The world is full of injustice; monsters of men love to hurt, kill, and destroy. Christian teaching stands diametrically opposed to such injustice. Today we have something called “social justice” that seems to stand sided-by-side of biblical justice. Originally, social justice may have been authentic justice applied to society, as some argue (such as Jerry Bowyer). Now, however, the phrase has become a buzzword for the societal cult of wokness. This cult has washed over society’s largest Western institutions and is threatening the core underpinnings of our society.

First, what is the Cult of Wokeness? 

This cult of wokism is born out of Critical Race Theory and often described as identity socialism, grief studies, or Culture Marxism. Critical Race Theory itself grew out of postmodern, Marxist and post-Marxist thought. While Marxism highlights the “conflict theory” of wealth disparities, wokism adds any number of other inequalities. For example, inequalities in race, sex, class, gender, age, ability, and religion are highlighted. The list goes on and on to identify inequity after inequity, and group after subgroup.

Any disparity is often explained as caused by racism (or any other “ism”). Disparities are placed in those boxes, even if they don’t fit, while other reasons for the disparities are ignored.

As in Marxism and Nazism, in woke ideology, one’s group identity is more important than one’s individual identity. Group power disparities, not individual disparities, are magnified. Groups with such power are said to be the cultural hegemony. Groups categorized as the dominant, or the hegemony, are said to be the oppressors. Groups who are said to have historically held power in Western society are said to have created systems of oppression and are the “oppressor” groups. For example, Christian, old, rich, white, male heterosexuals are the “oppressor group.” Contrariwise, the “oppressed” powerless groups consist of people who have been held back, such as young, poor, black, female and LGBTQ individuals.

A group’s moral authority is dependent upon their group’s oppression level compared with other groups. Victims are more or less “morally pure” and are less capable of doing wrong. The reverse is also true; moral guilt belongs to the oppressors. You are often viewed as intrinsically guilty if you reside in the “oppressor” groups. Remember, your moral status is based upon your group you are in, not your behavior. If someone is morally pure because sin doesn’t mean sin for them, the Gospel has been undermined and a Savior is unnecessary.

This is why leftists almost never condemn violent groups like Black Lives Matter (BLM) and Antifa. Since being black (both in skin tone and in political views, see next paragraph) means one experiences greater “oppression,” it also means your moral authority rises. If BLM and Antifa groups terrorize the streets, they are given a pass. This is why “blacks” (unless they are dark skinned conservatives or authentic Christians) can’t do bad things, even if they riot, commit vandalism, etc.

As noted above, your political views and religious affiliation will change your level of moral authority. The oppression status of a disabled, poor, black woman is stripped if she is politically conservative, a Christian, opposed to socialism, opposed to radical environmentalism, or opposed to LGBTQ behavior.

Since we as individuals have not fallen ourselves, even if in the oppressor class, the problem is social and structural. Just like in Marxism and Nazism, the solution is always the collective such as societal or state solutions. For example, I’m not racist myself, but since I’m in white (thus in the white group), I’m racist because of systemic racism. “Antiracists” like Robin DiAngelo would say that black people can’t be racists because of the group they reside in.

The more oppression groups you happen to reside in, the more moral authority you have (and vice versa). Overlapping of “inequalities” is called “intersectionality.” Think of it as a Venn Diagram of oppression or oppressor categories. For example, a Christian, white, rich man is high up on the oppressive scale because he checks so many of the “oppressor” boxes. A queer, black, disabled woman is the opposite; she is way up in the oppressed scale because of the many “oppressed” groups she resides in.

The less “oppressed” you are, the less you understand the struggles of the oppressed groups. In other words, “oppressed” groups have special knowledge and credibility that the “oppressors” don’t have. Thus, if you are in an oppressor class, you are expected to listen and empathize, but not comment. This is why people are shouted down. This is why many conservative, classical liberals and classical feminists speakers are shouted down on college campuses. A great example is the sign that went up at the so-called “George Floyd Square” in Minneapolis, Minnesota that addresses white people only. The rules for white people demanded that they “decenter” themselves (https://nypost.com/2021/04/22/sign-at-george-floyd-square-has-list-of-orders-for-white-visitors/):

“Decenter yourself and come to listen, learn, mourn, and witness. Remember you are here to support, not to be supported.”

“Be mindful of whether your volume, pace, and movements are supporting or undermining your efforts to decenter yourself.”

“Seek to contribute to the energy of the space, rather than drain it. Bring your own processing to other white folks so that you will not harm [black, indigenous, and people of color].”

“Consider if you want or need to take photos and post them. Do not take photos of other people without their consent.”

