Written by Alyssa Sonnenburg
In recent years, the push for diversity in numerous media outlets, corporations, and college campuses has seen an overwhelming increase. The Left says diversity is the ultimate virtue, and the rebuttal of critical race theory (CRT) and intersectionality is the ultimate evil. What are believers called to in the midst of this culture battle that is being waged in society? What is the biblical ethic when it comes to the Left’s push for diversity, CRT, and intersectionality? Scripture is not silent on this issue as God, through His Word, has given believers “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3, ESV), and Scripture stands opposed to the Left’s diversity agendas, CRT, and intersectionality (Eph. 2:13-14).
The fight for truth has been a long-standing battle that believers have waged throughout history. Pontius Pilate’s snide question to Jesus, “What is truth?” in John 18:38 is a prime example of the need for truth. When it comes to the Left’s push for diversity at all costs, believers need to genuinely ask the same question: What is truth? The Left claims that their diversity agenda is merely the inclusivity of every nationality and ethnic group. However, when one delves into the doctrines upheld by the Left, inclusivity is not the goal. In fact, the Left’s diversity agendas are overtly racist in nature. In order to understand the Left’s push for diversity and their overt racism, one has to look at the doctrinal tenets that are upheld by diversity politics. The first of these is CRT. According to the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs,
CRT recognizes that racism is engrained in the fabric and system of the American society. The individual racist need not exist to note that institutional racism is pervasive in the dominant culture. This is the analytical lens that CRT uses in examining existing power structures. CRT identifies that these power structures are based on white privilege and white supremacy, which perpetuates the marginalization of people of color.
As seen in the above statement, CRT believes that racism is not just an active sin that one commits. Rather, CRT asserts that one is deemed racist on the basis of skin color, as white people are accused of inherent privilege and marginalizing people of color simply because of the color of their skin. Martin Luther King Jr., in his famous speech said, “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.” From the outset, it is evident the Left is not upholding the beliefs of MLK as they claim. Individuals are being deemed racist, not on the basis of deeds, but by the color of their skin.
Another tenet of diversity politics is intersectionality. According to Sherwood Thompson’s book, Encyclopedia of Diversity and Social Justice,
Our experiences of the social world are shaped by our ethnicity, race, social class, gender identity, sexual orientation, and numerous other facets of social stratification. Some social locations afford privilege (e.g., being white) while others are oppressive (e.g., being poor). These various aspects of social inequality do not operate independently of each other; they interact to create interrelated systems of oppression and domination. The concept of intersectionality refers to how these various aspects of social location “intersect” to mutually constitute individuals’ lived experiences.
Based on the belief of intersectionality, being white deems one as an automatic oppressor. On the other hand, being black deems one as an automatic victim of white oppression. In the Left’s push for diversity, they are committing the very sin that they are claiming to eradicate: the sin of racism. Racism has no place in the Christian community. Therefore; CRT, intersectionality, and diversity politics must be rejected. Voddie Baucham, a pastor and herald of truth about biblical justice says in his book Fault Lines,
I have pursued justice my entire Christian life. Yet I am about as “anti-social justice” as they come– not because I have abandoned my obligation to “strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14), but because I believe the current concept of social justice is incompatible with biblical Christianity.
The Apostle Paul confronts Peter over the sin of favoring one group over another, which is recorded in Galatians 2:11-14 and reads,
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
Later, Paul states in Galatians 3:26-28, “for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Amidst the Left’s continued push for the “justice” of diversity, believers need to look to Scripture for what true justice is and what God requires of His people. Nowhere does God require His people to be more diverse. God does not show partiality on the basis of skin color, wealth, ethnic background, gender, or economic status. The Kingdom of God is full of people from every nation, tribe, tongue, and people (Revelation 7:9), and God welcomes all into His Kingdom equally.
Christ’s atonement unifies the Body because all believers have the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:15). It does not matter if you are rich or poor, if you are black or white, or if you are the business owner or the employee. All believers have received the Holy Spirit and have an inheritance awaiting them in heaven. The Gospel breaks down hostility between groups and unifies all different types of people under the same banner—the blood of Christ (Eph. 2:13-14). Because of this reality in Christ, believers have a duty to reject the Left’s diversity politics, CRT, and intersectionality because it is antithetical to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
