Are the Inmates Running the Asylum?

Why This Article?

A truncated picture of the graphic associated with this article was recently posted by a high profile executive in my network with the caption “This is Great in So Many Ways!” To say that I found their post disturbing, not to mention the swooning applause it drew, would be an understatement. Why? Because, at best, it represents a pooled ignorance among people marching to the beat of a harmful ideology – people who ought to know better. What is profoundly more disturbing is that some of them do! Beyond the righteous anger this issue warrants (there is such a thing, you know), I am deeply saddened by it.

Be Forewarned

Be forewarned: this author is “awoke” (sorry, the play on words – with its emphasis on the negative prefix “a-,” as in “atypical” – was irresistible). Not only that, but they are also white, male, straight, cisgendered, native born and, by God’s grace, Christian. Choosing to remain in my network or to continue following me could be costly. Your risk of guilt by association may well result in your being judged a racist, oppressor, Uncle Tom, or worse. If you must go, then I understand; however, I hope you will hear me out before you do.

Go To School If Necessary (Just Not the Frankfurt School)!

The captioned graphic that started all this succinctly depicts what the Critical Social Justice warriors of our day are piously advocating. "Critical" because the social justice movement in our country is about state re-distribution – it is an offshoot of Critical Theory (which its staunchest allies acknowledge). Unbeknownst to many, this is the same Marxist and anti-Christian critique of Western civilization that came out of the Frankfurt School and undergirds other cancers like Critical Race Theory, Critical Legal Studies, and Intersectionality. In addition, this same philosophical system, also known as Cultural Marxism, represents the taproot of DEI programs which now pervade an alarming number of businesses and institutions.

If you are open to learning more about Cultural Marxism and how we got here – or even mounting a coherent argument to oppose what follows – then please know I would be happy to engage with you. Email me (address in my profile’s contact information) and, if you like, I will gladly send you a 30+ page paper I wrote to warn the CEOs and executives I was coaching at the time: Rethinking Diversity and Inclusion: A Peek Behind the Curtain. Suffice it to say Critical Theory’s relatives represent anything but the utopia their proponents promise. If you are a CEO (or happen to coach them), Jordan Peterson’s, Message to CEOs, is a must. And if you really want to do a deep dive on our culture, read Carl Trueman’s seminal work, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self. If, on the other hand, you are intellectually lazy and wish to remain ignorant, or are so steeped in Cultural Marxism’s intellectual totalitarianism that you refuse to invest the time to consider the veracity of contrary positions, then please do the rest of us the professional courtesy of not commenting on this article.

“Damn The Torpedoes, Full Steam Ahead!”

Will the champions of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) who read this welcome its diverse perspective or relegate it to the rantings of oppressors? Will they exhibit equity and fairly consider the argument, or say its author is blinded by their white privilege? Will people like me enjoy inclusion or get cancelled for failing to bow to the sanctioned narrative? Sadly, those are rhetorical questions which only show that terms like those pictured in this article’s graphic are Trojan Horse terms. They have been hijacked by radical ideologues who have intentionally substituted their deceitful drivel for etymologically correct definitions.

Shakespeare’s character in Henry IV, Sir John Falstaff, famously said “the better part of valor is discretion.” With these words, Falstaff sought to dignify cowardly inaction by cloaking it in terms of discretion and valor; however, there is nothing noble about cowardice, or callous indifference for that matter. True valor looks more like the famous Navy quote above. So, at the risk of becoming something of a pariah by publishing this article, bring on the torpedoes!

