"Today, my message concerns such good and religious-minded people who have stopped attending or participating in their churches. When I say “churches,” I include synagogues, mosques, or other religious organizations. We are concerned that attendance in all of these is down significantly, nationwide." - President Dallin H. Oaks, "The Need for a Church," General Conference, October 2021
"We shall see in our time a maximum if indirect effort to establish irreligion as the state religion. It is actually a new form of paganism that uses the carefully preserved and cultivated freedoms of Western civilization even as it rejects value-essence of our Judeo-Christian heritage." -Elder Neal A. Maxwell, "Meeting the Challenges of Today," October 10, 1978 (later referenced by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.
For a while now, religious leaders have expressed concern the departure of younger generations from organized religion, or from religion and spirituality in general. What I have to say however, is still resonant with many people of a variety of religious beliefs, including atheism.
As I've listened to various people (mostly liberal thinkers) push back against Social Justice ideology, I've noticed a trend. As people leave religion behind, there seems to be a contingent who find that there is a void where their faith used to be. It's like there's a human need to believe in something, to fight for something or find purpose and meaning in something. In comes Social Justice ideology to help fill that void. It provides something to focus on, believe in and a feeling that you are a "good person." Yet I've found that it has transformed into something (and I realize this is a strong claim) godless and ugly. Don't get me wrong though, as I mentioned before, there are still people from a variety of belief systems that have noticed this trend. I follow some atheists who have noticed this as well (I greatly admire Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying, evolutionary biologists, left-leaning, and who have also been victims of Social Justice ideology...learn about their story here).
The Social Justice that I speak of is entrenched in identity politics and, more broadly, identity essentialism. Characteristics, like skin color, gender, sexual orientation, are seen as the primary definition of who someone is. They must think and act a certain way (and of course, white people are given a list of certain characteristics that define "whiteness") and when they depart from the ideological box they are "aligning with the oppressor" or "enacting whiteness." Asians, since they tend to excel, are often accused of "enacting whiteness." The same, or something similar, goes for Jewish people. People like this are "problematic" to the Social Justice cause because they (generally) don't fit neatly into the racial hierarchy which, although it may have been constructed in the past...the Social Justice ideology feeds off of.
It is now viewed as acceptable to turn on white men, bully them, blame them for everything and disregard what they have to say. The same is true for anyone in any demographic that departs from the narratives that the mob endorses. We see some of this with J.K. Rowling, a prominent feminist, who acknowledges the biological reality of sex and gender, men and women (and yet she leaves a lot of room and sympathy for the reality transgender people face as well). A similar thing happened recently with Dave Chappelle. Since this is a case about transgender ideology, I'll mention that many who are actually transgender are not on board with some of this post-modern madness. On any given "social justice" topic, you'll find people in minority groups who disagree and have very different views.
To illustrate some of the religious-style fervor, I once made a half-joke about my "minority privilege" on a post about pronouns (because I can see the oppression Olympics that some people talk about...the idea that the more intersectional "oppressed" identities you have, the more you're allowed to speak and have a voice). This wasn't a huge deal, but I was called out on my privilege joke and it was as if I had violated something sacred. I was then "educated" on how listing our pronouns helps transgender people and how coming out as "straight" would be more welcoming to gay people. Some people might resonate with that. I don't. I'm a gay man, but if someone doesn't feel like coming out or identifying as "straight" and/or list their pronouns in their social media bios, I don't think they should have to. Compelled speech does not come from a place of compassion and understanding, and I believe it can turn people even more against each other.
Getting back to a broader view of Social Justice language: of course, saying someone is gay, black, transgender, white, female, Latino, etc. doesn't automatically refer to these ideological boxes. For many liberals and conservatives, these are just adjectives that describe a part of who we are, and it still leaves a lot to our various individual experiences and beliefs.
Some say that to criticize Social Justice ideology or Critical Race Theory is to deny the oppression of the past or legitimate injustices that occur today. I very much disagree. I believe that is part of the manipulation. On the flip side, there is pressure to acknowledge past injustices and keep acknowledging it over and over and over again (I'm thinking of comments like, "but you have to acknowledge that black people have not had it so good in past decades"). It seems like this ideology is determined to live in the misery of the past and ignore the opportunities that lay before us now. Part of the Civil Rights movement (I believe) and part of true liberalism was to free up the individual. Individuals have such a wide variety of belief systems and ways of viewing the world. There is a wide array of philosophies, religious beliefs and practices from which to oppose racism and other forms of discrimination (although some people view the church I belong to, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as presently and fundamentally sexist and homophobic...we're going to have to disagree).
Many in America were born and raised to "not be racist," to value individuals and see each other's character and divine identity. It definitely seems like the right thing to do is to believe every single claim of racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination. Unfortunately, I have grown leery of such claims because of faked hate crimes and (moreover) post-modern interpretations and re-definitions of racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, etc. According to Robin Di'Angelo, author of White Fragility and Nice Racism, racism is the ordinary state of affairs in society, all white people have to do something outside of their normal lives in order to undo racism. All white people are "born into white supremacy" and need to engage in a lifelong pursuit of "undoing their racism." I can understand this ideology. I can respect someone's right to believe in it, but that doesn't mean I have to believe in all of it for myself.
