James Lindsay, nerdy mathematician and insightful political commentator, is helpful in understanding critical race/gender theory, "wokeness" and their immense influence on our culture.(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE8p-mcFdNg) It's core conviction is that human life is a relentless power struggle in which the strong oppress and dominate the weak: the oppressor and the oppressed. Critical theory's purpose is to arouse awareness of this dynamic, awaken the anger and agency of the underdog and the conscience of the over-dog in this dog-eat-dog world. It is rooted in the Frankfurt School of Marxists in the 1930s who moved beyond the simple economic model of capital/labor into deep, dense cultural areas, with a heavy influence from Freud. It percolated for decades in academia and bohemia but really took off in the 1970s. Today, it is pervasive: firmly in control of elite culture including universities, entertainment, corporations, law and even religion and athletics. It is not an exaggeration to say it is taking over our culture.
In 1971, newly married and euphorically cocooned in our honeymoon apartment, my wife Mary Lynn returned from her first "woman's consciousness raising meetings" which were all the rage. "How was the meeting" I asked. "Good. I learned that you are oppressing me. That's what men do to women." "Oh! How am I oppressing you?" I asked with interest. She replied: "I don't know. I just know that you are oppressing me." That is the logic of critical theory.
At that time I was studying theology at Union Theological Seminary. Browsing their marvelous bookstore, I noted that there were three sections: traditional theology, Marx and Freud. Critical Theory, the marriage of Freud and Marx, was cooking away at Union.
Systemic Suspicion
Marx, Freud and Nietzsche, the "architects of modernity," are also called the "Masters of Suspicion." In correct dosage, their suspicion can be salutary: it can revive the classic vigilance against the temptations and deceptions of the "world" and the "flesh." (About the devil they have no clue!) But they go deeper: theirs is a dark, dismal view of life as unending violence, deception and warfare. Specifically, they are suspicious of any scent of authority, tradition, transcendence, and ontological truth. They deny any communion with God; any connection with the Holy through past events, current authority or tradition; they deny hope in the heavenly. To be sure, not all advocates of critical theory are militant atheists; it prevails in liberal Christian theology. But the underlying core purpose remains liberation from past patterns of oppression by a thoroughgoing critique of authority and a break with the past.
Systematic vs. Systemic
Both these terms refer to the workings of systems, but there is a deep difference. "Systematic" refers to a deliberate, intentional method or procedure. It is premediated, sequential and observable. For example: when I do my homework I do the hardest first which is math, then science, then literature and then religion. "Systemic" a term dear to critical theorists is a system that works organically, holistically but not necessarily consciously: think of your respiratory or digestive systems which operate largely without deliberate intention or decision. Think of a cancer that is "systemic" throughout your body, operative and effective in a pervasive and powerful way without any conscious subject in charge.
So, a systematic racism would be clear and definite: blacks to the back of the bus, Irish need not apply, Jews are to wear the Star of David in public! But systemic racism may be largely unconscious: habits of privilege, entitlement, prejudice, and preference which are spontaneous, socialized and largely indeliberate.
Case Study
I offer my wake up routine as a case study. I wake up, brush my teeth, get my coffee, say my prayers and read the Magnificat. But look deeper: my cozy warm home, imported coffee and sugar, comfortable chair all come to me by way of low-paid, almost slave labor by people of color which extravagantly profits the investor, financial, technical class. My prayers are to a male figure (in his late 70s) with long white hair, white beard, white skin, and long white robes. (Think Gandalf the White!) My prayers are to "Our Father" (patriarchy) and include "Make my soul white like the freshly fallen snow" and "Bring me out of darkness into the light." My sheets, underwear, toothpaste, milk, sugar, and bread are all white. I may have slept in a "master bedroom" on a "king-sized bed." In short, my every routine, indeliberate morning action is embedded in a massive, systemic network of "whiteness" oppressing "people of color."