Hypocrisy with a Vengeance

Critical Theory posits that all truth-claims and justice-agendas are socially constructed to maintain power, yet the claims and agendas of its zealots are somehow exempt from the same construction. Why are moral, postmodern claims of “oppression” unquestionably right, while all other moral claims are mere social constructs? If everyone is blinded by class-consciousness and social location, why aren’t the critical theorists likewise blinded? The ideology these Cultural Marxists espouse claims that only oppressed people see things clearly, but how could they if social forces make them, like their oppressors, wholly what they are and control how they understand reality? Are oppressed people any less molded by social forces than others? And if all people with power – who “call the shots” socially, culturally, economically, and who control public discourse – inevitably use it for domination, then what is to stop the would-be revolutionaries of this pernicious ideology, if successful in their efforts at usurpation, from falling prey to the same fate? Common-sense dictates that when this game of musical chairs stops, no one will have a seat. Moreover, people with even a modicum of wisdom must conclude that this endless cycle of the oppressor becoming the oppressed can only devolve into dystopian meaninglessness and despair.?Unfortunately, it does not end there, as Russia, China, Cambodia, Cuba, Burma, the Congo, Zimbabwe, East Germany, North Korea and Venezuela attest with their collective body count of 100 million and climbing.

One cannot, with any degree of integrity, insist that all morality is culturally constructed and relative, only to turn right around and insist that their moral claims are not. Moreover, one cannot endorse Critical Theory’s scathing critique of Western societies and escape the charge of hypocrisy (and that with a vengeance). Such hypocrisy undergirds this article’s graphic, and it represents a devastating flaw that Christians and ardent atheists alike have seen. This comes as no surprise given that Cultural Marxism hinges on the logically self-defeating premise that all truth is relative, not absolute (the “all truth is relative” statement representing an absolute truth claim). As you might surmise, rational discourse with such people is very difficult, if not impossible.

A Leadership Imperative

To be fair, there are well meaning people who have just not thought very deeply about these things and been duped by the nice sounding rhetoric of our moral revolutionaries and elites. This is precisely why principled leadership is so vital. Leaders (I am writing primarily to leaders) do their people a grave injustice when they pander to such ignorance by not addressing it, much more so when they themselves are ignorant… by choice. Conversely, good leaders serve as the moral arbiters of their organizations. They eschew hypocrisy, lead with integrity, seek and teach the truth, uphold [true] justice and show kindness. In other words, they are courageous servants who genuinely love people. Building on the 5 leadership levels established by Jim Collins in Good to Great, one might call these “Level 6” leaders. If they were not so rare, then I would not feel constrained to stick my finger into this fan.

True Justice

True justice is getting what you deserve. The word ‘deserve’ implies an objective standard that is to be equally applied to everyone, which is precisely why Lady Justice is said to be blind. Apart from this, fair treatment devoid of the biased whims of those vested with the authority to adjudicate would be impossible. True justice is equitable, objective, even-handed, impartial. True justice is for all: the atheist, the Jew, the Muslim, the Catholic, the Protestant, the homosexual, the poor, the rich, the widow, the orphan, and the utterly destitute. Doing justice is not just talking about it or expecting other people to do it – it is walking the talk.

We have come a long way as a nation, for which we should all be grateful. Lamentably, however, injustices remain. Under no circumstance should injustice ever be tolerated. None whatsoever. That said, true justice must never be confused with charity.

A Foundational Issue

Were he addressing our citizenry today, the prophet Micah could surely have substituted “leftist elites, woke politicians and CEOs, and church leaders who baptize neo-Marxist narrative” for “the corrupt rulers of the house of Israel” when he pronounced God’s judgment and offered this stinging rebuke: “[you are those] who detest justice and make crooked what is straight” (Micah 2:9). How misguided are the social “justice” warriors of our day who “detest justice!” They mislead by turning ‘equity’ (fairness) on its ear with their definition: “everyone gets the support they need” (not “everyone gets what they deserve”). They presuppose systemic oppression and conflate equality of outcomes with “equity,” removing the blindfold from Lady Justice in the process.

The issues I raise herein run much deeper than business or politics, yet they do impact them to a great degree because they define foundational principles like equality, equity, and justice. I submit to you that our world would have no idea of what these things mean were God’s law not written on our hearts. Moreover, we would have no objective measure of justice and its antithesis, oppression, apart from this unchanging God’s self-revelation (the inspired, inerrant and infallible Scriptures of the Old and New Testament). That’s right, the most purchased and least read book of all time (perhaps many of my soon-to-be critics have one gathering dust somewhere?). Ironically, only our moral revolutionaries’ nemesis, Christianity, can cure the ills of our cultural milieu – not identity politics, not social justice, not Cultural Marxism, not socialism, not progressivism, not libertarianism, not capitalism, not patriotism, not anything else. The greatest, most just nations in the history of the world are inextricably indebted to the one true and living God of Christianity (and that despite the many foibles of His followers). No, dispense with “the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3) and true justice will be slain in the streets.

