mean cruel treatment. A person is an oppressor if he or she
is part of an oppressor group. The individual is a non-entity.
But what defines or determines an oppressor group? An
oppressor group is not necessarily the largest group.
For example, older white males only make up
15 percent of the U.S. population, but they
are deemed an oppressor group because
they have “hegemonic power.” Hegemon-
ic power means they determine what is
socially normal and acceptable. They are
the gatekeepers of expectations in society.
For years, Christianity was the
acknowledged and welcomed hege-
monic power in the United States.
When I was a boy, even non-Chris-
tians referred to America as a “Chris-
tian nation.” This was commonly accepted
as normal.
In the 1830s, when the French historian
Alexis de Tocqueville came to examine the United
States, he noted: “The Americans combine the notions
of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds,
that it is impossible to make them conceive the one with-
out the other” (from Democracy in America). Sadly, this is
not so today.
Critical Theory cannot tolerate hegemonic power
because hegemonic power is at the top, and it determines
what is normal or acceptable for all others. This is consid-
ered oppressive.
Imposing social norms on others (even if it is through
unspoken expectations) is an offense because it restricts
people’s freedom to determine what is socially acceptable for
them. This is why Christian groups are now being brand-
ed as “hate groups.” Teaching that homosexual practice
is wrong for everyone is deemed “hate speech.” It
imposes a norm on people across people groups.
Such cross-group shaming is hegemonic. This
teaching about homosexuality is an imposition,
even if those who teach it are quoting the Divine.
Activists buoyed by Critical Theory see them-
selves as having a moral duty to liberate themselves
and others from the supposed oppression of Christianity.
Such activists see Christianity as a hegemonic power that
is stuck on the ideas of Higher Law and a Higher Authority
to Whom we are all accountable. Therefore, Critical Theo-
ry activists believe it is their moral duty to not only silence
Christianity but to oust it.
Liberating people from the “oppression” of Christianity is
now part of social justice. Who can object to social justice?
Yet it turns out the term social justice, like the term oppres-
sion, is something other than what most Christians think it
is. That’s because Christians view these terms through the
lens of Scripture, while social justice activists view these
22
terms through the lens of Critical Theory. They are two radi-
cally different lenses!
Critical Theory activists are now fighting Christianity
in the name of justice, and some of these folks are
out to win this war at any cost, even if it means
imposing their norms on everyone else by
force. And this is the great irony.
A BATTLE OF WORLDVIEWS
We need to understand what we’re
up against here. It’s a battle of
ideas. We’re dealing with strong-
holds of the mind that can only be
brought down by the power of God. That’s
because we’re not fighting against flesh and
blood (see Ephesians 6:12). We’re dealing
with the principalities and powers of the air
(demonic forces).
We need to call out these mental strongholds for
what they are: pretensions. These are pretensions of the
most serious type: pretensions against God and His Word.
How can we respond to these pretensions? As Paul said in
2 Corinthians 10:5, we can “demolish arguments and every
pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God,”
and we can “take captive every thought to make it obedient
to Christ.”
This is what worldview training is about. It’s about demol-
ishing mental strongholds and taking every thought captive
to the obedience of Christ. This is a learned skill. We need
more teachers, pastors, parents, and grandparents who are
adept at it. We need trainers of trainers.
It’s serious business, folks. We’re at
war. In case you have not yet
noticed, the stakes are too
high to be passive. But I
think you have noticed,
just as I have. ■
Dr. Christian Overman is the Founding Director of Worldview Matters® (biblicalworldview.
com). He is the author of Assumptions That Affect Our Lives and God’s Pleasure at Work: The
Difference One Life Can Make. Dr. Overman has taught on the topic of biblical worldview and
Christian education across America, as well as in Central America, South America, Europe,
Africa, and Asia. He and his wife, Kathy, have four adult children and twelve grandchildren.
Contact Dr. Overman at [email protected].
ENDNOTES
1. Drag Queen Story Hour, accessed September 23, 2019, https://www.dragqueenstory-
hour.org/#about.
2. “Safe Schools Program for LGBTQ Students,” Massachusetts Department of Elementary &
Secondary Education, accessed September 23, 2019, http://www.doe.mass.edu/sfs/lgbtq/
GenderIdentity.html.
3. “Breaking: Admitted Racist is Provost at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary,”
Capstone Report, July 29, 2019, http://capstonereport.com/2019/07/29/breaking-admit-
ted-racist-is-provost-at-southern-baptist-theological-seminary/32870.