Therefore, when President Biden says that white supremacy is the biggest threat in our country, what does he mean? Is it this new, post-modern view of identity categories and hierarchies, or is it actual white supremacists enacting hate and violence on people (unfortunately, there are some white identitarians trying to take advantage of common-sense people who are in opposition to Critical Race Theory...watch Karlyn Borysenko for more on that)? Perhaps the messaging is the latter. Perhaps left-wing news sources cover and blow up actual instances of racist violence from white people. In that case, the media, especially social media, is giving us all two (or more) very different stories of our country.
Through many of the voices I've listened to over the last couple of years...liberal voices...I've learned that there seems to be a departure from true liberalism. Dave Rubin is one of those voices who helped open my eyes as to what was going on. He brought up the mantra "I may disagree with what you say, but I will fight for your right to say it." That idea is under attack (in the form of labeling wrong thinking as "racist," "sexist," "transphobic," "homophobic," etc.). I was once labeled homophobic (even in a nice, polite way) for believing in and defending traditional principles about the nuclear family. Yet with people like Dave Rubin, I reckon we could have a decent conversation and unite on common ground (and he wouldn't call me homophobic).
Bari Weiss, former New York Times op-ed editor, and now my favorite Jewish lesbian, also comments on this departure from liberalism. After her resignation from The New York Times she made some very powerful statements, a commentary on a "liberal order" that Republicans, Democrats, liberals and conservatives largely agreed to uphold: That all people are equal on the basis that we are created in the image of God, the "sacredness of the individual over the group," (righteous) judgment of people based on their character and their works, and not their lineage or skin color, equality under the law and not equality of outcome (equity). This is from a larger article about Anti-Semitism from both the Left and the Right. Her article is here.
The fact that someone I probably disagree with on a lot said something so resonant with me reminds me of an America I remember growing up with, where everyone had a common identity as fellow Americans and children of Heavenly Parents. I remember learning about racism and slavery and Jim Crow laws and segregation. I remember, in large part, that having been in the past and that we could move forward in a world trying (however imperfectly) to live out the dream of Martin Luther King Jr.
On a recent podcast with journalist, Megyn Kelly (can be found here), former Democratic presidential candidate, Tulsi Gabbard, claims that race and identity politics are being used intentionally to divide us. So often when I hear "unity" I think, "they really mean that those of us...usually on the Right but sometimes on the Left...need to concede and give in to this identity essentialism," but when I hear people like Tulsi, like Bari, like Bret and Heather, speak out against that ideology, I have more hope that perhaps we don't all need to get into this identitarian totalitarianism.
I'm told I'm a conservative, but I don't agree with everyone I follow or everything on the conservative platform (I can't even say I know what that all entails). Some of the black conservatives I follow (in my opinion) have gone too far, although I appreciate their own experiences as part of a swath of diversity of thought. It's possible that some are receiving media calling out all the problems on the Right. I don't deny it. I could go on a rant about some of those too, even though I lean in that direction. I don't agree with everyone I've referenced in this post (mostly liberals who are now seen by the Left as "alt-right.") But I hope to be able to stay in the space that Bari Weiss so masterfully alluded to: We are human beings created in the image of God.
There was a time when I was annoyed with those who kept saying "you are so much more than your sexuality!" I still validate that at the time that's what I felt, and many who said that simply didn't understand where I was at the time. But now that is what is keeping me sane. We are all so much more than our immutable characteristics. Although important and do add to our life experience, too much focus on them also has the potential to divide us.
To return to President Oaks' address on religion, he says,
"If we cease valuing our churches for any reason, we threaten our personal spiritual life, and significant numbers separating themselves from God reduce His blessings to our nations.
"Attendance and activity in a church help us become better people and better influences on the lives of others. In church we are taught how to apply religious principles. We learn from one another. A persuasive example is more powerful than a sermon. We are strengthened by associating with others of like minds. In church attendance and participation, our hearts are, as the Bible says, “knit together in love (Colossians 2:2).”
I think this speaks to a larger threat that I don't feel like I have the ability to address. I can't say I even know what it is, but part of a prophet's duty is to raise a warning voice. I don't know this for sure, but I sometimes wonder if hardline, Social Justice ideology could be one of those things. It could be one of the consequences of departing from an organized religion or another connection to God that helps us see each other as the divine beings that we are.
I daresay that I've experienced some trauma and some self-censoring as a result of Social Justice ideology. There are some things, some legitimate issues having to do with injustice and unfairness that I don't know how to address. I can't debate and discuss everything. I understand bias exists but is so nuanced and individual. I'm just trying to be a good person. For this reason, I am thankful to belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a group of people from many different backgrounds and "identities" (although I hate saying that word now) who are unified in Christ and in our covenants with Him.
