrongs that simply won’t resolve with even our best efforts at righting them. It’s another hard pill to swallow, but atonement for our sins just cannot come from our hands—we require more.
From Adam’s trespasses in the Garden to now, how do you pay back all the murders? All the rapes? The negligence, lies, exterminations, and molestations? How would you rectify infanticide? Cutting the cord and then slicing the throat of a beautiful, helpless child?
Wrath. That’s how.
The reason throwing money at injustice or painting words in the street doesn’t do the job is because the tragedies committed need fiery vengeance to find their resolution. And none of us are quite capable of administering that kind of justice—especially when the offenders are nowhere to be found, and even more so when we are the offending party.
“For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
—Hebrews 10:30-31
The good news is, no sinful deed will go unpunished. The bad news is, no sinful deed will go unpunished. When the Bible says that God is holy and will punish sin, it doesn’t mean only the “really bad” sins, it means all sin. Because to a holy God, all sins are “really bad.” So, what would you give up to escape such a judgement? Would you treat people better? Would you give financially to aid those in poverty? Would you stop lying so much, or cursing?
What if I told you, behaving better may keep you from going into further debt, but does absolutely nothing for the sin-debt you’ve accrued to the present? Because nothing you do in the future can erase what you’ve done in the past, you’re stuck with filthy garments—unfit for Heaven’s courts. Stalin’s may be black as the night and yours like smoldering ash, but if nobody changes their clothes, just forward all mail to Lake of Fire, P.O. Box 666.
It’s a good thing God is as merciful as He is. You get clean garments, and they’ll cost you nothing because they already cost Christ everything.
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
—2 Corinthians 5:21
The Bible says a lot of things, but the primary focus is that God has come in the flesh to save us for Himself. That He offers to wipe our slate clean, never to collect dirt again; and He made that forgiveness possible by taking our place, suffering Hell to win us Paradise—eternal life with God, as His child and friend.
And what you would have exchanged for that out of fear, He lets you give out of gratitude. That’s how the world will change. With hearts redeemed—purchased in a rescue—by God. Any Christian will count it a small cost to forgive any wrong done by any person when that cost is measured against the incredible debt he or she has already received pardon for on account of Jesus. When people have a reason to forgive one another, societies can heal. Nothing is owed, the debt has already been paid—with blood.
Blame shifting christened our rebellion, & shifted blame sealed our redemption. Lean into that and watch God work.
Hallelujah!