Let me be clear from the very beginning. Political extremism is wrong, whether conservative or liberal. I do not advocate for any form of extremism at all, because the scriptures teach us to be temperate in all things (1 Corinthians 9:25) if we want to obtain “an incorruptible crown.” One of the basic foundations of Christianity is love, which requires that we are patient with everyone, whether they agree with us or not.
With that being said, liberal extremism must be addressed because of its current influence on our culture. I understand that some might wonder why I don’t address “the extreme right”, and that’s a fair question. The fact of the matter is that the extreme right is not nearly as prevalent as it used to be. The extreme right group is not the one going from city to city burning down businesses and defacing statues of American history.
The problem with liberal extremists is their dependence on emotion over logic and truth. Instead of appealing to truthful statements, they give in to their feelings and emotions in a disproportionate way. In other words, they are trying to put out a small fire by dumping the ocean on it. Their sometimes violent response is not helping, it is only destroying the communities they are claiming to want to protect.
For example, this entire movement started with a protest against police brutality, and I fully supported their right to do so. Now all of a sudden, people are burning buildings and defacing statues. EVERYTHING is being seen by the extreme left as racist, and there is talk of throwing out the entire system. Think about the problem with the logic there. These liberals want to throw out a system that has existed for almost 300 years, and has made America the best country in the world, because they don’t agree with the fact that some of the Founding Fathers had slaves. That is pure lunacy, and if there is any hope of saving America it must be stopped now.
Their argument is that America is systemically racist, which is a complete lie and misrepresentation of history. Did some of the Founding Fathers have slaves? Sure they did. Many people, including some black people at that time, had slaves. Owning slaves was reserved for the wealthiest people, and was far from being the norm. MANY people who lived during that time fought for the abolition of slavery, and eventually won that fight.
Further, America is seen as the land of opportunity for all people. Let me just give you one example from sports. The two highest paid NFL quarterbacks, a position that used to be considered a position primarily played by white people, are at least half-black (Patrick Mahomes and Russell Wilson). Three more are primed to follow them (Lamar Jackson, DeShaun Watson, and Dak Prescott). If America was “systemically racist” as some try to argue, how would this opportunity even be available to these athletes?
There are many other examples. People of all races are being given opportunities that they have never had, and that they wouldn’t have without the Constitution of the United States of America. Do we still have work to do? Of course we do. That’s part of being human. We are always learning, growing, and evolving. But we have come a long way as a nation in regards to race. Anyone who denies that is either ignorant of history or purposely twisting it for their own evil agenda.
There is one particular event that just happened here in Philly that shows the mindset of liberal extremism. A “protestor” was seen defacing the statue of an abolitionist. Think about that. The liberal extremists claim to be on the side of black people, and claim to be “destroying the racist system.” Well, one could ask why someone with this belief system would deface the statue of an abolitionist. This person was either completely ignorant of history, or did not care at all what they were doing. Either way, this type of behavior, and destroying things in general, does not solve anything.
The reality is that the basic problem for America, and indeed for all humanity, is sin. Racism is simply a symptom of that problem. If we addressed the heart and the problem of sin we wouldn’t have to worry about anything else. Of course, if we admit that then we must admit that the problem is with us, and that we need a Savior. This liberal extremist group doesn’t want to hear about any of that. Instead, they would rather blame the system and not themselves. The unfortunate thing is that this only aggravates the problem, it doesn’t solve it.