“If you witness white folks doing problematic things, speak up with compassion to take the burden [off of] Black folks and our siblings of color whenever appropriate. Seek to engage rather than escalate, so that it can be a learning moment rather than a disruption.”

Twisted  Justice 

Woke social justice is a tool used by the woke crowd that is said to right the inequities and correct the scale between the oppressed and the oppressor. Woke equity doesn’t mean impartial distribution of justice, as it traditionally meant. It rather means a partial distribution of everything so that everyone has the same outcome. In other words, it doesn’t mean equality of opportunity, rather it means equality of outcome. Money or power or both should be taken from those who have and given to those who have not, regardless of how one’s power or money came about (ethically or unethically). “Oppressor” groups are to be demoted and groups like non-white, female, LGBTQ, socialist, non-Christian, etc. are to be promoted to increase “equity.” These concepts can be seen in Howard Zinn’s book that your children are probably assigned to read in public school. Being a Marxist, he is always slamming “Christians” who are the “rich and powerful.”

Sexual ethics are also twisted. Promoting biblical sexuality is now wrong, and promoting LGBTQ ideas, behavior, and practices is now good. Right has become wrong, and wrong has become right. The biblical virtue of impartiality is oppressive and replaced with the partiality of “anti-racism.” Let me be clear, the “anti-racism” is not opposed to racism, rather it promotes wokness. Instead of judging people by the content of their character, people are judged by their skin tone (remember, being labeled black or white can also indicate your political position as well). It then promotes racist policies and ideas, such as affirmative action and the above mentioned “George Floyd Square” sign.

Woke social justice, because of the twisted justice promoted, often ignores and even promotes true injustice and disparities. For example, what about justice for innocent preborn babies that are sentenced to death? Remember, woke social justice fights for abortion by labeling abortion as “reproductive justice!” What about children who are disproportionately impacted by broken families and family break down? What about the injustice of the porn industry, not only for the actors but innocent children who are exposed to it? Also, where is the outcry of injustice of the rampant pedophilia in the public school system by the woke crowd (see the work of researcher Charol Shakeshaft). Is it because the public school system is the indoctrination camps for woke ideology? While we hear of black people being disproportionately represented in prison populations, where is the outcry that most of the prison population are male? Is it because men have so-called privilege? Also, why do men in broken relationships have a disproportionately less authority in decision making in the lives of their children? Fathers are often blocked from abortion decisions. Where is the outcry?

Under woke social justice, we all are dehumanized into fragmented subgroups. What defines you is your skin tone, your ethnic background, your sexuality, your age, and your body size. You are dehumanized from being a whole person into a shattering . Your privilege is scored by the groups you are placed into. Instead of looking at you as a total person, you are broken up into parts and each part is something that identifies you as something society should either help you with or actively fight against.

The Immorality of Woke and Woke Social Justice

Below are common woke social justice ideas that you will see promoted in culture.

