{"id":548364,"date":"2021-06-01T14:20:54","date_gmt":"2021-06-01T18:20:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=548364"},"modified":"2021-06-01T14:20:57","modified_gmt":"2021-06-01T18:20:57","slug":"5-signs-american-churches-are-going-woke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/5-signs-american-churches-are-going-woke\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Signs American Churches Are Going Woke"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2F5-signs-american-churches-are-going-woke%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=548364&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GettyImages-1246442854.jpg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p><i><span>\u201cSee to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ\u201d (Colossians 2:8).<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span>Progressive Christian movements across the globe are amalgamating with the new religion of \u201cwokeness.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Declaring that it \u201ccould be described as trans,\u201d the Church of Sweden recently penned a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/church-of-sweden-describes-itself-as-trans-in-letter-to-lgbtq-people\"><span>letter<\/span><\/a><span> to adherents of the LGBTQ movement within its borders, apologizing to \u201ctrans\u201d Swedes for \u201chow the media has treated you,\u201d mourning \u201cthe part of feminism that has fought for its rights and that now wants to limit yours.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In an op-ed for <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/macarthur-a-sickness-that-cannot-be-allowed-to-continue\"><span>The Daily Wire<\/span><\/a><span>, Pastor John MacArthur picked apart American Christians\u2019 alliance with the modern social justice movement: \u201cEvangelical leaders are beginning to employ the same rhetoric and rationale of victimhood vs. oppression that is relentlessly employed by secularists who advocate for all kinds of deviant lifestyles and ideologies.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cKey leaders throughout the evangelical movement have begun preaching doctrines and using rhetoric borrowed directly from the catalogues of CRT literature,\u201d continued the longtime minister. \u201cViewpoints and vocabulary like \u2018white privilege\u2019 and \u2018systemic racism\u2019 have literally been added to the liturgy or adopted as articles of faith in some evangelical organizations.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Despite MacArthur\u2019s warning that wokeness is \u201ca worse form of \u2018worldliness\u2019 than Christians in earlier generations ever contemplated,\u201d professing Christian denominations in the United States \u2014 whether consistently liberal or traditionally conservative \u2014 are experiencing a leftward shift.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Here are five examples of American churches going woke.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>PCUSA \u2014 Racial justice resources<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>The Presbyterian Church (U.S.) published a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcusa.org\/racial-justice-resources\/\"><span>list<\/span><\/a><span> of \u201cracial justice resources\u201d in the summer of 2020 \u2014 a move that imitates student activists on secular campuses, who frequently lean upon resource lists to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.campusreform.org\/article?id=17373\"><span>propagate<\/span><\/a><span> their views.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Following the death of George Floyd, the denomination released over one dozen statements about the dangers of systemic racism. A press release from Presbyterian Women Inc., for example, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.presbyterianwomen.org\/2020\/06\/05\/say-their-names-reaffirming-presbyterian-womens-stance-against-racism\/\"><span>reaffirmed<\/span><\/a><span> the group\u2019s \u201ccommitment to dismantling institutional and structural racism, white supremacy, and white privilege following the recent and ongoing practice of police brutality and murders of people of color.\u201d Another release from the denomination\u2019s \u201cSpecial Committee on Racism Truth and Reconciliation\u201d <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcusa.org\/news\/2020\/6\/25\/statement-special-committee-racism-truth-and-recon\/\"><span>called<\/span><\/a><span> for \u201cwhite people to recognize their privilege in society and engage in the work of eliminating racism and racist acts against people of color.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Beyond reading the denomination\u2019s past statements, congregants were invited to order yard signs emblazoned with the slogan \u201cPresbyterians Affirm Black Lives Matter.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Southern Baptist Convention \u2014 Resolution 9<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>Although the Southern Baptist Denomination \u2014 the largest association of evangelicals in the United States \u2014 has historically rejected progressive views on sociological issues, the group has shown early signs of a leftward drift.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>During its 2019 meeting, the Southern Baptist Convention approved <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sbc.net\/resource-library\/resolutions\/on-critical-race-theory-and-intersectionality\/\"><span>Resolution 9<\/span><\/a><span> \u2014 \u201cOn Critical Race Theory And Intersectionality.\u201d Although some pastors <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/founders.org\/2019\/06\/15\/resolution-9-and-the-southern-baptist-convention-2019\/\"><span>suggested<\/span><\/a><span> that the resolution call the two frameworks \u201cgodless ideologies that are indebted to radical feminism and postmodernism, and neo-Marxism,\u201d the final draft framed critical race theory as \u201ca set of analytical tools that explain how race has and continues to function in society.