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AR 26:37 - Conflicting views of Voddie Baucham's "Fault Lines"
In this issue:
ATHEISM - "classical liberalism won't stop wokeism and totalitarianism"
ISLAM - blessed are the "disagreeable"?
RACISM - the Critical Social Justice conversation among Christians
Apologia Report 26:37 (1,542)
September 15, 2021
PLEASE NOTE: Our office will be closed for the next week. Look for Apologia Report again during the week beginning September 26th.
ATHEISM
In "Grave Men Facing a Grave Faith" (Convivium, May 25 '21) Jonathon Van Maren (communications director, Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform) "reports <www.bit.ly/2X95EXI> on a series of leading serious intellectuals who recognize the need for Christianity's resurrection but can’t quite bring the faith to life in themselves."
In turn, Andrew Wilson (Teaching Pastor, King's Church London) provides a concise summary, "The Turning Tide of Intellectual Atheism" (thinktheology.co.uk/blog, Jun 30 '21) in which he describes this "remarkable conversation with the historian Niall Ferguson on the need for Christianity, along with some fascinating reflections on the journeys of other public intellectuals like Roger Scruton, Douglas Murray, Tom Holland and Jordan Peterson." Ferguson finds that "atheism, particularly in its militant forms, is really a very dangerous metaphysical framework for a society." He explains, as an atheist himself, that "We don't have, I don't think, an evolved ethical system. I don't buy the idea that evolution alone gets us to be moral."
In discussing Jordan Peterson's views, Wilson observes: "Viewing Western civilisation with its Christian soul cut out, many are now willing to say: 'We need Christ.' What [atheists] are unable, thus far, to say, is: 'I need Christ.' But the political must become personal. Peterson appears to understand that - and is awestruck by the reality of it."
Ferguson also remarks: "When I see totalitarianism gaining ground not only in China but in subtle ways in our own society, that seems to be the disaster we really need to ward off. Why am I a conservative and not just a classical liberal? Because classical liberalism won't stop wokeism and totalitarianism. It's not strong enough." <www.bit.ly/3ty2eKz>
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ISLAM
"For many who study jihadism, the most pressing question about conversion is not how to avoid it politely, but why those who do convert tend to join jihadist groups at a disproportionate rate - something like three to four times that of non-convert Muslims (with substantial variation, depending on the country)." Atlantic staff writer Graeme Wood chases this a bit in the June issue.
He continues, "I used to assume, along with many others, that converts are more zealous in general. ... A paper <www.bit.ly/3lh8ylO> just published by Daniel W. Snook, Lee Branum-Martin, and John G. Horgan examines the religiosity of American Muslim converts and finds that they tend to be less religious than their non-convert peers. Converts, they write, 'believe in Islamic tenets less strongly and struggle more with the Islamic faith' than Muslims raised in Islam. European converts were not included in the study, and could well behave differently. ...
"The authors do not dispute that converts are overrepresented among the gruesome minority of Muslims drawn to terrorism. So what's going on? I have a few theories.
"Some people convert to please others - to fit in with friends, to satisfy the demand of a spouse's family."
On the other hand, "ISIS wanted true believers, but not just any true believers; they wanted the most disagreeable and transgressive ones first. Mean people have obvious value on the battlefield. If converts are more likely to be disagreeable than born Muslims, then we'll see more converts among jihadists, even if converts are, on average, not more religious."
As you might expect, Wood has more to say. However, this certainly helps explain the odd title of his piece: "Maybe You Have to Be Disagreeable to Convert." <www.bit.ly/3yZU7r5>
Also see Snook's 2019 thesis, "Zeal of the Convert? Comparing the Structure of Islamic Religiousness between Convert and Non-Convert Muslims," at <www.bit.ly/2VEE9oD>
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RACISM
Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism's Looming Catastrophe, by Voddie Baucham [1] -- this review by Peter Jones of truthXchange (May '21) doesn't miss the important things in Baucham's background, which include being "born in Los Angeles fifty-some years ago and ... raised by a single, deeply dedicated, mother. He and his wife have nine children, seven of whom were adopted. He holds an Oxford Ph.D. and is currently the dean of the School of Divinity at African Christian University in Zambia."
Jones writes that Fault Lines "proposes a balanced view of a divisive issue," and notes that Baucham uses the terms Critical Race Theory and Critical Social Justice interchangeably. He also believes that dialog between social justice warriors and their critics is essential (even though many SJWs shun the idea).
Baucham "is convinced that the real problem for the church is not serious ethnic tension, but a contemporary definition of social justice (via the hermeneutic of Critical Race Theory) that is 'incompatible with biblical Christianity.' Christianity and CRT, he argues, represent 'two competing worldviews,' two fundamentally different 'cosmologies.' He describes antiracism as a 'cult.'" Jones finds that in its "pure" form, CRT begins with "the invented myth of the 'creation of whiteness'....