1. Dismantle and disruption: Woke social justice calls for the dismantling and disruption of Western Civilization. Remember, Western Civilization was born out of the Christian worldview. The real target is the Christian worldview.
2. Theft: Woke social justice comes out of critical race theory, which itself has Marxist roots. This is why social justice advocates promote “wealth redistribution,” which is a fancy way of saying stealing wealth from some and giving it to others: which is theft on a grand scale.
3. Destruction of the nuclear family: While “wealth redistribution” that underpins the welfare state sounds charitable, it tears down civilization, encourages state dependency, rejects self-responsibility, and destroys the nuclear family.
4. Idolatry: Often you will hear the phrase social justice in the green movement. It so happens, however, that the radical green environmentalist movement has become nature worship. A pristine, un-impacted-by-human world is seen as optimal.
5. Anti-human: While God tasked humans to steward and fill the earth, the green movement teaches human impact is immoral. Cheap reliable energy, like fossil-fuels, nuclear power and hydropower, are denounced. Thus, life saving progress and technologies, like fossil-fuels used for clothing, shelter, transportation, refrigeration and healthcare, are unjust to the earth. However, the anti-fossil-fuel movement is actually racist, racist against the human race.
6. Racism: Woke social justice promotes real racism. MLK’s dream society of judging others by character and not skin tone is rejected for sectarian racial division. Instead of reconciliation and “color-blindness,” light-skinned people are pitted against dark-skinned people. In addition, while denouncing Western Civilization, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture created an infographic titled “Whiteness & White Culture.” It says that things like independence, the nuclear family, rational thought, hard work, respect for authority, attractiveness, decision-making, and politeness are “whiteness” and “white culture.” Are they saying the opposite is “black culture?” Is black culture defined as subservience, fragmented families, irrational thought, laziness, disrespect, ugliness, uncertainty, and rudeness? If so, that sounds racist to me!
7. Sexual immorality: Woke social justice claims “heteronormativity” is oppressive to LGBTQ people. To bring this “justice,” we need to elevate, promote, and try to normalize LGBTQ behavior. However, God is clear that LGBTQ behavior is immoral and we should not promote and advocate for it.
8. Murder: Woke social justice calls for “reproductive justice” and “woman’s right to control her own body.” These, however, are just glossy sounding phrases that advocate for and promote abortion. In other words, woke social justice fights for people to kill their own innocent, preborn babies! Just as socialism is legalized theft, abortion is legalized murder.
9. Censorship and compelled speech: Unwoke speech is labeled oppressive and actual violence. Since it is violence, it should not be argued with, rather it should be shouted down and physically fought against, if necessary. This is why we see the violence of Antifa, BLM, and other leftist groups being ignored and even promoted by powerful leftists.
10. Word redefinition: Along with the redefinition of the words “violence”, “justice”, and “racism”, other words have also received a definition overhaul. Words like rape, fascism, equity, tolerance, egalitarianism, and homophobia also have new definitions. It is ubiquitous of cults to redefine words, just like in the cult of wokesm.
11. Injustice: Strangely, woke social justice isn’t real justice. Instead of one standard of justice and righteousness for all, there are various standards for the “oppressed” and the “oppressor” groups. Instead of innocent until proven guilty, they promote partiality by assuming that the “oppressed” person is correct, even if there’s no evidence. Instead of blind justice for whoever you are, those with the wrong skin tone, those with the wrong amount of wealth, those with the wrong religious views, those of the wrong sex, and those with the wrong political views receive unjust outcomes in judgment.
12. Opposition to God’s order and authority: Woke social justice claims that there needs to be a hegemonic redistribution. In other words, they don’t like it that some people make the decisions for others. God happens to be the greatest “hegemonic power,” the highest in the hierarchy of authority. The same goes with the “patriarchy,” God is our Father, Lord, and King. Thus, it is no surprise that they despise God and His Word. In other words, God is the greatest slap in the face of woke social justice.

Biblical Justice 

Justice, in the Judeo-Christian framework, is often used alongside other words like righteous and right judgment. It seems to be defined as conformity to or an alignment with God’s moral law and judgment upon sin. Thus, justice is a moral problem, not a social problem, and the standard is God, not human equity and leftism. In the judicial sense, leaders are commanded to be even-handed, impartial, objective, without prejudice, and to judge without taking bribes. Humanity has common parents, Adam and Eve, and as brothers and sisters, we are to judge rightly. In other words, as we learn in Leviticus 19:15, God doesn’t want a perversion of justice and unfair judgment. In 1 Samuel 16:6-7, we are taught that God doesn’t look at the outward appearance, rather he looks at the heart. We are called to do the same.

While biblical justice is at the forefront of championing the innocent, the downtrodden, the weak, the poor, the widow and the orphan, it doesn’t give one’s “oppression” status as an excuse for that person to do evil or to have a different standard of judgment. We are not to show favoritism to the rich (James 2:1-13) nor are we to show favoritism to the poor (Exodus 23:3). In other words, we are called to refrain from showing partiality or respect for people because of economic status.

In addition, we are commanded to not show partiality concerning national origins (Acts 10:34-35, 1 Timothy 2:4, Romans 2:9-11). In an exaggerated sense, in Christ there are no ethnic divisions (Colossians 3:11, Galatians 3:28). In other words, ethnic groups, cultures, tribes, personal characteristics and ancestries may help us categorize the world, but they are irrelevant in our personal worth and equality in the sight of God as a human being.

In Christ, there is also no male or female. Yes, males and females have different physical attributes, abilities, and roles. However, we all are of equal value and worth before God (Galatians 3:28).

In general, God demands blindness to age, ethnic group, and sex, in the sense that it assumes all humans are equal in their status of humanness. This is why a consistent biblical worldview is opposed to partiality, slavery, and abortion. Also, the biblical worldview tempers authentic justice with mercy and forgiveness. In woke social justice, this is absent as can be seen with cancel-culture’s lack of mercy and lack of forgiveness.

Christianity’s Central Focus 

In conclusion, I want to point out one other item that I have yet to talk about. We have to remember that the core focus of Christianity is not and has never been to address social, political, and economic ills. Authentic Christianity has always put Christ and Him crucified at the center. Since Christ is the focus, a follower of Christ must show love, righteousness, goodness, justice, mercy, and forgiveness as fruit. This is why ethnic-based, chattel slavery has always been incompatible with Christianity. This is why Nazism has been, and will always be, incompatible with Christianity. The same goes for Communism, abortion, and sexual immorality.

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