S8 Willy Woke and the Chocolate Factory

E3 What’s Inside the Trojan Horse?

In his allegorical story called Animal Farm, George Orwell writes, “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.”[1] The animals on a particular farm were rebelling against the concept that humans did not distribute resource, opportunity, and privilege equally. In pursuit of Comrade Napoleon’s vision of an egalitarian world – where all animals can be equal – the livestock passionately rebel against the human power structure.

However, it isn’t long before the animals (particularly successors to pigs like Napoleon) realize this type of utopian society is not productive or even achievable. So, the pigs end up having more rights to resource, opportunity, and privilege over lesser animals; thereby reflecting the world of humans they had rebelled against in the first place. Hence, Orwell’s satirical note of contradiction that equality is not equity.

Though Orwell was telling a story, he was also explaining the consequence of Marxism. Remember that thought as you read this blog because it’s going to be a thoroughly challenging read, especially to the individuals that think the Gospel is social justice. 

Let’s begin.   

Today, in the world of Willy Woke and the Chocolate Factory there is a woke uprising to achieve a similar utopia vision of Animal Farm by rebelling against a world that does not distribute resource, opportunity, and privilege equally. It’s a distortion of social justice.   

It brings to mind what J. D. Salinger humorously said, “All you have to do is say something nobody understands, and they'll do practically anything you want them to.”[2] Like Comrade Napoleon, if you want to get people to follow your vision of a better (woke) world, the key is to be passionate and rousing, while at the same time, imprecise about the trigger words being used. In short, be loud, emotional, and ambiguous! 

So, what exactly is meant by an exaggeration of social justice?

It sounds like an acceptable parlance and something Jesus would have said, right? It’s actually a term that has been around for a while but recently tossed out there by Willy Woke without clear definition, much like Comrade Napoleon’s vision of a world without humans. It was not that long ago when the simple act of defining terms was essential to civil dialogue, reason, logic, or in simpler terms ‘intelligent communication’. I use the word ‘simple’ because definitions are derived from a broad understanding of words, not an individual’s intentions. I’m not playing around with semantics but making a point that exaggerated social justice is thrown out there without clarity.

It is broadly defined today “in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society.”[3] But remember, the Bible defines justice in a very different way. I will come to that shortly. For now, the exaggeration of social justice is all about the redistribution of wealth, opportunities, and privilege. Therefore, it is very clear and unambiguous in its definition. It addresses social issues of the state. Consequently, social justice, as it is currently defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, is actually Marxist.[4]

Let’s go a little further into the definition to avoid Salinger’s hypothesis.

If the exaggeration of social justice is all about the distribution of wealth, opportunity, and privilege, it must deal with groups not individuals. I can understand that in terms of the Croatian War of Independence (1991-1995), Rwanda Civil War (April-July 1994), War in Afghanistan (since 1978) Somali Civil War (since 1989), or Yemen Civil War (since 2015). These, and more, are harsh social realities. But here in the US, it is the expression of our social experiences, not the actual reality of them. It’s all about how I feel about my experiences, not the reality of them or any valid and reliable data that supports what I feel. It’s all about what I feel, sense, or observe in my social experiences.      

This is nothing new. In 1989, American feminist scholar Peggy Macintosh wrote her essay, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack covering fifty examples, or hidden benefits, of the privilege white people experience in everyday life. But Macintosh has no footnotes and no list of sources cited. It is pure observation. It is an expression of her experience. And yet, it is considered a seminal and authoritative paper on white privilege used in high schools and higher education across the US today. I find it remarkable how what people feel about their observations can become authoritative, right?

So, the exaggeration of social justice functions like a Trojan Horse. It looks like a great idea – like Comrade Napoleon’s vision or Macintosh’s essay – but inside that idea is an ideology firmly built on the concept of critical theory. Such a theory approaches the world by assessing and critiquing society to reveal power structures and then to challenge them. Can you see that the Trojan Horse is anything but ambiguous? The ideology that waits inside is very specific in its demand for equity derived from equality as it challenges society. Ironically, the Trojan Horse that is an exaggeration of social justice looks remarkably Christian, but its Marxist (see footnote 4). 

Let’s explore that.

Equality is about being treated equally under the law regardless of race, gender, age, and so on. This is good. But equity is cleverly derived from equality. Equity is all about identifying disadvantaged groups, assessing the social and economic outcomes of those groups, assigning blame for any disparate outcomes, and finally redistributing wealth, opportunity, and privilege thereby addressing inequity in society. Can you see how equity is cleverly derived from equality? According to critical theory, some groups are to blame for the outcomes of other groups because, “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.” A classic and current example is white privilege is to blame for people of color not having access to the same wealth and opportunity. By adding elements to the simple concept of equality you quickly have social and economic equity. They are not the same thing.  

Defunding the police was an outcome by assigning blame to law enforcement. Removing classic literature off the shelves in schools is another. Teaching pre-pubescent children that they can choose their gender is another. Reducing language to how an individual wants to assign meaning that or that word is another…and so on. The Trojan Horse is not what it seems.

Abortion, human trafficking, child welfare, gun control, climate control, eradicating poverty, the right to vote, immigration, refugees, racial injustice, equal pay, healthcare and more, come through the doors of the church like a Trojan Horse. But inside the horse waits a demanding ideology.      