"Baucham believes that what is driving this racist ideology is not contemporary mistreatment of blacks but a false theology, what he calls 'the cult of antiracism.' What we are dealing with, as Baucham sees it, is 'a new religion based purely on ideological Marxist fantasy - a religion now seeping into the church as a new form of legalism.' ...
"He grants there are individual racists in the culture but rejects 'systemic racism' since America 'is one of the least racist countries in the world.' ...
"Baucham predicts 'a disagreement between well-meaning brothers and sisters' and sees the environment within evangelicalism as in some sense already 'hostile,' as we approach 'an unavoidable… catastrophe.' ... Relationships are being ruined and 'denominations are in danger of being derailed'.... Though in some places division has been avoided or discussions are still taking place, in others, a rift has opened that is unlikely to be closed. Take Jemar Tisby, for example. Former professor at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Tisby took a strong pro-CRT position and recently left his post of Christian ministry to become Assistant Director of Narrative and Advocacy for Ibram X. Kendi, a leading <ibramxkendi.com> secular antiracist spokesman.
"Baucham is convinced that if worldview assumptions are adopted in churches that begin to use CRT as a tool, the result will have a deep and dangerous effect on evangelical theology. He sees the great danger of the CRT notion of intersectionality, in which homosexuals, transgender people, and followers of other religions (to name a few) will be seen along with blacks as 'oppressed,' rather than seen as people struggling with immorality or theological heresy. ... The Pope's emphasis on mercy and his attentiveness to the voices of the oppressed (see the Synod on Latin American Spirituality [aka the 2019 "Amazon Synod"]) led him to receiving oppressed Latin American women in the Vatican gardens, where he worshiped the pagan goddess Pachamama with them."
A "lack of clarity over abortion, Baucham fears, stems in many cases from the adoption of CRT in other areas. He also notes among Black Christian pastors 'a massive shift' to the 'pro-choice' option.
"Baucham warns the church that 'Neomarxist ideology poses a far greater threat to America than race relations....
We face an ideology "'bent on our demise' ... both as a church and as a Western culture, seeking to incite hatred among people, and specifically their children, based on unchangeable characteristics like skin color. ...
"The answer to racism is not found in antiracism. Baucham analyzes BLM, which he sees as a Trojan horse, proposing racial peace, with vast sums of money, but based on a false witness and a false view of humanity. ...
"[A]ntiracism is ultimately powerless against racism because it is an accusation that can never end. It is merely a grab for cultural power. Only Christ can bring the answer. It is 'he who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility' (Ephesians 2:14). ... [W]hat our culture must hear, a convincing presentation of the gospel and, in God's time, a spiritual revival. ...
"Baucham believes that Tim Keller and others who are seen by some as identified with Critical Social Justice nevertheless share a desire for conversation among Christians. Keller observes that in the secular CRT approach there is a 'lack of provision for mercy and forgiveness.'" <www.bit.ly/3gU7eEc>
We also note this lengthy and detailed critical review by Bob Stevenson (Lead pastor of Village Baptist Church, Aurora, IL) in Mere Orthodoxy, Jul 29 '21: "Too often, race and justice become political smoke bombs lobbed back and forth between partisans. The church needs careful and deep ethical thinking on these matters. The questions raised by this book are important ones, and should be carefully considered.
"Unfortunately, [Fault Lines] neither properly diagnoses the problem, nor prescribes an adequate remedy. It is a transparently polemical work, and one which commits several serious errors which only further muddy already dark waters. My goal in writing this review is to identify three less-obvious, but crucial issues underlying Baucham’s argument, and to call for greater clarity in future evangelical scholarship on these matters. …
"This review does not argue that critical race theory (CRT), critical social justice (CSJ), or any other ostensible formulation of 'wokeness' that Dr. Baucham targets ought to be accepted without question. To the contrary, I believe Baucham’s critique has accomplished one of its goals: to stimulate a conversation. My argument is that, while certainly stimulating our thinking, it has unfortunately contributed to increased polarization and sloppy dogmatism on these issues, rather than providing the serious engagement or constructive alternative proposals for dealing with these urgent issues." <www.bit.ly/3hwEWzS>
For more on Ibram X. Kendi from past issues of Apologia Report, see AR 26:7 <www.bit.ly/2M2wGLk>
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SOURCES: Monographs
1 - Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism's Looming Catastrophe, by Voddie Baucham (Salem, 2021, hardcover, 270 pages) <www.bit.ly/3zU39aB>
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