Southern Baptist Seminary Dean blames whiteness for evangelical values.Tells white evangelicals they have racialized worldview.

Southern Baptist Seminary Dean promotes presentation on Black Lives Matter claiming churches are ‘dangerous places for people of color.’ Recommends book attacking individualism as root of racial issues.

In a video produced by the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, the dean of Boyce College answered the questions: What exactly is racism? How do I know if I’m racist? and claimed that everyone in America is influenced by racism.

“If you live and work in the United States, or in North America in particular, you cannot escape the influence of race, the power of the idea of race, and the legacy and current reality of racism,” Matthew J. Hall, dean of Boyce College of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary said, “So if you asked the question, how do I know if I’m a racist, if you live in this context and if you’re human, you have been affected by racism.”

So, what is racism? Hall answers that it is about power. “Racism is really about a systemic and structural ideology, an idea that affects the way power is distributed,” he said.

Hall redefines racism from its traditional meaning of preference for one racial group and prejudice against another people group into something far different—power and economic opportunities.

“So if you asked the question, how do I know if I’m a racist, if you live in this context and if you’re human, you have been affected by racism. Here’s how you can know if you’ve been affected by racism in America. If you have a double standard where you will tolerate certain lack of opportunities, if you will tolerate a double standard in terms of justice, if you’ll tolerate a double standard in terms of economic opportunity, but you won’t tolerate that in your community, so you hear on the news on a routine basis about teenage boys getting shot in one community and you just get used to it.”

The Analytical Tools of our Destruction: Use of CRT to define Whiteness

The analytical tools of our destruction are approved for use by the Southern Baptist Convention. In June, the SBC approved the use of Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality in the infamous Resolution 9. Some have asked why that resolution was approved. The answer: It is what many of the seminaries are teaching to their students. For example, Boyce College, a part of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville has a dean promoting important elements of Critical Race Theory.

“Perhaps the best thing you can do to start is to take a humble posture, recognizing that you have a racialized worldview of which you are likely unaware. Your beliefs, attitudes, and values have been formed in ways deeply informed by whiteness,” wrote Matthew J. Hall, dean of Boyce College of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

What is whiteness you might ask? That’s a vague term, but according to Robin DiAngel, one of the leading thinkers of Critical Theory, in a 2011 article explained, “Whiteness accrues privilege and status; gets itself surrounded by protective pillows of resources and/or benefits of the doubt; how Whiteness repels gossip and voyeurism and instead demands dignity” (p. 57). Whites are rarely without these ‘protective pillows,’ and when they are, it is usually temporary and by choice. This insulated environment of racial privilege builds white expectations for racial comfort while at the same time lowering the ability to tolerate racial stress.”

You are racist and you don’t even know it. Sit down and shut up is the message for white evangelicals. Oh, and while sitting silently in those pews, don’t forget to continue giving lots of money to support our programs—and listen to the appropriate teachings.

What teachings do these Identity Politics promoting folks at Southern Seminary suggest?

Oh, this presentation from TGC promoting Black Lives Matter as the New Civil Rights Movement.

The dean actually recommended this talk by Mika Edmonson, where this was said: “(We all know some of our churches can be dangerous places for people of color.)”

Dangerous places.

Our churches.

Good grief.

The dean also recommended a book Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America that claims according to Amazon, “That despite recent efforts by the movement’s leaders to address the problem of racial discrimination, evangelicals themselves seem to be preserving America’s racial chasm. In fact, most white evangelicals see no systematic discrimination against blacks. But the authors contend that it is not active racism that prevents evangelicals from recognizing ongoing problems in American society. Instead, it is the evangelical movement’s emphasis on individualism, free will, and personal relationships that makes invisible the pervasive injustice that perpetuates racial inequality.”

So, a book attacking the foundational assumptions of America, Christian civilization and our biblical worldview, ie: individualism and free will (despite how we might define it), is recommended reading?

Is it any wonder why our denomination is drifting to the Left?

Dr. Al Mohler is president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. A few months ago, Mohler challenged people to judge him by those he platforms.

Well, Dr. Mohler. This isn’t a good look for you.

Your silence implies consent. So, it falls to others to guard the lifeblood of the Southern Baptist Convention.

To you, reader, the challenge falls. Stand up and save the Southern Baptist Convention.

2 thoughts on “Southern Baptist Seminary Dean claims Americans, evangelicals influenced by racism, Whiteness”

  1. Don’t get me wrong, I’m super in favor of the new Founders documentary. I lamented Resolution 9. But I also work in a large Fortune 50 corporation (one that has devoured many smaller companies through mergers – of which my company is one). And there is certainly a thing in this corporation where if you were a part of the original parent corporation, you have upward mobility, and those employees acquired by merger have none. If that is the perception of those of us from the acquired companies, I can certainly understand that black folks can look at a lot of our social constructs and institutions and see the same kind of closed doors. It’s a lamentable reality, but the only thing that can change these things is the Gospel, not man-centered analytical tools.

  2. Dear fellow Christians,
    I once went to a SBC Baptist church in a highly-affluent area of my city. If a black or Hispanic person attended they were not greeted with friendliness or compassion.
    A few years later, another church of ARC started a branch in the toughest area of town. This church was fully integrated both with many races and income levels. It grew from 50 to over 600 in a matter of months. Their service projects were even respected by the area’s gangs. The branch has a “Dream” center where every Wednesday the homeless are fed, clothed, given access to a free medical and dental care.
    What is the point ? Only 5 percent of Christians actively witness and give open gifts of compassion to areas like this. This pilot effort should be used in Baltimore if possible.
    Buy some Gospel of John tracts and give them to strangers and young children. They aren’t expensive. There is an organization called “Pocket Testament League” where you can order them.
    This same church that has started branches in these tough areas has ventured into podcasting to 15 prisons with our gifted pastor’s messages.
    Racism is a curse of your own heart. There are venues of compassion everywhere. You just have to reach out and show kindness. Like Jesus.
    Thomas

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