Thread by @rasoolberry

I’m grateful @johnpiper engaged with my discussion w/ @neilshenvi on @UnbelievableJB @ #CRT in a genuine manner & yet his comments regarding my thoughts & words require some clarification & expansion. 1/

https://twitter.com/JohnPiper/status/1330892624442617858

.@JohnPiper is absolutely right that the CRT label has been used as slander to reject those who talk about racism & systemic injustice as being unbiblical. He’s also correct in the caution that we shouldn’t dismiss epistemological concerns because of “blood in the streets.” 2/

He’s also correct in the caution that we shouldn’t dismiss epistemological concerns bc of “blood in the streets.” Ideas matter too. & people shouldn’t be silenced. I appreciate that he said that I didn’t seek to do that, he seemed to misunderstand why I brought it up. 4/

I referenced the problematic tendency within evangelicalism to rush to attack CRT instead of racism bc as I recently wrote in my latest essay, this problem has HISTORICAL ROOTS; abolitionists, integrationists & activists for centuries encountered it. link.medium.com/UfNeSrzBEbb 5/

In 2020 we witnessed the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery & Breonna Taylor which triggered the largest movement our national has ever seen. Instead of reckoning with that, the majority of evangelical churches focus on debunking claims of racism with CRT. We must ask why! 6/

The emphasis on epistemology over ethics is endemic in evangelicalism & betrays a blind spot in our theology. Dr. Carl Ellis has written extensively about this. It doesn’t dismiss epistemology but reflects the omnisignificance it occupies in EV: thegospelcoalition.org/article/biblic… 7/

I find positioning my arguments exclusively in a “relational” context, undermines the significant ideological differences that exist between those evangelicals who see CRT as the “major problem” relating to race and those of us who see “racism” as the major problem. 8/

Contrary to what many assume, there isn’t a standard definition of CRT. As I reference (see 1st footnote in Uncritical Race Theory) that even the “basic tenets” of CRT are in dispute. 9/ link.medium.com/BagNfhXBEbb

those of us who commit to confronting racism have significant concerns & critique @ certain aspects of what falls under CRT. There are epistemological assumptions of postmodernism & unbiblical perspectives on power, gender & the nature of humans that ought to be critiqued. 10/

A major hindrance to evangelical church health is the idea that racism is only a systemic problem if you accept CRT. That’s false & ahistorical retread of arguments made in the past to dismiss cries for racial justice. Let’s not make the same mistake for the third time. 11/11