Challenging power structures is part of who we are as humans. It’s what we have done since God created Adam, or more precisely, since Adam and Eve went the way of Comrade Napoleon in rebellion against God. But remember the Trojan Horse of exaggerated social justice has a powerful ideology inside it that goes beyond challenging power structures to assigning blame for disadvantaged groups demanding a redistribution of wealth, opportunity, and privilege

Who is to blame?

Well, it was the police until defunding them opened the floodgates to rising crime. It was also any institution with gender or racial bias until the people in the hiring process realized they could not be legitimately blind to gender or race.[5] There are so many more groups that have been blamed. A significant outcome is reparation for black Americans.

According to Voddie Baucham Jr in his recent book Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism’s Looming Catastrophe,[6] there is a new target on the horizon where growing blame is being assigned: white, male, cisgender, able bodied, native born, Christian.

If Baucham is correct, inside the Trojan Horse is an ideology that must oppose Christianity. The irony emerges when the Christian Church begins marching to the beat of exaggerated social justice instead of the Gospel. Like the ancient Trojans, Christianity can be duped into thinking social justice is actually the Gospel. It is not.

What, then, is the Gospel?

I think the late R. C. Sproul explained the Gospel a way that avoids cultural control centering on a biblical definition:

The gospel is called the ‘good news’ because it addresses the most serious problem that you and I have as human beings, and that problem is simply this: God is holy and He is just, and I’m not. And at the end of my life, I’m going to stand before a just and holy God, and I’ll be judged. And I’ll be judged either on the basis of my own righteousness–or lack of it–or the righteousness of another. The good news of the gospel is that Jesus lived a life of perfect righteousness, of perfect obedience to God, not for His own well-being but for His people. He has done for me what I couldn’t possibly do for myself. But not only has He lived that life of perfect obedience, He offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice to satisfy the justice and the righteousness of God.”[7]

On one hand, if the Gospel is sola fide (justification by faith alone), then clearly the exaggeration of social justice is not the Gospel. We don’t save people in order to save ourselves. Paul was very clear (1 Corinthians 15) that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures and was raised on the third day. The outcome of that universal sacrifice is something we could not do for ourselves.

On the other hand, exaggerating social justice is highly politicized and good for certain groups, but not for others. It is not about ‘building the Kingdom of God’ or ‘transforming culture’. However, I think Thaddeus Williams provokes some interesting thought by saying, “social justice, while not the gospel, isn’t optional for Christians”[8]

A quick read of Leviticus 19; 25; Isaiah 1; 58; Jeremiah 22; Amos 5; Micah 6; Matthew 25:31-46; and Luke 4 leaves no doubt that God cares for the poor, the oppressed, and the vulnerable through His people. Throughout Scripture there are also plenty of warnings against treating the helpless with cruelty and disrespect.

Therefore, to “do justice” (Micah 6:8) is not an option, but as a biblical category it is not synonymous with how I feel and what I believe is good for the world. “Doing justice means following the rule of law, showing impartiality, paying what you promised, not stealing, not swindling, not taking bribes, and not taking advantage of the weak because they are too uninformed or unconnected to stop you.”[9] No doubt this is a harsh reality of today’s society, but the response is not social justice, it is justice described in the Bible and Lived out by Christians.

I see more church leaders today allowing cultural concerns drive their pulpit ministry away from proclaiming the birth, life, ministry, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, thereby proclaiming what we could not possibly do for ourselves. Though Jesus himself gave us Holy Communion (Eucharist) to remember what God has completely done for us, we have replaced it with performative and theatrical worship. Is it any wonder we not only forget the inherent power in the Gospel as good news for all creation, but we also forget how to truly worship? I will leave this aspect of worship for another blog. 

In conclusion.

Is the church called to do social justice? No, not as it is currently defined and practiced. The church is called to “do justice” (Micah 6:8) because we are “created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). And we must remember that “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27). We must not interpret these (and many more) verses as social justice as an agenda or program for the church.

But remember, the church is not an expression of Marxism whose business is the redistribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. It is firstly and most importantly to proclaim what God has done for us that we couldn’t possibly do for ourselves. That Jesus lived that a life of perfect obedience offering Himself as a perfect sacrifice to satisfy the justice and the righteousness of God.”[10]

Have we become so bored with the Gospel to the degree that social justice is now more important so we can ‘take the city’ ‘transform the culture’ and ‘establish the kingdom’? Perhaps we need to take heed of Salinger’s words, “All you have to do is say something nobody understands, and they'll do practically anything you want them to.”

[1] George Orwell, Animal Farm (1944).

[2] J. D. Salinger, Catcher in the Rye (1951).

[3] Oxford Dictionary Online 2021.

[4] Marxism is a political and economic theory where a society has no classes. Founded by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, every person within the society works for a common good, and class struggle is theoretically gone. Sounds simple right? However, many horror movies and dystopian novels/movies are written/produced based on trying to create a classless, utopian society.

 

[5] It is my personal opinion that people should be hired on merit, competence, character and so on. I do not believe organizations should be forced to hire people based on religion, race, gender, age, or anything else inherent.

[6] Voddie Baucham Jr. Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism’s Looming Catastrophe (2021)

[7] R. C. Sproul, https://www.ligonier.org/blog/what-is-the-gospel/

[8] Thaddeus Williams, https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2021/january-february/thaddeus-williams-confronting-injustice-compromising-truth.html

[9] Kevin DeYoung, Is Social Justice a Gospel Issue? Gospel Coalition September 11, 2018.

[10]         R. C. Sproul, https://www.ligonier.org/blog/what-is-the-gospel/