The victimization culture has become an overwhelming feature in our modern discourse, and I would also like to state that this culture (VC) is almost always antagonistic toward the cause of the conservative Christian faith. VC looks around its environment for micro-aggressions eager to act as the moral arbiter. Indeed, this culture is an attempt to form a new morality that despises merit and hard discourse–the kind that has defined Western Civilization–in favor of the virtues of being. The argument is quite simple: You are, therefore you deserve. This new religious class lumps entire cultures into neat associations that help categorize them into antagonists or champions of human rights. If you support their cause, a Nobel Peace Prize is nearby.
What we have is a new generation of youth pre-cooked for victimization. Their entire demeanor is pre-disposed to being offended by the smallest acts or rituals. Ironically, what these disgruntled/confused men and women want is nothing more than dominion. They want to impose their morality on others, which for their cause means to legislate a no-tolerance agenda towards “fanatics” who believe in the authority of holy writ.
In order to provide a fruitful dialogue in the VC, you need to speak carefully with every nuance, avoid all the pitfalls of potential hurt, navigate carefully the waters of gender ideology, and speak from a position of deference to the greater good of such culture. Essentially, this VC has provided a space where the conversation is necessarily evil if you begin from a position of authority, especially the One from on High.
A prime example of the above comes in the after-shock of Robert Long’s murderous journey through three massage parlors in Atlanta killing eight Asian women. Despite the fact that a faithful biblical interpretation would apply Deuteronomy 21 speedily and apply the normal cultural adjustment and put this young destroyer to death, the culture of the LEFT– held on tightly by liberals– of all varieties and an assortment of evangelical celebrities jumped on such opportunity and made the decisive connection between Long and his Baptist association. Immediately, evangelical leaders with a commitment to tear the SBC Reformed camp jumped into the conversation asserting that Southern Baptist preaching on complementarian causes and views on headship led to this act. “If only they had preached more on racial reconciliation, if only they had spoken more clearly on the role of women in the church, then they would not have produced such massacres.” The logic being that if one person from one of the most saturated Baptist cities in the world commits a heinous act, therefore, Trump-voters, Bible-believing Christians, or those who refuse to fall into CTR, or Mother Woke ideologies are to blame. It’s a lose-lose unless you buy into their program wholesale.
The entire proposal from Victimization Culture stems from a “guilty” before proven innocent philosophy. And this is what is coming down the pipe for “radicals” like us who treasure biblical inerrancy and who have little tolerance for mind-games played by the Left in this country. No matter how much you assert that the walls of partition are broken down in the name of Messiah Jesus, no matter how often you preach Jesus Christ crucified for sinners, you are still guilty of not performing the act of submission towards the cause of victimization.
I am led to the simple conclusion that we cannot allow our children to be trained under such infidels to the Triune Mission. Faithful worship and faithful cultivation of habits of grace in the church and household is the solution to the confusion of the day. One can be a genuine victim of evil whose life will require community care and love and truth. We pray churches will embrace such people and lead them to green pastures of comfort and shalom. Or, one can attempt to live out a metaphorical victimization in the name of some movement to entice others to see their cause as more significant, their hurt as the true hurt, even if it means forcing others to that point.
As an observer of this entire modern phenomenon, I stand humbled and grateful for a true Victim who suffered at the hands of murderers and unjust men for our cause. He suffered, but yet did not seek to force others to pay him homage, but rather transformed others to love his suffering. True victims are beholden to the cause of a true Sufferer– stricken, smitten, and afflicted for our victory to the eternal praise of his glorious grace
