Responding to the Social Justice Movement: Creating Local Havens
The local response has to be tailored to each locale
When talking about how to address the challenges of the Social Justice Movement, we started by looking in the mirror and then at the individuals right in front of us. This is essential because it is actually quite easy to look at something like the Social Justice Movement from a global perspective which makes the whole problem seem enormous and beyond our ability to handle. The reality is that a proper understanding of the doctrine of vocation means most of us are not required to address the big issues but to make a real difference in the lives of those who are in our sphere of influence. In fact, an argument can be made that if each Christian would focus on just the people they come in regular contact with, that could change everything in and of itself.
That said, there are things we are called to do that deal with not just one individual at a time but with slightly larger spheres. I am not talking about changing the world, but maybe a local Christian school. Thus, we are now turning to look at how we can respond in our immediate context.
Know Your Neighborhood
It is a great challenge for me to write about this because every context is different, with different problems, challenges, assets, and, therefore, potential solutions. It goes without saying that the person who regularly interacts with a major university that prioritizes Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) will have to respond very differently from those of us in Perry County, Missouri, where almost everyone is at least nominally Christian and where there are more Christian schools than public schools.
This means the first thing one needs to do is to take careful inventory of what their context is and what needs there are in that context. This means getting out there and finding out what is going on and taking time listening to people and their concerns. It has been noted that one of the great failures of so many revitalization efforts, be they inner-city or in a third world country, is those who seek to help people do not first find out what help the natives think they need. For instance, the US, and now Canada, have caused much offense in Africa by coming in and insisting to help the people get easy access to abortions; this is not seen as a great need by most Africans but, in fact, seen as a great offense.
As you get to know your neighborhood, you need to spend a lot of time listening to people. There is a real danger, as well, to thinking that since you have lived somewhere your whole life, and you know “everybody,” you actually know what their needs are. Sometimes this may be fairly true, but likely there are influences you have not seen because you are in a different slice of the community.
The False Feeling of Immunity
Particularly, if you are in a conservative rural area, there is a danger of thinking that your area is immune to the influence of the world, including the Social Justice Movement. However, that is not true. First, one only needs to take a quick survey of the TV offerings today and compare them to those of the 1950s and 60s to realize the entertainment we are consuming has changed over time and is now indoctrinating us in a vastly different form of morality than before. Just the other day I heard a DJ on a country station note how 10 years ago some country stations stopped playing the song “Girl Crush” by Little Big Town for fear that it was promoting lesbianism. What was interesting was how he said this in a somewhat dismissive way indicating he thought the concern about lesbianism was misguided (and not in the song, which is not about lesbianism, but even to see the promotion of lesbianism as concerning). This is a good example of how quickly morals have changed in what is being presented to us as normal.
An even greater concern is that today almost every Jr. High and High School student (and even many younger than that) carries access to the world’s views in their pocket. What I am referring to are smart phones and their apps. It has been observed that some apps often spew some horrible things. It has been shown that Tik Tok is used to promote a radical agenda including transgenderism.[1] TikTok’s algorithm even pushes videos promoting dangerous activities such as suicide.[2] It has even been noted that while most parents worry more about physical dangers to their children, such as assault or kidnapping, the digital dangers are far greater.[3]
Building Walls and Shining Lights
One of the things we need to do is build walls. I am not advocating a fortress mentality, but just that a good wall gives both protection and sets boundaries. Several years ago, there was a study done in which they took down fences around playgrounds and school yards. The idea was that the fence would make the children feel cooped up and restricted. What was found, however, was that if the children were in a playground without borders, they tended to huddle in the middle, while if there was a fence, they would spread out within the borders of safety.
Good walls should make it harder for a bad actor to gain access, such as how a fence around a schoolyard makes it harder for a drug dealer to sneak in. One such example would be internet filtering. When I think back to my own childhood, my parents monitored what I watched on TV; considering this was in the 1970s, everything was tame by today’s standards. Now, however, all too often we do not have good monitoring of our children’s media, including social media, consumption. It is also interesting how much the simple monitoring of what is being put into libraries is depicted as “book banning.” (As an aside, to say that something should not be purchased by a library because is not fitting for our children is a far cry from Nazi book burnings.) However, more and more of this needs to be done. There have been multiple examples recently of parents objecting to a children’s book, being told by the school board that the book is acceptable, yet the board not allowing the book to be read publicly at their meeting because of its extreme vulgarity.
An interesting thing to me is that Jesus tells His followers “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matt 5:14). What makes this interesting is that ancient cities were built on a hill not to be visible but for protection. The idea was to build on the high ground to make armed invasion more difficult. However, Jesus also points out this same defensive motive also makes the city a noticeable and welcoming sight to the weary traveler.
In much the same way, we should seek to find ways we can create safe and welcoming spaces. A good example of this would be a strong Christian school that upholds Christ and keeps harmful influences at bay as much as possible, yet also welcomes in children from the community to study there as well. The very act of creating the safe space can also make it a haven to others. Rather than the extreme understanding of the “Benedict Option” that argues Christians should create our own monastic-type hideaways, this is to create places that are safe for us and our children and also welcoming to others who seek the same safety.
Of course, how exactly this looks or what is done will vary greatly from context to context. The goal should not be to create a one-size-fits-all idea. Rather, we need to tailor each response to our local needs and resources.
[1] Tristan Justice, “Libs Of Tik Tok Twitter Account Pulls Back The Curtain On Radical Leftism,” The Federalist, 29 July 2021, https://thefederalist.com/2021/07/29/libs-of-tik-tok-twitter-account-pulls-back-the-curtain-on-radical-leftism/.
[2] Megan DeLaire, “Does TikTok Encourage Risky, Harmful Behaviour in Its Young Users?,” CTVNews, 11 March 2023, https://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/does-tiktok-encourage-risky-harmful-behaviour-in-its-young-users-1.6308600; “TikTok’s Algorithm Keeps Pushing Suicide to Vulnerable Kids,” Bloomberg.Com, 20 April 2023, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-04-20/tiktok-effects-on-mental-health-in-focus-after-teen-suicide.
[3] Childhood 2.0, 2020.