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Giving Lip Service to Martin Luther King and The Civil Rights Movement

The American Charade

I find it quite interesting that a large portion of the American population has abandoned Martin Luther King's dream but still gives lip service to civil rights every year. What do I mean by that? Take a look at this quote from his speech "I Have A Dream":

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

Notice that Dr. King appeals to the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson (and the Declaration's signatories) understood that the idea that "all men are created equal" and that all people have intrinsic and equal rights and dignity (black lives matter, and so do all other lives) is completely dependent upon the truth of the claim that all humans are created in the Image of God. If that claim is false, then no humans have intrinsic or equal rights or dignity (black lives do not matter and neither do any other lives). As Americans continue to abandon God, they abandon the only foundation for intrinsic and equal human rights and dignity; they are abandoning the idea that black lives matter but are holding on to the phrase because everyone knows that the phrase conveys a truth about reality despite their philosophical denial of it. These Americans are playing a charade.

Quote from "Magna Carta of Humanity" by Os Guinness- "Where Sinai (and Jesus of Nazareth and his followers down through Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.) stand for love that drives out hate, just as light drives out darkness, the left perpetuates and exploits the hate and the darkness as its instruments of power."

Further, from Dr. King:

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

In today's cultural climate of identity politics, classification by skin color (ala Critical Race Theory [CRT]) is one of the many (illegitimate) ways that people are judged. This is explicitly what Dr. King said his dream was not. All those who support CRT have slapped Dr. King and the civil rights movement in the face. How?

In Critical Race Theory, "oppressed" and "oppressor" are defined by the immutable attribute of skin color. And only the "oppressed" can identify true oppression. If you have the skin color that is categorized as "oppressed," you literally cannot not be oppressed. Even if you don't feel like you're being oppressed and all actions around you and toward you are not oppressive, you are still oppressed. This is a victimhood trap that cannot be escaped. CRT places certain groups of people permanently under oppression with no escape from oppression and no hope of ever not being oppressed.

CRT gives lip service to racial reconciliation and healing, but it not only does not provide a mechanism for such reconciliation and healing, it conducts psychological warfare against every race that ensures that there is no possibility of reconciliation and healing. Critical Race Theory promotes hate and revenge among races. CRT is a trap for all races, not just the "oppressed" ones. It offers no escape, no hope, no healing, and no future.

Quote from "Magna Carta of Humanity" by Os Guinness- "Americans, including many on the progressive left, pay homage to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. but the chasm between Dr. King and the progressive left has grown vaster by the year. His ideal of the 'content of your character' matters little today. The highly racist color of your skin (or the sexist combination of your X and Y chromosomes and the ageist date of your birth) is everything."

The Record of History

History has already demonstrated what happens when a nation rejects such an idea and its foundations in the Holocaust. Unfortunately, it seems that this piece of history may be in preparation of being repeated as anti-Semitism is on the rise today, and CRT certainly has not way to stop it.

History has also demonstrated what happens when individuals say that they believe humans have equal and intrinsic rights then act inconsistently with such beliefs (many of America's founding fathers did have slaves). Once again, Dr. King:

"We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love."

The way of Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement is love and forgiveness not hate and revenge. What identity politics and critical race theory have done for America is pit group against group, race against race. Because it permanently labels people as "oppressed" and "oppressor," there is no path to forgiveness, reconciliation, cooperation, or love. Critical Race Theory offers nothing to achieve Martin Luther King's dream; in fact, it explicitly denies the goodness and rightness of Dr. King's dream and deliberately works against it to ensure that the dream is never realized.

Americans' Role in Stopping the Charade

It is time for Americans to take a stand against and a stand for. Against the ideas that will destroy any foundation for objective human rights, dignity, and intrinsic value (including atheism, identity politics, and all forms of critical theory). Against the ideas that promote hate and revenge. And for the truth of the reality that humans are created in God's Image, thus the reality that all humans have intrinsic value and equal rights and dignity. For the truth that love and forgiveness are the best way forward. For the fact that these are not merely opinions that are only as fashionable as those in power but are backed up by their reflection of reality.

The Church's Role in Stopping the Charade

While truth is true even if no one believes it, and falsehood is false even if everyone believes it, it is time that the Church takes the defenders of truth seriously (apologists). If Martin Luther King and the legacy of the Civil Rights movement is to be properly honored and maintained (and not just the terms used with different notions), the Church needs to present its case for the Truth to the world. Americans need to have confidence in the knowledge that all humans are created in God's Image, that it is not just a nice ideology that is as tenuous as the culture of the day (or minute with social media).

Conclusion- Martin Luther King's Legacy Is In Danger

If there is not a change in the heart of America, might will make right, not truth and not reality. Americans will become slaves to the power of culture's existential fancies. As long as Martin Luther King is useful to turn group against group, lip service will continue to be given in order to mask the "divide and conquer" strategy to maintain power and control against those who those in power despise. But once that pretense is no longer fashionable, Martin Luther King will be erased from the history books, and America will become the next perpetrator of human rights violations (again) against whichever groups of people are unpopular, hated, or despised at that moment.

