It is a simple math equation, one we all learned in grade school, 2+2=4. It’s pretty much a universal constant, right? If you take 2 apples and add 2 more apples, you get four apples. It really doesn’t get much more simple than that. Unless you have an agenda that is.
Since the death of George Floyd, the issue of racism in America, specifically, the charge of systemic racism at all levels of culture, has been at a fever pitch. Claims of racism in education, government, law enforcement, business, and much more have been levied by everyone with a perceived interest in the discussion. Simply put, according to the doctrines of Critical Race Theory (CRT), everything in America is guilty of systemic racism. This is because our nation was built by those who were white European slave owners who believed that white men should always reign supreme, according to the theory. Therefore, according to the theory, everything that the founding fathers established was meant to elevate the white man and never allow the black community to foster. The argument is that there is nothing in our culture that has not been tainted by white supremacy. As such, it must all be pulled down and rebuilt if racial equity can ever be established.
Now, we should recognize that cultural biases can exist and can be passed down from generation to generation. Therefore, it is possible for our national culture today to have ideas and concepts that need self-examination. Each person should be willing to look at what they believe about others, how they treat them, and why they do it. For Christians, this really is a no brainer. We are called to love God and to love others as we already love ourselves. So treating people disrespectfully, especially due to their ethnic origin, should be foreign to us. And if we find we are operating on personal biases, we ought to repent of this and make amends to any persons whom we have sinned against.
The problem lies in the fact that CRT assumes that, not only do biases exist but are so ingrained in the very fabric of our existence that any and all white persons in America are de facto racist if they are unwilling to acknowledge they have benefitted from a racist system. It demands that all persons of Caucasian ethnicity not only admit they are privileged but actively work to divest themselves of said privilege and elevate persons of color to atone for their innate racism. In order to continue to prove that systemic racism exists at all levels, CRT evangelists have taken to not only claiming government and businesses are infected, but even science, history, and religion are products of white colonialism.
It is important to understand how and why this is being taught. CRT teaches the entire system is infected with racism and needs to be rebuilt. For the Christian, however, this is entirely anti-biblical. Christian doctrine teaches that individuals are responsible for their sin and will be condemned eternally as individuals. Salvation is a personal matter between a person and God, whom he or she has sinned against. That person must repent of their sin (of which racism would be included) and trust in the completed work of Christ to be forgiven before God. As that person is saved, God gives him or her new life and new desires. That person is a new creation and is free from the power of sin and death. This means they can live lives of holiness before God and seek to make reconciliation with those whom they have sinned against. As more people come to Christ, they in turn share the gospel with others who get saved and become new creations. In time, an entire culture can be changed from sinful reprobates to a people who love and care for others.
Historically, we saw this happen as the gospel was preached throughout Europe, and eventually the Americas, post-Reformation. Missions, hospitals, schools, and churches were planted all around the world. Christians went forth and not only preached the gospel but loved others to the point of seeking to care for them at every level. This is the legacy of God’s work and power through the transforming preaching of the gospel.
The gospel does not require Christians to attack cultural biases and demand restructuring of power positions. What it does demand is to call sinners to repentance and to love neighbors as oneself. CRT evangelists find themselves at odds with biblical Christians who understand the doctrines of scripture and know that compromise with the world dilutes the gospel message. Therefore, preachers of CRT seek to redefine what the scriptures teach and say in order to fit their narrative. For example, where the Bible speaks of justice, they redefine justice to mean that all persons must have equality of outcome. Those who repudiate such redefinitions are ridiculed for holding to a white colonialist view and are told they must divest themselves of such thinking in order to hold to a truly biblical view.
What does this have to do with mathematics? Recently, many Critical Theorists have taken aim at those who claim 2+2 always equals 4. Why? Because it represents objective truth, something that Critical Theory abhors. As such, CT proponents have made numerous claims attempting to debunk the idea that math holds rock-solid, objective principals. They have used examples such as: if two companies have two machines and each has the parts to make half of another machine, if they come together, they can build a third machine, meaning 1+1 = 3; or if you have 2 apples and 2 oranges, you don’t have 4 apples. These examples are meant to show that math isn’t quite so clear cut and allows doubt to be created in the minds of their readers. This is called deconstruction. Its intended purpose it to break down actual definitions, create doubt in the meaning of things, and introduce new definitions.
But notice what the deconstructionist does. He states that the actual word problem is two companies added together make three machines, in other words, 1 + 1 = 3. He has taken two separate equations and mashed them into one, completely disregarding the details, and come to a wrong conclusion. Yet, for the person who does not think critically, this creates confusion and doubt. This allows the deconstructionist to redefine how math works and claims that traditional math is a function of a systemically flawed system, i.e. white colonialism.
Let’s look at the second equation: 2 apples plus 2 oranges does not equal 4 apples. This is correct on the surface. You cannot claim that the two different classes of items added together equal 4 items of one class. However, if the word problem were written as an actual math problem is traditionally presented, it would read: Billy has 2 apples in his lunchbox. His friend Johnny has 2 oranges. How many pieces of fruit do Billy and Johnny have? Of course, the answer is 4 pieces of fruit. See, the deconstructionist purposely created a math equation that doesn’t exist. No one with a functioning mind would believe adding apples to oranges makes more apples. However, adding the number of apples and oranges together does tell us the total amount of fruit present. The deconstructionist intentionally seeks to obfuscate the actual math problem by asking a question no one had and then uses it to “prove” that math isn’t as objective as we would like to believe.
The goal for attacking math is simple, it is an objective truth that can be tested and proven. Critical Theorists, especially Critical Race Theorists, in America today cannot abide by having anything that is objectively true. It destroys the very premise by which they can call for the destruction of our existing culture. In order to rebuild the American culture into something CRT apologists desire, our current way of life must be eradicated. To do that, Americans must be made to believe that everything they know and believe in is racist and flawed. But, if even a shred of objective truth exists, Americans can hold to that truth and resist efforts to tear everything down in order to build a Utopia. That is why history, science, math, and even religion must be cast into utter confusion. No truth can be allowed to stand in the path of the CRT agenda.
What can be done? Specifically, for the Christian church, we must resist all temptation to bow to the CRT idol, no matter how castigated we are by the culture at large. The one true source of objective truth in this world is the Word of God. It is not a white colonialist construct. It is the revealed Word of God as given to His people, inspired by the Holy Spirit, through those authors whom He superintended to write what they did. It is inspired, inerrant, infallible, and all-sufficient. We must stand firmly on His Word and never waiver. We must preach His truth to the world and never apologize for it. Additionally, when we look at God’s work in this world through the disciplines of science, mathematics, and even history, we must not waiver and be misled. Science and math speak to the order and beauty of God’s creation. History, with its good and bad times, show His continued work throughout the ages. It reveals His mercy and kindness to a wicked people and His judgment on nations that refuse His rule over them. We must never bow to the redefining and rewriting of truth by those who have a stated goal of overturning culture so that they may remake it in their own image.
However, should Western Culture one day fall (and I fear its end is quite near) we must always and forever preach the truth, hold that it is true and never waiver. God is our only sovereign and on His Word, we must always depend.
Well done!
Thank you, sister!