I had promised that my next post would cover how schools undermine parental authority in the area of social-emotional training. However, I felt I needed to address current events—especially since I live in the greater Seattle area. Instead of rehashing the events, I want to look at the battle of worldviews.

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The George Floyd riots are not about race. The peaceful protests, perhaps, but not the rioters and looters.

These ruffians have opened a new chapter in Western Civilization’s centuries-old conflict between Theism and Secularism. Over the past few decades, this Culture War between worldviews has crescendoed, and perhaps now we have reached the breaking point. Which worldview will dominate the United States?

Since May 26, mobs have terrorized the streets of some cities. Eerily resembling the storming of the Bastille, a Seattle mob captured the police precinct on Capitol Hill on June 10 and declared it the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ, later changed to CHOP).

The leftist Mayor Jenny Durkan, many on the Seattle city council, and Governor Jay Inslee have ignored the insurrectionists. Instead, they salute #BlackLivesMatter.

Where will this all end? Can law and order based on Judeo-Christian values be restored, or will it be overthrown by anarchists? Will Americans fight for their heritage of the rule of law? Or will they follow the mob on the road to tyranny?

Worldviews Govern Societies

Throughout the history of Western civilization, people have debated about how society is best governed. A king or dictator has been the default form.

At Mt. Sinai, God introduced the Hebrews to a theistic form of government and a social structure that honored him. Os Guinness, in his book, Last Call for Liberty, states that many scholars agree that the concept of Western freedom began with the Exodus, not Athens (22).i

Later, the Athenians experimented with democracy. Then Plato, rejecting his culture’s traditional values, described in The Republic his view of a perfect society ruled by selfless guardians. He scorned personal freedom and the traditional family as well.

For a short time, the Romans had a republic, but it collapsed into an empire. During the late Roman era, the Christian worldview became dominant and held throughout the European Medieval Era.

Over the following 500 years, Western thought shifted between theistic and secular worldviews. Humanistic philosophies such as those proposed by Darwin, Freud, Marx, and Nietzsche gained in popularity. The worldviews shape how societies govern themselves.

Innately Good or Evil?

A worldview answers life’s big questions, including, What is man, and how should he be governed?

  • Theists believe man is innately evil, and he controls his behavior from the inside by rules from God or a Higher Power.
  • Secularists believe either one’s behavior is controlled from the outside or that man is innately good.

A typical example used to illustrate these differences is to contrast the Americanii and French Revolutions.

American Revolution

In declaring their independence from England and forming a new nation, the Founding Fathers operated from their Christian worldview. The Bible says man is sinful, and power corrupts. Therefore, the Founders limited the power of the federal government.

John Adams explained on June 21, 1776,

Statesmen, my dear Sir, may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles upon which freedom can securely stand.

The only foundation of a free Constitution is pure Virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our People in a greater Measure, than they have it now, they may change their Rulers and the forms of Government, but they will not obtain a lasting liberty.

To maintain our liberty, our society must hold a theistic worldview.

French Revolution

The French revolutionaries, on the other hand, acted on their atheistic worldview based on the radical Enlightenment philosophers. Seeking to create an equal society, they not only overthrew the monarch and executed nobles but also tried to eradicate the church.

Because the leaders, humans marred by original sin, were incapable to live up to the false humanistic ideals of the goodness of man and benevolent leadership, the revolution grew bloody. Next, Napoleon led them into war. The dream of liberty, equality, and fraternity died because the French had removed God from their culture.

Reconciliation or Revolution?

Initially, the George Floyd marches appeared as an outcry against his wrongful death and racism. When people protest against racism, I assume they want reconciliation between the races. But that isn’t what the rioters have in mind. They seek revolution, reparations, and revenge, not reconciliation.

For instance, when the demonstrations morphed into riots, even black-owned businesses were destroyed.

Furthermore, when my pastor visited two local protests, he sought a dialogue. He received an earful from the protesters, but they refused to listen to his (a white man’s) point of view. Obviously, the three individuals he spoke with had no interest in improving race relations.

Black Lives Matter

Advocating equality, justice, and empathy, Black Lives Matter, (BLM) attracts many to its cause. Most people agree that racism is wrong and that historically blacks as a group have remained at the bottom of society’s economic and educational ladder. In sympathy, good-meaning people flock to peaceful protests.