The Appeal of Critical Theory
Two points:
The core moral impulse of critical theory, inherited from its father Marxism, is to rescue the oppressed from suffering and injustice. This in itself is an entirely wholesome, indeed Christian, motive. It is what gives it such power and influence today. It is compassion for the horrific, blatant suffering of blacks, women, homosexuals and all the victim groups.
Secondly, there is very much truth to this theory. In our post-paradise condition of sin, it is sadly true that power-dominance dynamics are indeed operative all the time in a diversity of ways. Indeed, there is racism, misogyny, sexism, homophobia and all the other moral pathologies. So it is easy to see how one might make the jump into critical race/gender theory: it is not ridiculous.
What is Their Solution?
Liberation in this worldview does not come from repentance and acceptance of Jesus as Savior or acknowledgement of powerlessness and surrender to Higher Power. It comes through "awakening," a moral-political enlightenment: the oppressed rises up in anger and agency to claim their just rights. The privileged likewise become "woke"...they admit and then renounce their privilege and power.
The Problem
While plausible and often well-intended, this diagnosis is shallow, confused, misguided and eventually catastrophic in its consequences. It is as if a doctor misdiagnosed an infection or a virus as a cancer and implemented intense chemotherapy. The doctor is well-intended; he accurately identifies some symptoms; but his treatment will kill you.
The root cause is far deeper: sin, the disconnect from God. Not only does critical theory fail to grasp this, but avoids and implicitly disparages such piety. We are created to live in joyous communion, forever, with the Trinity and with each other. This philosophy rejects that proposal.
In regard to current race relations in the USA, the systemic racism diagnosis is blind to the actual causes of current black suffering: culture and class. These are far more dense, complex and intractable than the simplistic rejection of alleged unconscious racism. The culture of poverty is a bottomless abyss of negative forces: family structure, work ethic, male promiscuity and infidelity, breakdown of Church and mediating institutions, inequalities of income, employment, education, housing and healthcare. This structure of injustice stands upon a history of racism, to be sure. Be the current social dynamics are far more intractable and difficult than the alleged white racism.
It is class, not race, that defines our unjust society. Oprah, Barack, and LeBron (first names suffices here) are at the peak of the pinnacle of privilege, power, and wealth in our meritocratic-celebrity-technocratic hierarchy. To hear them preaching about "white privilege" is beyond ridiculous. Indeed, their darker pigmentation only enhances their glamour and influence.
Deeper Appeal: Ritual of Purification
The deeper appeal is its relief from guilt. There are no BLM signs in the neighborhoods of Jersey City where I spend my time. The demographics here: a plurality of Afro-Americans, a large majority of "people of color" and a minority of whites. There are no BLM signs. When I drive in the affluent, upper class neighborhoods of suburban Essex County I see such signs in every third yard. Why is that?
Here is offered an alternative psychodynamic interpretation. Because it is a purification ritual. Upper class America suffers a dual pandemic: an exaggerated affluence in a world with immense poverty and suffering; an an invisible scourge of pornography and male unchastity that dare not speak its name. The two fester subconsciously with no help of relief as our post-Protestant society long ago discarded the efficacy of the sacramental system, especially confession. Unawares, people are desperate to relieve this unrecognized guilt. The anti-racist religion does the job! They acknowledge and renounce their privilege; they put out their BLM sign; they vote Democrat. They get to blame the racists, Republicans and Trump for the world's suffering. They are declared innocent. And it doesn't cost them a cent or in any way diminish their real privilege. It does really nothing to restructure the class structure or attack the cultures of poverty.
To be sure, not everyone who accepts critical theory is awash in affluence and drowning in lust. Many, as noted above, are well-intended: they grieve the suffering and want to help. But critical theory is a diversion, a distraction, and an enormous waste of moral energy.
Conclusion
Finally, without succumbing to its systemic moral confusion, we do well to receive the truth in Critical Theory. It can help us to examine our personal and social consciences with an eye to the often-invisible biases and the unconscious power dynamics that operate beneath our sense of righteousness. Perhaps no one needs this more than aging, confident, white, middle class, males like myself. May God have mercy on us all!
No comments:
Post a Comment