Do you ever feel like you must speak out? That remaining silent will make you complicit with injustice? Especially when it comes to justice, the Truth matters. That’s why I’m writing what may be my most unpopular post ever. The original title for my book was The Windblown Girl: A Memoir about Self, Sexuality, and Social Justice. But after becoming aware of the problems with “social justice,” I didn’t want to be associated with that classification.

The underlying reasons shape the heart of divisions in America. That’s why the answers to these questions should be considered before speaking out or getting involved with justice issues.

Who’s in Charge?

As cultural leaders–Hollywood icons, college professors, journalists/authors, and well-spoken politicians (on both sides) propose solutions for civil rights, homelessness, poverty, and so on. Yet many of them overlook or justify inherent problems with their ideas. Often what is considered justice for one, may provoke injustice for another. Think of complex issues like illegal immigration. Or racism. According to the Parents Defending Education website, the term “antiracism” offers a prime example.

Schools frequently assign the book “How to be an Antiracist” written by activist and writer Ibram X. Kendi. Kendi writes that “the most threatening racist movement is…the regular American’s drive for a ‘race-neutral’” society. Kendi has admitted what “antiracism” really means in practice: “The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.” In other words, supporting “antiracism” actually means supporting racism — discriminating against people based on the color of their skin [dark blue emphasis mine].

 

 Antiracism” is incredibly destructive to our schools and communities. Its goal is to separate people into racial identity groups and then encourage feelings of shame, guilt, anger, and resentment toward the other groups. It divides our kids and our society into good people and bad people. 

Some churches even promote Kendi’s approach. By doing so, they ignore how this manmade solution to racism creates new, potentially dangerous, and maybe even deadly, racism.

Isn’t There A Better Way?

A Christ-centered approach, with its calls for unity, does not glamorize and glorify a man’s idea of justice. That’s why the title of my book had to change. At the beginning of Part 2 in The Windblown Girl: A Memoir about Self Sexuality, and Social Issues, I expressed deep concerns about the alienating influences at work in our country.

Justice issues like abortion and racial tensions continued to divide America. Biden claimed to want unity, but apparently expected anyone who disagreed with him to give up their stance on the value of human life, protecting our borders, and resolving racial tension without demeaning White people. The news reported that Katie Couric wanted to deprogram anyone who supported Trump. Although I definitely wasn’t a fan, many of my friends supported our former president. Being a problem solver, I was well aware that the societal issues were real and needed solutions. But until we could find common ground, the division in our country was bound to intensify (p. 98).

When ungodly people set the standards, it can escalate into horrific injustice. Dictators like Joseph Stalin murdered millions, who he didn’t think deserved to live. Adolf Hitler exterminated six million Jews plus numerous others. Idi Amin massacred 300,000 civilians. Derek Chauvin’s brand of justice determined that George Floyd didn’t deserve to live. Justice delivered by teens meant bullying thirteen-year-old, Megan Meiers until she hung herself. Human beings are not just. Jeremiah 17:9 states

The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; who can know it?

There’s only one pathway to true justice. That’s by adhering to our Creator’s standards instead of distorting them according to individual perspectives and agendas. A  biblical worldview based on rock-solid values greatly reduces the confusion. Exchanging human perspectives for God’s standards would bring America much closer to true justice.

Why Does Identity Matter?

Our founding fathers knew the answer to this question. Do you? It’s written in The Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. 

“All men.” Today’s language would be all inclusive, but this Truth about all human beings is self-evident.

We are created equal because we are created in the image of a just God. Made in His image, we also can think His thoughts and act on them. 1 Corinthians 2:16b says:

But we have the mind of Christ.

By exchanging our feelings, prejudices, and egos for the mind of Christ, we can’t help but recognize that every human being has worth and value. (Several Scriptures mention how Jesus knew individuals while they were in the womb.)  When we stop trying to fit into a cultural mold determined by human beings and turn to Jesus, we step into our true identity, one that remains constant no matter the color of our skin, our sexual preferences, our wealth, or our abilities. And, that changes everything.

What’s at the Heart of Justice Issues?

In Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail, he said

I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes.

Whether it’s civil unrest, human trafficking, or a young girl committing suicide, Dr. King is right. We must address the underlying causes of injustice to eliminate the problems. For years I tried to convince anti-trafficking advocates that the causes of modern-day slavery must be addressed to reduce this $15 billion a year industry. However, most nonprofits and many churches, prefer to work with victims. That’s admirable. At the same time, it’s never going to solve the problem of modern-day slavery.

Demand continues to escalate as pornography runs rampant through all forms of media. The hypersexualization of our culture even in grammar schools contributes to the injustice of sex trafficking as does poverty and greed along with the breakdown of the family.

After years of writing about these issues, I’m convinced that one root cause lies at the heart of the justice problem. It’s the value of life. The very people, who claim to promote social justice fight for the “right” to take human lives while still in the womb. When any person decides who has worth and who does not, who has a right to live and who does not; it creates travesties like the slaughter of millions of unwanted babies or elderly or an ethnic group or the suicide of a thirteen year-old. Instead of seeing the poor as people of worth, they can be discarded. Instead of valuing those coming from other countries, we refuse genuine help that might make their countries safer or callously send those raised in the U.S. back to countries where they’ve never been before.

How Does A “Just God” Make A Difference?

Every human being created in God’s image has value. From conception that’s their identity. It’s constant. It never changes.

From the moment a baby is conceived, he or she has physical attributes, intellect, and purpose–even if there are physical challenges. Because that baby is human, it has a right to live. When that reality is valued, it speaks volumes to the worth of an individual like George Floyd–even if he may have been on drugs. Or a thirteen-year-old, whose friends demolished her reputation. Or anyone.  When a God-given identity is valued, some who might have been aborted go on to make a tremendous difference in society. My first editor and author Mike Yorkey recently wrote about that in a Facebook post.

While doing research for his book The Right Steph: How Stephen Curry is Making All the Right Moves–with Humility and Grace, Yorkey realized how, as an unwanted pregnancy unfolded, this NBA 2022 MVP might have been aborted.

Then, a month ago, Sonya Curry, released her own memoir, “Fierce Love.” In her book, she revealed that she had one abortion before becoming pregnant with Steph and seriously contemplated aborting her second child. She said she didn’t know what was going to happen between her and Dell but she decided that she had to trust God and move forward.

Because many, if not most, “social justice” advocates consider abortion a solution to an unwanted baby, millions of babies don’t make it. Somewhere between 600,000 and a million, each year, are killed.  As a result, society suffers the loss of what may be some of its finest. When people play God, there are consequences.

I believe one of the worst results is the message this barbaric practice gives young people. Common sense says if unwanted babies can be killed, so can unwanted teens, and that results in far too many suicides. It’s injustice of the worst kind. Man’s dictates create horrific injustice. A just God solves those problems, just as He did for Sonya and her son, Steph Curry.