Hold Your Horses

If you cannot believe that I would step so far out of line as to engage in the taboo of political and religious expression on LinkedIn, please stay with me! Could it be that you have naively assumed that these things have nothing to do with business? As the graphic that prompted this article makes clear (and the DEI initiatives it signals), world views have significant consequences when it comes to how one conducts business! This is because we all express and live out our world views. The fact that ideas have consequences is inescapable (as a man “thinks in his heart, so he is” – Proverbs 23:7, emphasis added). Surely you can see that the executive referenced earlier did this very thing with his post. Why, if I do the exact same thing, am I likely to meet with so much ire when his actions garnered so much praise? The answer lies in the fact that my views are counter cultural, dogmatic, and uncompromising. Secular academician, philosopher and author Alan Bloom, in his best-selling book, The Closing of the American Mind, shares a penetrating insight into the roil some of you are likely experiencing right now. Hear him as he speaks from the grave: “The danger they have been taught to fear from absolutism is not error but intolerance. Relativism is necessary to openness; and this is the virtue, the only virtue, which all primary education for more than fifty years has dedicated itself to inculcating. Openness — and the relativism that makes it the only plausible stance in the face of various claims to truth and various ways of life and kinds of human beings — is the great insight of our times… The study of history and of culture teaches that all the world was mad in the past; men always thought they were right, and that led to wars, persecutions, slavery, xenophobia, racism, and chauvinism. The point is not to correct the mistakes and really be right; rather it is not to think you are right at all… Openness, as currently conceived, is a way of making surrender to whatever is most powerful, or worship of vulgar success, look principled.” Bloom wrote that book in 1987 – how prophetically descriptive of our day!

True Justice Is Loving

I doubt many of you would find it objectionable that the God of the Bible commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves. It is within the context of His first commanding us to do this that the role of justice is interjected into this command (Leviticus 19:15). Here, a cornerstone principle is laid out that is essential to not only loving our neighbors as ourselves, but to the rule of law in any well-ordered society:?“You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor." (Now might be a good time to contrast this with the article’s graphic.)?We learn here that doing justice by not showing partiality is one way we not only love others, but that it is entirely consistent with how we love ourselves. Don’t agree? Just ask yourself how you would feel if someone stole from you, lied to you, cheated you, falsely accused you, slandered you, or intentionally damaged your property! Maybe you have heard of The Golden Rule: “So?whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them…” (Matthew 7:12). Try separating love from impartiality and impartiality from justice and you will find that you are left with a Gordian Knot you cannot cut.

A Personal Appeal

If you are like me, you do not like it when someone curses the darkness without turning on a light. So, for those of you who truly despise hypocrisy and want to know how to love people well, you can do no better than learning what the Bible teaches. If, by chance, you do start to study the Bible (if such is not your practice, I recommend that you begin with the Gospel of John), you will find an impeccably just God who – precisely because of His moral perfection – must punish every sin. And this He will do with perfect impartiality. He would be neither holy nor just if He winked at sin the way our culture does; however, since He is immutably both, He cannot deny Himself, making such a hypothetical affront to His own character an impossibility. While it is true that some sins are more heinous than others, the least of them is tantamount to cosmic treason and deserves an eternal death penalty. No matter how much we try to suppress the truth and deflect blame by pointing out the imperfections of others, most of us know more about justice than we are comfortable admitting. Each of us knows deep down that we have broken God’s law times without number. Like the rest of fallen humanity, those who seek to pervert the definition of true justice know more about it deep within the recesses of their own hearts than they can bring themselves to admit. If our conscience has not been totally seared by our obstinate suppression of the truth about God, we have a gnawing sense that He is not pleased with us and will one day call us to account. In that dread Day, all who have not trusted in Jesus Christ alone to save them from the just punishment they deserve will, to their everlasting chagrin, learn precisely what strict justice is. Please do not let that be you!

