An Old Strategy
Now and then the left comes up with a popular meme that gains widespread acceptance. When you look at them carefully, they usually have roots in older ideas. The church has experienced this as ancient heresies with archaic names are revived and promoted as a supposedly better orthodoxy. Since both history and theology are neglected disciplines, people have trouble seeing how shallow these ideas really are.
Critical race theory, the “woke” movement, and Black Lives Matter are only new manifestations of an old strategy, that of manipulation by guilt.
Guilt is a very real part of man’s existence. It has been since the Fall and Adam and Eve’s attempt to “cover” (atone) themselves with fig leaves and hide from God. Without resolution in the atonement of Jesus Christ, guilt debilitates man. This is why it is such a powerful tool of manipulation. Once you convince someone they are guilty, you own them. They are in your power and so must follow some method of atoning (covering by payment) for their “guilt.”
In 1970, my father wrote a book that describes this. I suggest you read or reread The Politics of Guilt and Pity; it reads like it was just written. You will be able to see today’s issues in its pages.
Here is the important thing we must remember about manipulation by false guilt – it is anti-Christian to the core. The salvation offered in Scripture has as its purpose the removal of guilt “as far as the east is from the west” (Ps. 103:12). The gospel frees man from guilt. To use guilt as a means of manipulation is thus the antithesis of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Of all people, the Christian should recognize any ascription of false guilt and repudiate its evil as a transparent power play. We have been saved by a gracious God; the preachers of false guilt will demand you pay for your sins repeatedly because they cannot offer the real resolution of justification. Don’t let them manipulate you. You are a child of God and are called, to “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Gal. 5:1).
Topics: Church, The, Culture , Psychology, Theology