Yet, this call to virtue is a bait-and-switch tactic, a siren song of utopia. BLM embraces the leftists’ worldview. Rejecting the Judeo-Christian worldview on which our civil liberties stand, they hold the unbiblical values of communism, anarchy, and Critical Theory. As with the French, Russian, and Maoist revolutions, the BLM movement can only end in oppression.

Communism

Karl Marx imagined the workers of the world would unite to overthrow the greedy capitalists. Next, they would transform society into one in which “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.” Meaning it doesn’t matter how much or little one works, one will get what one needs.

Following in Marx’s footsteps, BLM has demanded their definition of economic justice:

  • Free healthcare, housing, and higher education
  • Collective ownership
  • Those in CHAZ/CHOP demand “the people of Seattle seek out and proudly support Black-owned businesses. Your money is our power and sustainability.”

History shows that this doesn’t work, and so does this video (humorous).

The price for this utopia is the loss of private property and all of our constitutional liberties.

Just as Marx rejected traditional morality and declared religion to the be opiate of the people, BLM wants to destroy the biblical view of sex and family. (BLM took this page down after many people criticized their statements.)

  • “…[We] do the work required to dismantle cisgender privilege and uplift Black trans folk.”
  • “We dismantle the patriarchal practice that requires mothers to work ‘double shifts’ so that they can mother in private even as they participate in public justice work.”
  • “We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and ‘villages’ that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable” (emphasis mine).

Anarchy

Calling for the defunding of the police and the entire justice system, including the release of prisoners, BLM followers reject the rule of law. Since BLM took control of CHAZ and kicked out police, the 911 calls have tripled, and the police can’t respond to those crimes. Without law and order, people have no restraint.

BLM demands the end of “broken window policing.” This policy led to a dramatic decrease in crime through the 1990s and 2000s. A recent reduction of this policy has led to an uptick in crime.

BLM embraces globalism, which includes open borders and no punishment for illegal aliens. No borders, no nation, no law and order. Ironically, CHAZ guards its borders—and built a wall!

Critical Theory

The Critical Theory philosophy shapes much of BLM’s worldview.

“Critical Theory is the ideology that underlies many of the popular responses to racial injustice that we’re seeing today, and it’s a secular view that is unfortunately spilling into the church in shocking degrees. This ideology views reality through the lens of power, dividing people into oppressed groups and oppressor groups along lines like race, class, gender, sexuality orientation, physical ability and age. Truth becomes relative based on your status in one of these groups.”
—Christian author and blogger Natasha Crain (emphasis mine)

This worldview conflicts with the biblical worldview concerning truth, sex, race, and identity. This Colson Center video explains this well.

BLM shows its adherence to Critical Theory through these statements.

  • “We are guided by the fact that all Black lives matter, regardless of actual or perceived sexual identity, gender identity, gender expression, economic status, ability, disability, religious beliefs or disbeliefs, immigration status, or location.”
  • “When we gather, we do so with the intention of freeing ourselves from the tight grip of heteronormative thinking…” (emphasis added).

Conclusion

In closing, I ask, What worldview will prevail in the United States? Law and order based on Judeo-Christian values or Marxist tyranny?

To those of you who desire to improve the lives of American blacks, please do not get swept up into the BLM movement. They don’t care about all blacks, only those who submit to their ideals. Their goal is revenge and the destruction of capitalism, not racial reconciliation.

People, wake up and make a stand against tyranny. Speak out and expose BLM’s false narrative. As for the Democratic mayors and governors who turn a blind eye to BLM’s violence, vote them out of office.

Most importantly, we must pray that the Lord will soften the hearts of these insurrectionists to hear the Holy Spirit. May they repent of their rampage, leave the path that leads to death, and follow Jesus, who gives life everlasting.

i Guinness, Os. Last Call for Liberty: How America’s Genius for Freedom Has Become Its Greatest Threat. IVP Books, 2018.

iiTo call the War of Independence the American Revolution is a misnomer. A revolution is when two or more groups fight for control over one nation. The American colonists didn’t want to control England. They wanted their independence. However, I have chosen the more familiar term for clarity.