Unless God opens our eyes to see that we are unjust creatures by nature, we will persist in our self-righteousness and flee from Him. On Judgment Day we will come face-to-face with the beauty and force of God’s holiness and when that happens, the scales will be removed from every unbelieving eye. None will then claim they are not receiving justice; instead, they will see that the essence of moral perfection demands God’s judgment. Indeed, because of this every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:10-11). Friend, this is very, very bad news for sinners like you and me (“there is none righteous, no, not one… there is none good, no, not one… for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” – Romans 3:10,12,23, emphasis added)! Thankfully, that is not the end of the story. If you study the Bible, you will also find that this perfectly just and holy God is full of wondrous grace and mercy. He stands ready to pardon and adopt into His royal family all who cry out to Him in repentance and faith. Take the following Scriptures, for example:

• “Come now, let us reason together, says the?Lord: though your?sins?are like?scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)
• “For?Christ also suffered once?for?sins,?the?just?for?the?unjust, that He might bring us to God…” (1 Peter 3:18)
• “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was?rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His?poverty?might become?rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9)

God sent His only begotten Son into the world to liberate those oppressed by Satan’s tyranny (talk about systemic!), becoming the Head of a new race of humanity comprised of “every?nation,?tribe, tongue, and people” (Revelation 14:6). Jesus accomplished this by living a perfect life, taking the sins of His people upon Himself on a cruel Roman cross, suffering His Father’s wrath as their sin-bearing substitute, and tasting death in their stead (talk about privilege!). In so doing, He fully satisfied divine justice. One of my favorite hymn writers, John Newton (1725 – 1807), sums up this satisfaction pictured in the Gospel with these words taken from his excellent hymn, Let Us Love And Sing And Wonder: “Let us wonder, grace and justice join and point to mercy’s store; when through grace in Christ our trust is, justice smiles and asks no more.” Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension made a way for the great exchange: our sin for His righteousness; our just sentencing to eternal alienation and torment for abundant, eternal life in the presence of a personal, triune God; our just condemnation for His unmerited love and favor; our paths of sin and misery for the ancient paths of everlasting joy and peace. No one in their right mind would quail at this, but so many do just that (hence the title of this article)!

Conclusion

My words will likely strike many as the epitome of arrogance and/or weak-mindedness (I know, because I was once in both those camps). You who do not know Christ, let me ask you: What do you do with your guilt? Please do not too quickly dismiss that all-important question! You see, Christianity is not only vital to our national welfare, but much more so our personal welfare. While our country gives us the right to be wrong about God, God does not give us that right. Because we all have our theories of reality which include thoughts about God, we are all theologians at heart. The only question is: “Are we good theologians?”

A good theologian knows that the good news of the Gospel is true and, as redemptive stories go, without parallel. Furthermore, none of us is beyond its reach! O, if you but knew who it was that is writing this, you would know that God can turn around the foulest sinner! And if you could but peer into my heart, you would know that if I did not love you as myself (imperfect though my efforts are), I would never take the considerable risk of offending you by writing this provocative article. I am surely no better than the worst person who happens to read this, but would you have this beggar refuse to tell other beggars where they can find “the bread of life” (John 6:35)?

Fellow pilgrim, only faith alone in Christ alone as He is offered in the Gospel can spare us from the terrifying demands of strict justice. How impoverishing (and utterly damning) are the effects of our exchanging the truth about God for a lie and worshipping and serving the creature rather than the Creator (Romans 1:25)! Yet, the offer of the Gospel of free grace rings out indiscriminately; however, trading our poverty for His riches is something so easy that many of us find it impossible – we must believe it.

#diversity_equity_inclusion, #social_justice, #cultural_marxism, #critical_theory,#business_ethics