Why are we seeing a rise of intolerance and even violence for the cause of “social justice?” Consider these events that took place just in March:
- On March 5, protesters violently attacked police officers at a police training facility in Atlanta, Georgia where rioters threw bricks, rocks, fireworks and Molotov cocktails.
- On March 9, a group of Stanford law students shouted down conservative Judge Kyle Duncan, and the Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) dean wouldn’t allow him to speak .
- On March 14, a mob of University of California Berkley students smashed windows, threw eggs, and used pepper spray as they attempted to disrupt an event where the founder of Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk, would speak.
- On March 27, a shooter who identified as transgender killed three nine-year-olds and three adults at Covenant School in Nashville.
- On March 31, LGBT demonstrators physically or verbally harassed conservative counter-protesters; and two Christian schools canceled classes due to violent threats issued in the shadow of a mass murder on “Transgender Day of Visibility.”
- Abortion advocates continue to attack churches, pro-life organizations, property, and people since the leak of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court decision on May 2, 2022. The most recent was on CompassCare’s clinic in Buffalo, New York on March 15. It was the second time they were targeted.
These actions are Marxist tactics. Marxists believe that any means are justified to bring about their goal of bringing “justice” and “equity” to the oppressed. Marxism pervades the United States, thanks in large part to organizations such as the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), Leading Educators, Black Lives Matter, Antifa, and the Gay Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN). In our education system specifically, thousands of students studying to become teachers since the early 1990s have been instructed to use SPLC tools in their lesson plans.
Critical race theory, critical gender theory, and action civics are some examples of Marxist ideology, some of which is taught through the SPLC’s “Learning for Justice” program. (Find out more in FRC’s resource written by senior fellow for Education Studies, Meg Kilgannon.) It is very telling to read the words of SPLC’s “Learning for Justice” Director Jalaya Liles Dunn. She says the curriculum has shifted “from reducing prejudice to more pointedly supporting action to address injustice.”
One example of the Marxist ideology in “Learning for Justice” is an interactive webinar that reflects on “white privilege through multimedia and group chats. [They] discuss whiteness as a racial identity with the understanding that acknowledging whiteness and the privilege and power attached to it is a necessary step in working toward racial justice.”
Marxism is fundamentally anti-Christian, anti-family, anti-religion, and anti-freedom. Marxists believe that the history of man is the history of oppressors who are protected by “the system” —whether that be capitalism, religion, or the traditional family (“Mother Bear Apologetics,” p. 223). As Hillary Morgan Ferrer explains, if you point out how Marxism has failed and been oppressive throughout history in the countries that have tried it, a Marxist will say that those countries “haven’t done it right.” They believe that today Americans have progressed enough to “get it right” so that everyone will be equal. But they ignore original sin and human nature.
Many of us remember the Berlin Wall being torn down in 1989. It marked the victorious end of the Cold War. Most people in their mid-40s and older remember how significant that time was — democracy and freedom defeating communism and oppression. Sadly, too many people in America today do not grasp this understanding.
Presbyterian New Testament scholar and educator J. Gresham Machen said, “A public school system, if it means the providing of free education for those who desire it, is a noteworthy and beneficent achievement of modern times; but when once it becomes monopolistic it is the most perfect instrument for tyranny which has yet been devised.” As parents, school board members, teachers, and community members we need to help our children recognize and oppose Marxism and return to the democratic ideals protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution: freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press.
Machen also said, “The most important Christian education institution is not the pulpit or the school, important as those institutions are; but it is the Christian family.” Parents, we can prevent our children from being indoctrinated by Marxist ideology by:
- Teaching the truth about America’s history and how our country has been working from its very beginning to become a “more perfect union.” We have come a long way at improving relationships between races, sexes, and cultures, thanks in part to the leadership of Frederick Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, Booker T. Washington, Susan B. Anthony, and Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Teaching our children that God has created each human being in His image, and we should treat each other as such — no matter how much we may disagree. We should live out what Jesus taught: truly loving the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and loving our neighbors as ourselves.
- Visiting the website of our friends Darrell Harrison and Virgil Walker at Just Thinking Ministries. They have a tremendous amount of educational materials that you can share with your children.
- Reading “America: The Last Best Hope” by William J. Bennett together. Dr. Bennett teaches the history of America from its beginning in a thorough and honest light.
- Using curriculum from 1776 Unites, Prager University resources, Dr. Ben Carson’s “Little Patriots” curriculum, and resources by Natasha Crain and Elizabeth Urbanowicz.
- Reading Brave Books together, including Kirk Cameron’s book, “As You Grow.”
A Christian actor and author, Cameron said in a recent interview with Tony Perkins on “Washington Watch,” “If we don’t stand for the basic building blocks of the family and the distinction between male and female, what will we stand for? And if we won’t stand for the responsibility to protect the hearts and minds of our children — of our toddlers, then when will we ever stand?”
Christians, let’s not stand on the sidelines of the public square and complain about what is happening in our schools and society. Instead, let’s take action and transform our culture for His glory.