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Instead of describing the ideologies as fundamentally opposed to the biblical worldview, Resolution 9 claims that \u201ccritical race theory and intersectionality have been appropriated by individuals with worldviews that are contrary to the Christian faith.\u201d Evangelical scholars may employ \u201cselective insights\u201d from the frameworks to understand \u201cmultifaceted social dynamics.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Although it proclaimed Scripture as Christianity\u2019s \u201csufficient authority,\u201d it repeated that critical race theory and intersectionality could nevertheless be \u201cemployed as analytical tools.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Episcopal Church \u2014 Repentance for racism<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>The Episcopal Church developed a liturgy specifically to address racism.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In a far more aggressive measure than Resolution 9, the denomination <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/episcopalarchives.org\/cgi-bin\/acts\/acts_resolution.pl?resolution=2015-A182\"><span>declared<\/span><\/a><span> that systemic racial injustices \u201cstill occur in multiple contexts including but not limited to education; employment; housing; health care; banking; voting rights; immigration; policing, courts, and prisons.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The denomination committed to \u201cincrease the use of study, education, research, anti-racism training, liturgies, and Christian formation instruction that specifically address systemic racial injustice.\u201d Accordingly, the body\u2019s Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music created a subcommittee on \u201cRacial Reconciliation,\u201d which <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/liturgyandmusic.files.wordpress.com\/2018\/01\/prayers-sclm-racial-reconciliation-and-justice-final1-3.pdf\"><span>produced<\/span><\/a><span> \u201ca Litany of Repentance and Commissioning for the Ministry of Justice and Reconciliation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThe sin of racism is woven into our lives and our cultures, in small and great ways, in things done and things left undone,\u201d read the litany. \u201cIn the assurance of our forgiveness, let us kneel before God and humbly confess our sins: our participation in racism, our privilege based on racism, and our perpetuation of racism.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>United Methodist Church \u2014 Endorsing Ibram X. Kendi<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>Joining other denominations, the United Methodist Church published a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.unitedmethodistbishops.org\/files\/websites\/www\/pdfs\/cob+statement+on+racism+-+june+8+final.pdf\"><span>statement<\/span><\/a><span> condemning racism following the death of George Floyd.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Quoting Bishop Bruce Ough of Minneapolis, the denomination\u2019s Council of Bishops declared that \u201cin addition to fighting COVID-19, we are besieged by a pandemic of racism, white supremacy, and white on black or brown violence.\u201d&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The bishops also drew from the words of leading critical race theorist and Boston University professor Ibram X. Kendi in asking congregants to \u201cread all they can on the subject of anti-racism.\u201d&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cBy not running from the books that pain us, we can allow them to transform us. I ran from antiracist books most of my life,\u201d said Kendi, as quoted by the bishops. \u201cBut now I can\u2019t stop running after them \u2014 scrutinizing myself and my society, and in the process changing both.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Kendi <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/conservmillen\/status\/1310395050698911744\"><span>denounces<\/span><\/a><span> \u201csavior theology\u201d in favor of \u201cliberation theology\u201d \u2014 the notion that \u201cthe job of the Christian is to liberate oppressed peoples from their oppression.\u201d As commentator Allie Beth Stuckey notes, this leads Kendi and other adherents of liberation theology to miss the central importance of \u201cfreedom from sin and eternal death\u201d as a result of the work of Jesus Christ \u2014 in other words, \u201cthe gospel itself.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Evangelical Lutheran Church \u2014 Anti-racism pledge<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>In a similar move as other denominations, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/elca.org\/racialjusticepledge\"><span>created<\/span><\/a><span> an \u201canti-racism pledge\u201d for its members.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI commit to study, prayer and action to become an anti-racist individual in an anti-racist church,\u201d said the pledge, which the denomination encouraged members to broadcast on social media with the hashtag \u201c#ELCA4justice.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Beyond signing and spreading the pledge, the denomination encouraged congregants to \u201clearn the history of systemic racism in this country\u201d and the ways racism and \u201cwhite supremacy\u201d touch \u201cevery aspect of our life together.\u201d In addition to \u201cjoining community organizations working for racial justice\u201d and \u201cadvancing racially equitable public policies,\u201d the denomination pressed the importance of listening to the \u201cexpertise of people of color.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i>The views expressed in this piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<\/i>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i>member<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cSee to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1893673,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-548364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548364\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1893673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}