For more on this I highly recommend these resources:

Introduction- Unconditional Love or Unconditional Affirmation?

It is increasingly becoming popular in culture to think that unconditional affirmation of one's thoughts about themselves (identity), whether objectively true or not, is a necessary feature of unconditional love. The idea is that if you claim to unconditionally love someone, you will always affirm their identity and celebrate every action and behavior that reinforces their identity. If you do not affirm and celebrate, then it is impossible for you to unconditionally love that person.

This cultural idea, though, is increasingly showing its intolerance of even the slightest disagreement, even among those who generally agree on a modern view of tolerance. Those who have championed this view for years are now finding themselves splitting from each other along the lines of sexual identity- not just what they prefer but what they are.

I believe that this newer cultural split and even the foundations of the modern tolerance movement are enabled due to a conflation between the meanings of "love" and "affirmation." Unless and until our culture distinguishes between them again, the modern tolerance movement will continue to splinter along ideological lines until every individual stands alone with neither the love nor affirmation of another.

"The Beauty of Intolerance: Setting A Generation Free to Know Truth & Love" by Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell

Introduction

A few years ago, Sean McDowell gave a talk at the AMP Conference called "The Beauty of Intolerance." In the talk, he spoke of two different views on tolerance that seem to be clashing in today's society. He explained how the differences explain much of the political rhetoric of "hate" and "phobias" and "intolerance." He focused specifically on the Church's speaking truth in love and how this view is actually the most tolerant. This talk has been one of my favorites for a while. I discovered shortly after I first saw the talk that Sean and his father, Josh McDowell, coauthored a book, "The Beauty of Intolerance," that went into the topic much deeper and focused on how Christian parents can effectively communicate moral truth to a morally relativistic generation. As a parent and one who defends the objectivity of morality (and, thus, the existence of God), this book was one I dare not pass on reading, which turns out was an excellent decision. Now, before I get to my usual chapter-by-chapter summary review and the remainder of my thoughts, here is the talk by Dr. Sean McDowell that originally caught my attention.

Introduction

How can you helplessly watch as a child dies from agonizing cancer? Doesn't the love you feel tell you that that suffering is evil and a God who is all loving and all powerful would rescue that child? How can God be all loving and all powerful if He allows such a child to suffer and die?

This is a challenge that is often raised by atheists to reject the God of the Bible. But today, I am not going to answer the atheist who raises the challenge as an armchair hypothetical that they have never experienced; instead I want to speak to the person who either has experienced this tragedy or is in the middle of it, and it causes them to be skeptical of the goodness and even existence of God.

This Is What Love Feels Like

But could God have a purpose for the pain that you feel? Before I get to that, please watch this tribute to those who have cared for a loved one at the end of their life: This Is What Love Feels Like, by dc Talk, inspired by Toby McKeehan's experience:

Knowing Love Through Suffering

Jesus knew the suffering that would take Him to His physical limits, yet He persisted and conquered: This was His love for you as He suffering the torture of crucifixion. If you have been taken to your limits through the suffering of a loved one, you know this love.

Without the suffering of a loved one, we would not know this love for someone else that takes us to our limits (and live to tell of it), what love truly feels like. Without the suffering of a loved one, we would not have the privilege of getting a trace of understanding of the depth of Christ's love for us that took Him to the end of His physical limits. Caring for a spouse, parent, or child as they leave this world has to be one of the most painful experiences, and we do not escape it unchanged by the suffering it has caused. We are wounded, but we can use those wounds to heal. We can become the wounded healer (see my post "The Wounded Healer: Finding Ultimate Purpose In Your Suffering" for more on this concept). And just as we are alive today to be wounded healers, Jesus conquered death through His bodily resurrection to be the Ultimate Wounded Healer that we point to.

While it is a privilege to experience what this kind of love feels like (though it comes at a great cost, just like it did for Christ), our experience only scratches the surface of the love that Christ has. And our experience is only one person (or maybe a few people in extremely tragic situations) at a time. But Jesus' love, as He suffered death, was not just for you or just for a few people, it was for every person (John 3:16).

Conclusion

We must not forget that our suffering in this life will come to an end. It is finite, and this finite suffering is not worth comparing to the infinite glory that will one day be revealed in us (Romans 8:18) and can be revealed in others to enjoy with us, if we are willing to be used by God to be wounded healers. Do not be discouraged. Our perfect God has a purpose for your suffering. Without Him, your experience is gratuitous pain with no purpose or meaning. But because God exists and Christ is resurrected from the dead, your experience is both purposeful and meaningful. Through your experience, God has blessed you with a deeper understanding of His love for you, and now He gives you the privilege to speak hope, life, love, meaning, and purpose to the brokenhearted suffering and struggling the same as you are.

Without God, Do We All "Bleed The Same"?- Introduction

Without God, the war against racism makes no sense at all. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. grounded his fight and mission in the fact that God exists, because he knew that without God, so many foundations of such a fight are nonexistent. I was recently made aware of this beautiful song by Mandisa (featuring TobyMac and Kirk Franklin) addressing the tensions that still plague America today. Please take the time to listen, then read below to see how nothing that moved your heart in this video can be explained unless Christianity is the true worldview.

