Monday, June 8, 2020

Voddie Baucham on ethnic gnosticism and other things

Here's the video

-Knowledge and experience matter, but it can descend into "gnosticism"-- special knowledge (incl. the perverse ability/right of a receiver to confidently define how it was meant by the sender).

-Why can a family member say something and it's not racist; but if a white person says it, it's definitely racist?


-"Color blind" is not biblical. Aside from Rev 5:9, 7:9, Baucham discusses Romans 9 at some length-- for Paul on "ethnicity matters", but not next to Christ.


-Good stuff on "tokenism" in general and Baucham's education choice in particular-- a necessary impact of various forms of "Affirmative Action" (see: Shelby Steele, "The Content of our Character").


-He cites John McWhorter on "atonement as activism" and false religion-- with an original sin that cannot be atoned. (I concur with Baucham that McWhorter is essential reading/listening in this area.)


-All of this can be a distraction from other sins and missed ops for sanctification.


Sunday, June 7, 2020

writing projects I've done directly on race (all in one place)

I'm probably forgetting some. (If I think of more, I'll try to add them later.) And this does not include my two books on public policy or many (dozens?) of op-eds. I've written about the implications of economic policy on race for 30 years. But the focus here is explicit works on race, social commentary, and economic policy.  

Let's start with movies: check out two old works by Spike Lee. Do the Right Thing and School Daze are really interesting looks at some inside baseball in the black community. (A modern version would be the debate in the black community over the police: essential and largely helpful with some really rotten apples vs. largely and irredeemably evil.)

Here's a review of the movie Get Out

Book Reviews:

Thomas Sowell's Race and Culture

Tracy K'Meyer's book on Louisville, 1945-1980

three books in one review (on peonage, segregation, and racism broadly)

Thomas Leonard on racism within Progressivism and economic policy

See also: 
my essay on eugenics, including its racial angles

my essay on Buchanan v. Warley (SCOTUS; 1917)

what to do with the current moment

When you combine passion and idolatry, things get funny in a way-- but mostly, all-too-serious and really ugly. We're seeing this from many sides these days.
Love is too rare. True tolerance is mostly in hiding. Faux unity is pushed by coercion toward uniformity and conformity.
Prejudices of many sorts are revealed. Ignorance and confirmation bias run rampant. Yet, self-righteousness reigns.
Rationalizations for sin-- mine and/or others. Finger-pointing instead of reflection and repentance. Us vs. them. I understand you well, but you can't possibly understand me at all. Pride trumps humility.
What to do: Join the madding crowd? Lay low and hunker down? Look in the mirror. Read liberally. (Or watch liberally if you won't read.) Take a breath or two. Do justice; love kindness; walk humbly with the God of grace (Mic 6:8; Amos 5:24). Repent-- not just them, but you and me.
Build relationships with people different than you. Immerse yourself in robust community. Do your best to engage with love and courage, knowledge and wisdom, empathy and compassion, grace and tact, with neither corruption nor negligence (Daniel 6:4).
And for those who have become children of God (Jn 1:12; Eph 2:8-9; Rom 6:23): "Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain." (Phil 2:14-16)

Wednesday, June 3, 2020

top two problems in the current "racial moment"

IMO, the top two things that are sorely missing from "the debate":
1.) Most folks don't read (or watch TV) "liberally". It's sad in all cases (esp. when diverse media are available to us at such low cost). But it's ironic when folks who trumpet "diversity" (of certain narrow types) are not diverse in what they read, their media sources, how they construct panels to discuss these things, etc. They imagine that they're diverse, tolerant, and educated, when they're uniform, blinkered, and propagandists. Ignorance is rough enough, but it gets really nasty when it's combined with confident self-righteousness.
2.) Folks seem to miss the vital importance of (economic/social) class in these things, deciding to try to stuff everything in the box of race. Arguably, class is a (far) larger consideration. Easy thought experiment: is it easier for you to talk with folks of the same class and a different race-- or the same race and a significantly different class?