Some helpful resources on the current cultural crisis….
Grove City College historian, Carl Trueman, has some great observations about the author of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling, and her recent “fall from grace” from the explosively emerging “critical theory” crowd, sometimes called “cancel culture,” that grew up on her children’s books. Calling out people on social media appears to be the favored method of humiliation by the technological savvy among the “cancel culture.”
I blogged about the troublesome trend in my review of Douglas Murray’s book, The Madness of Crowds. Murray opened my mind to a lot of the madness going on in our culture today. Murray is not an evangelical Christian, but Carl Trueman is, and Trueman offers invaluable theological insight into the problem that Murray identifies. This quote from Trueman stands out to me: “in a world where critical theory increasingly drives how the world is conceptualized, today’s victim can very easily become tomorrow’s oppressor.” This split within the “LGBTQ” movement is indicative of the trend.
In a nutshell, as a tool, “critical theory” can indeed be useful, for correcting injustice. But as an ideology, “critical theory” is an intolerant religion, completely opposed to the Gospel of Jesus. But Trueman puts it better than I can. I look forward to Trueman’s up and coming book on the topic of the “The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self.” In our troublesome times, Trueman’s Christian perspective is helpful for all of us.
A couple final thoughts, particularly on the race conversation…: It is becoming harder and harder to distinguish between legitimate cases of injustice and protest motivated by blinded rage. As a result, the temptation on one side is to play down legitimate concerns, and on the other, to wildly overreact. Related to the question of police brutality and racism, this essay by John McWhorter, an African-American intellectual, is highly recommended. McWhorter argues that while race is sometimes a component of police brutality, the issues involved are far more complex. This is the type of conversation needed today…..
Confused by how we all got into this mess, especially with race? Two helpful videos: First, from Jemar Tisby, author of The Color of Compromise, on how racism adapts over time, and then Phil Vischer, of the Veggie Tales fame, giving some of the historical background, which has fueled the contemporary interest in “critical theory.”
Veracity 
June 15th, 2020 at 6:45 pm
Adding another YouTube video on critical race theory…. just have not listened to it yet:
UPDATE: July 24, 2020
Spun this video off to form a new blog post, as it is focused on the Critical Theory movement, in particular:
https://sharedveracity.net/2020/07/24/what-is-critical-theory/
LikeLike
June 15th, 2020 at 11:14 pm
Douglas Murray on the whole J.K. Rowling canceling movement:
https://unherd.com/2020/06/why-j-k-rowling-had-to-be-denounced/
LikeLike
June 17th, 2020 at 4:57 pm
I think Hannah Anderson is correct here:
LikeLike
June 18th, 2020 at 12:35 pm
Whaddo You Meme responds to Black Lives Matter:
LikeLike
June 23rd, 2020 at 11:13 am
A couple of good videos to promote critical thought. William Lane Craig, a Christian philosopher, was asked if there will be a backlash against evangelicals, because of their support for Donald Trump. My only point of disagreement is while Dr. Craig does not see a backlash currently, I observe that there indeed is one currently going on. But Craig’s take on the history behind this is thought-provoking:
This other video is between two prominent atheist intellectuals, evolutionary biologist Bret Weinstein, and linguist John McWhorter. I wish they would have refrained from the use of profanity (albeit only moderately so), but Weinsten and McWhorter are very insightful as to why Critical Race Theory is so dangerous, as it functions like a religion. As Bret Weinstein has said, he does believe that “Black Lives Matter,” but he can not in good conscience support “#BlackLivesMatter” as a religious movement:
LikeLike
July 5th, 2020 at 10:37 pm
Theologian Gerald McDermott with a voice of sanity:
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/northamptonseminar/2020/07/03/the-emperors-new-clothes/
LikeLike
July 17th, 2020 at 9:14 am
LikeLike
August 21st, 2020 at 10:31 am
Phil Vischer has a follow-up video to his first race video (above) that went viral:
LikeLike
December 12th, 2020 at 10:23 pm
Pretty scare stuff, when I think about it:
https://lawliberty.org/americas-cultural-revolution/
LikeLike
April 20th, 2022 at 2:48 pm
Kind of hard for me to admit that I completely agree with Jerry Coyne, an outspoken atheist and advocate on the cultural “left”, but he has written a good blog essay, that contrary to those on the FAR, FAR LEFT, who claim that no “cancel culture” exists, Coyne argues that in fact it really does. Kudos to Coyne:
https://whyevolutionistrue.com/2022/04/20/is-cancel-culture-real/
LikeLike
March 24th, 2023 at 9:40 pm
Some atheists make sense, like Richard Dawkins, other atheists make nonsense, like Hemant Mehta. I would have thought better of Hemant Mehta, but now I must revise my opinion:
LikeLike