I have held my tongue in recent months regarding my frustrations with the social justice movement, including the latest trend in progressive Christianity, the emerging “woke church.”  But the days leading into and out of the recent midterm elections has forced my hand.  There is only so much overt, virulent racism directed at black conservatives – racism that is ignored, or placidly affirmed by these self-proclaimed arbiters of racial sensitivity and justice on the political left – that I can stomach before becoming overwhelmed with the sense that the fraud needs to be exposed.

Let’s start here: no ideology owns black people.  It is shocking that this much needs to be stated, particularly to people who claim to be advocates for the 42 million unique and autonomous black people who reside in the country.

It is a despicable reality that the bigoted assumption of ownership of black people’s bodies in this country has given way to the bigoted assumption of ownership of black people’s minds.  Both are dehumanizing, immoral, and wicked.  If you obsess over the past sins of the former while willfully committing the latter, you are a fraud.  A black man is not “betraying his race” because his priorities, values, interests, and beliefs run counter to yours. 

But while we’re on the topic of improving the lot for minorities in America, particularly black Americans, let’s take this a step further. 

The single greatest weapon against every social injustice the woke church laments is strong nuclear families – far more than social policy, far more than correcting supposed structural prejudice or institutional bias, far more than affirmative action admission policies, far more than work quotas, far more than SNAP, far more than subsidized housing, far more than criminal justice reform. 

If you want to reduce racial disparities and the glaring disadvantages faced by black youth in America, the whole of sociology points in one conspicuous direction – promote strong nuclear families with a Dad and a Mom in the home.

Yet, on election day, where do you find the social justice community and woke church?  Actively supporting and casting votes for a political movement that has for decades dedicated itself to undermining, attacking, and destabilizing the uniqueness and efficacy of the nuclear family. 

Perhaps this is done out of sheer ignorance, but I fear it is something darker and more malicious.  I fear that it is born out of a preference for maintaining the status quo given that social justice causes have become an effective tool for gaining political power.  Politics over people – that’s the current state of far too much social justice warriorism in America, and its far more insidious accomplice: “social justice woke Christianity.”