Monday and the start of another week, the thirty-eighth of 2020. Most of us know that there are 52 weeks in a year, but some have 53. Guess how many 2020 has?

This is the year of actual UFOs, Murder Hornets and the Chinese Bat Flu; a wrecked economy and power grabs by junior commie Democrat governors; Burning, Looting & Murder, Inc. destroying our cities, our statues, our police and our sports, the so-called oppressed becoming the oppressors; a failed presidential impeachment show trial; a frail, mentally-challenged Trojan Horse Democrat candidate for president who embraces nearly all the folly of the extreme Left; and the continuing tantrum by the socialist enemies of the freest, wealthiest country in world history all because Orange Man Bad.

So, sure, extend 2020 by another week. What’s the worst that could happen?

The violence, unrest and the surging narrative that White People=Racists and Black People=Victims has disrupted even my family, who have, throughout our lives, embraced Latinos, Asians, Indians, Blacks and others as friends and have treated people with kindness no matter their skin color. Nonetheless, we’re now labelled racist and “privileged” simply because of the color of our skin.

Traditional definitions of racism no longer apply. The RandomHouse College Dictionary (1982) that I used in college defines racism like this:

In Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (1990), racism is defined as:

Notice that both define racism slightly differently, but the first definition of each concludes with the notion of racial superiority. Secondary uses address discrimination toward, or hatred of, a different race. I think that both uses of “racism” go hand-in-glove; a belief in one’s own racial superiority of necessity leads to believing people of other races are inferior.

What is not mentioned in these definitions is the wokeness called “systemic racism.” Earlier this year, Merriam-Webster pledged to include systemic oppression in its next update of racism after a black college graduate, Kennedy Mitchum, emailed the editors to express her frustration with their current definition of racism. According to her,

“It’s not just disliking someone because of the color of their skin,” she says. “There are systems in place in health care, in the justice system that are automatically formed to put people of color at the bottom and keep them at the bottom of the barrel.”

Worse, according to Mitchum, racism includes “microaggressions.”

During her time at Drake University, Mitchum says she grew “accustomed to” microaggressions because she was surrounded by so many white people who didn’t acknowledge her presence or questioned her ability. She thought this was something the dictionary definition should reflect as well.

As Vox put it in its report on the change (with my emphasis),

In its revision of the definition for racism, Merriam-Webster will attempt to show how racism isn’t just about discrimination or prejudice from one person to another but also about how longstanding institutions and laws and regulations buttress notions of supremacy and inferiority between the races. Moreover, the new definition may help us better see how white people benefit from racism since systemic oppression is ingrained in the fabric of American society.

I choke on that very last sentence, but I left it in there to demonstrate the assumption that the progressive Left operates on. It’s an unmitigated lie.

But the larger point is that racism is no longer just an individual sin. According to Mitchum and contemporary race-hustlers, racism is a collective sin. If you’re White, you’re racist because the country you were born in—the United States of America—is inherently racist. (If you have the stomach for it, read how Dictionary.com describes racism in the section called “About This Word.”)

The problem with this shift in how we define racism is twofold. The first is that making racism a collective sin of the white race is an application of cultural Marxism. Not the economic ideology based on class struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat; but the struggle between black and white, straight and homosexual, rich and poor, men and women, or any number of other combinations where there are “oppressors” and the “oppressed.”

These struggles are rooted in “Critical Theory,” a school of thought which criticizes every traditional Western institution, starting with the family, in order to corrupt and destroy them. If men are the traditional breadwinners and leaders of the home, that order (the “patriarchy”) must be destroyed. If a two-parent family with three kids is the norm, that arrangement must be destroyed. And if America determines to live out its creed that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” then that effort must be destroyed.

Our current spasm of racial unrest is the result of a wicked ideology formed by an offshoot of Critical Theory—Critical Race Theory—and it is tearing us apart as it is intended to. That’s the main problem with this new definition of racism.

The second problem in moving to collective blame for racist thinking or behavior is that it’s inconsistent with biblical teaching. We don’t see mobs of people standing before the throne of God on the last day being judged as groups of blacks or whites or men or women or Americans or Europeans. We instead see individuals accounting for their individual behavior.

“I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” Jesus, in Matthew 12:35-37.

“So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.” The Apostle Paul, in Romans 14:12.

We are not judged in a group. Jesus will not say to all white people, “You are all guilty of the evil of racism because I created you white!” Nope. Racism is an attitude of the heart and mind and we give an individual account of ourselves on that Last Day.

So the current race hustlers may be able to show that there are individuals who are racist by what they say or what they do. They may even be able to point to certain institutions or laws or practices that favor others over them. But what they cannot legitimately do is force all members of a specific race to take responsibility as a group for perceived (or real) racism. It doesn’t work that way.

So if you’re accused of being racist because you’re white, remember that you stand before God as an individual, not as a member of a white community. You aren’t responsible for the sins of your fathers, nor do you share in the sins of your contemporaries simply because you share their skin color. You stand before God alone and He alone determines your righteousness or lack thereof.

Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

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A Personal Note
I write five days a week on personal time because it’s one way I can contribute to strengthening the resolve of Christians, conservatives and other like-minded compatriots in the face of unprecedented division in our country. I would like to eventually do more. If you like what you’re reading and think others would benefit from it, please consider regularly sharing and commenting on my posts. Also invite your friends to subscribe. They can do that right on the home page. Thanks for reading! — Dave