What a beautiful song that should express the heart and desire of every human. However, unless the view promoted by the song has a foundation in reality, then our emotions are merely playing a trick on us to believe that something is true and noble when those are merely illusions. There are several foundations that disappear if Christianity is false, but I want to focus on three today:

Many people often complain that if God exists, He is entirely too hidden- He doesn't really want to be discovered or is not there to be discovered in the first place. I have written before that I believe that sometimes God's hiddenness is of value for bringing people to Him, for teaching people to trust Him and not rely so much on their own abilities (See "Pain, Suffering, and Evil" in left sidebar). Today, I want to briefly explore the possibility that God remains hidden as part of his mitigation and eventual overcoming of evil.

But before I get into that I want to make something clear about God's hiddenness- it can seem very subjective. I firmly believe that those who are truly looking for God will find evidence for Him everywhere- He is not hidden to those who are looking. These people are those who desire to work against their sin nature, to become more like God.

Last month philosopher and apologist Doug Groothuis posted a blog about background music in public. He's not a big fan of it. But this article got me thinking a bit about the reasoning behind such intrusive music.

It seems that background music is normally part of an "environment" or "experience" that is trying to be replicated. From being in Mexico (mexican restaurants complete with Mariachi Bands) to the fasion runway (hip clothing stores "runway" music blaring in the background), companies are trying to create "experiences" for people.

Our postmodern culture has a fascination with "experiences" and "experience" in general. Authenticity (or reality) does not occur to people in today's culture. The experiences that I'm talking about here are artificial and inauthentic (not the real thing). However, authenticity cannot be experienced as easily or frequently as these facades. Culture trades few experiences with the authentic for many experiences with the inauthentic. With constant bombardment of the inauthentic "experiences", we lose the ability to appreciate the authentic experience.

Going back to music in general, I've noticed that lately a lot of "artists" who really can not sing are popular. Many fans of music are familiar with AutoTune. It is a lovely piece of technology that allows sound engineers to "correct" the notes that vocalists sing if they are incorrect. Unfortunately, if used too much, it makes the singer sound quite robotic. This is a great example of the artificial replacing the authentic. Fantasy supplants reality in such a way that it is preferred over reality. As we get inundated with the artificial and fantastic, we gradually lose the ability to appreciate the authentic.

The same thing has happened to truth. People have tried to live in their own fantasies for so long, that they don't want to leave them. This comes from a very existential way of viewing life. "Life is what I make of it; live like there is no tomorrow. Prefer the inauthentic because you never know if you will have the chance to experience the authentic; and for that same reason, I don't need to worry about not being able to appreciate the authentic"

Whether we are talking about truth or culture, being constantly bombarded with inauthenticity has huge detriments. The the inability to appreciate the authentic (reality and truth) becomes us. When we no longer have the ability to appreciate truth when we see it, so we have little reason to accept it or live our lives by it. We will gradually lose the ability to discern between what was created by man and what was created by God. Not recognizing the difference leads to confusion about to who or what to credit. Also focusing on having these "on-demand experiences" encourages us to think existentially. If we only think about the "here and now", we do not contemplate the future or reflect on the past. If we are perpetually entertained with these "experiences" we have no reason to investigate the deep questions of life and reality. All we have is the current moment.

Now that I've dumped on these "experiences" quite a bit, let me talk about the benefits of them. Obviously, if we spent our entire lives only allowing for the truly authentic in everything, we would not be exposed to much of reality. These inauthentic experiences give us a taste (no pun intended) of the authentic. For those who are able to experience both, comparisons can be made and critiques offered to enhance the accuracy of the depictions for those who don't have the resources to enjoy certain authentic experiences.

Two of my favorite things are inauthenticities: ethnic foods and educational television. I don't have the opportunity to travel worldwide just to experience the culinary delights of the nations. Neither do I have the resources to investigate every discipline of science that grab my curiosity. However, local restaurants give me a taste of authentic foods, which makes me desire the authentic experience even more; and television (and the internet) give me the opportunity to "look" through the eyes of researchers to discover the beauty of creation. I can even learn to appreciate AutoTune...from a technical perspective, not artistic, of course.

The most significant thing that I can think to tie all this together is "love". Culture has spent decades of time and billions of dollars promoting an inauthentic love. Many have been so persuaded that the inauthentic accurately reflects the authentic, that when they see the Authentic, the see no significance or even see it as wrong. For those of us who have experienced the authentic love of Christ, we need to be in the culture critiquing its inaccurate portrayal of love. We cannot isolate ourselves from culture (even the inauthentic parts), we must be in the middle of it. We must be familiar enough with the inauthentic and authentic to show those who live for the inauthentic why the truth and reality of Christ's love and His sacrifice for us are to be treasured above all. From that Christian perspective, the inauthentic may be enjoyed at the same time that we are guiding people back into a loving relationship with their Creator.