Have you ever found yourself in a conversation that was going absolutely nowhere?
No matter what you do, no matter how clear or convincingly you think you’ve made your case, still, your interlocutor is unconvinced.
In recent days I shared with you some information about Critical Race Theory (CRT), and a resource to check out in order to understand how deeply this thinking has infiltrated our American society.
(It kind of reminds me of how Hydra infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. if know what I mean.)
But of course, this is very dangerous, very real stuff.
What I want to share with you today is something I have learned from this study, but it’s a more general point.
If you are going to have a productive conversation about ideas, you are going to have to start somewhere fundamentally truthful.
The conversation about CRT is so difficult because it simply does not begin with a truthful premise.
It begins with the premise that humanity is fundamentally racist, and that this racial barrier separates us to such a degree that, truthfully, no amount of militant anti-racism can atone for our “sins.”
The problem is—yes, people are broken—however, one must question what set of ideas is responsible for this worldview. And if the worldview that undergirds those sets of ideas is not adequate to the task of explaining reality, then the obvious question is, why believe it’s the case?
Of course, the biblical worldview explains humanity’s fallen condition and faulty thinking with regard to the issue of race.
However, it goes further…
The biblical worldview also demonstrates that racism is bad thinking because only the human race exists.
Have people in the past used the Bible to justify slavery and even racism? Yes.
They were wrong.
And not because our moral intuitions “have evolved” and so now we choose to read the Bible in a different way, to the chagrin of Mr. Shermer. No; it’s because we’re interpreting Scripture in its original context, according to a grammatical-historical hermeneutic, and without the bias of a modern socio-political agenda.
As for racism…it must end.
But why?
Because God create one HUMAN race, and gave us equal status as his imagers. That’s why. And the biblical worldview alone accounts for treating all persons as having equal worth and value.
As for my overall point…dialogue must start somewhere truthful. It’s that old parable about the wise man and the foolish man.
Start your thinking on the sand…and your thoughts will crumble. Build on the rock for a solid foundation.
Enduring Together,
Steve
P.S. If you’re someone who is relatively new to apologetics and aren’t sure how to get started defending Christianity using evidence, logic, philosophy, etc., I wrote a book for you: www.SteveSchramm.com/TBT
