Today's Social Media Super-Charged Language

After my recent Substack, "Have Christian Colleges Gone Woke," a very dear, life-long friend respectfully questioned my definition of the term "woke." I appreciated his point and felt bad that I hadn't defined the word in my column.

My friend offered me a description from InterVarsity author Ed Uszynski.

"Wokeism is an intentional overreaction weaponized for the purpose of reversing the pain of feeling mistreated or misunderstood. It's an ideological response to histories of real abuse, real domination, and real marginalization experienced in people's real narratives, a secular response to living amid the brokenness of the godless world we've created for ourselves as humans."

Uszynski, in his book Untangling CRT, defines how "woke" was historically a term used by black Americans to encourage awareness and vigilance against racist cultural positions.

Hmmmmm, I thought "woke" meant something else.

I did a quick, cursory review on the web.

The left-leaning periodical The Economist in 2021 provided helpful insight: "As the word (woke) spread into internet culture, thanks in part to the popular #staywoke hashtag, its usage quickly changed (from black racist meanings). It began to signify a progressive outlook on a host of issues…Becoming a byword for smug liberal enlightenment left it open to mockery. It was redefined to mean following an intolerant and moralizing ideology…."

A?2023 USA Today poll?found that 56%?of Americans said woke means?"to be informed, educated on, and aware of social injustices." And 39% of those surveyed said it also means "to be overly politically correct and police others' words."?

Former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has written a book titled "Woke, Inc." arguing that politics has no place in business. "Go woke, go broke" has been the battle cry for some social critics.

Liberal Democrat strategist and commentator James Carville?blamed Vice President?Harris' recent presidential loss on her party's failure to distance itself from "woke era" politics. "The image stuck in people's minds," he said, "that the Democrats wanted to defund the police, wanted to empty prisons...it created a sense of dishonor."

Perhaps "woke" has changed from its original race-only meaning in the 20th century.

Other terms and phrases quickly evolve with today’s social media super-charged vocabulary. Phrases like Critical Race Theory, Christian nationalism, DEI, civic religion, LatinX, and more may mean different things to different people.

Let's be mindful when using such terms as we dialogue with one another. Based on my friend's definition of "woke," I certainly agree that Christian colleges should be more sensitive to race issues. However, based on this newer, broader definition of “woke,” Christian groups may need to wisely choose how much they want to identify with current cultural positions.

Christ-followers may do well to consider the biblical warnings in regard to many of the latest cultural trends: “Don’t fool yourself. Don’t think that you can be wise merely by being relevant…What the world calls smart, God calls stupid.” (1 Corinthians 3:18-20)