Christians Must Be Racists, Right?

It seems that in some people’s opinion, almost everybody these days is a racist – well, at least if you are white. Racism, along with many other terms, is being redefined in modern pop-culture. It used to be that a racist was considered to be “someone who thought less of, and discriminated against, people of other races – just because of their race.” Its new meaning is “anyone who is white.”

Take Sharon Osbourne, for example. She is the wife of Ozzy Osbourne, and an entertainment celebrity in her own right – and she is white. Now make no mistake about it, Sharon is a pretty hard core political and social liberal. However, not too long back she went off the reservation.

It seems that her friend, Piers Morgan (an English broadcaster, journalist, writer, and television personality) is not a fan of Meghan Markle (who is American, and is bi-racial). His reason for not liking her is because, after marrying a British royal, she was not willing to conform to royal etiquette and protocol in her daily life. She and her husband, Prince Harry, flaunted protocol, and eventually even took the extraordinary measure of stepping down from the royal family and actually moving out of England to America. In the process of it all, Morgan was critical of Markle – not because of her race, but because of her actions.

But when he uttered his criticisms, the media jumped all over him and began accusing him of being a racist (based on the new definition, of course). When that happened, Sharon Osbourne defended her friend. And for her trouble, she was, herself, accused of being a racist and was fired from here job on “The Talk” TV show.

So where does this new definition of racism come from? And is it legitimate to tar and feather someone because of political and social disagreements?

It seems that, based on the new orthodoxy of Critical Race Theory, it is now a sin for a white person to criticize a black person. It doesn’t matter that the criticism has nothing to do with race, just the fact that it happens means that the white person is a racist.

Critical Race Theory is an attempt to change the structure of America’s economic and legal system. Rather than being based on evidence and reason, adherents of this viewpoint want to administer the law and promote economic policy based on social constructionism. This is an expression of Naturalism where those in power define for themselves what is right and wrong. With that, they are able to create a legal and economic framework based on their personal preferences. It is established on a relativistic understanding of morality rather than an objective one.

Well, the Christian faith does not see reality through that kind of relativistic lens. Right morality in Christianity is based on the view that God has revealed Himself and His ways as objective truth to mankind. This includes an understanding of what is moral and what is immoral.

When it comes to race, the Christian faith does not evaluate people based on social factors (race, for instance). God has revealed that all of mankind has been created in His image. Distinctions based on race (as with any and all other superficial and temporal characteristics) have no place in evaluating the worth of individuals.

So, when people who hold this relativist, Critical Race Theory understanding of society look at and evaluate Christian beliefs, they see that it doesn’t comport with their beliefs, so they deem Christians to be racists. It doesn’t matter that they have no reason why their beliefs should be considered true – they simply consider it true because they believe it.

But something is not true simply because someone believes it. A thing can only be considered true when it corresponds to actual reality. The reality is: God does exist, He has revealed Himself to mankind, and it is possible to objectively know what is moral and immoral based on that revelation. Christians who understand that are in a position to both defend their own beliefs and to challenge the beliefs of those who would call them bigots. Because of that, it is worth the effort to get up to speed on this topic.

Freddy Davis is the president of MarketFaith Ministries. He is the author of numerous books and has a background as an international missionary, pastor, radio host, worldview trainer, and entrepreneur. Freddy is a graduate of Florida State University with a BS in Communication, and holds MDiv and DMin degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is a popular speaker, particularly on the topic of worldview and its practical implications for the Christian life. He lives in Tallahassee, FL, with his wife Deborah.

You may also contact Freddy at Leadership Speakers Bureau to schedule him for speaking or leadership engagements.

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