Introduction: Scratching My Head
I woke up this morning and saw a comment from Hillary Clinton. She suggested that some Americans are trying to “turn the clock back and recreate a world that never was, dominated by white men of a certain persuasion, a certain religion, a certain ideology.”
Now, my dad used to say: “Makes me scratch my head when it don’t itch.” And that’s exactly how I felt. Because this kind of rhetoric—painting white, Christian men as the historical villains of America, may sound fashionable in the Critical Theory mood of the day, but it doesn’t hold up under history, Scripture, or simple fairness.
Let’s slow down and examine this claim through four lenses: American history, the Critical Theory mood, a biblical worldview, and basic fairness and common sense.
1. American History in Honest Light
Was America dominated by white Christian men? Yes. Was that domination entirely evil? No. The story is far more complex.
The Founding Tension
The same men who owned slaves also penned the Declaration of Independence: “All men are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” Hypocrisy? Certainly. But also seeds of transformation. Those words created a moral standard higher than the men themselves, a standard that abolitionists and civil rights leaders would later wield like a sword of truth.
John Adams once said, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” This wasn’t white supremacy speaking, it was a recognition that liberty cannot survive without virtue, and virtue cannot exist without God.
Reform Movements Rooted in Faith
- Abolition: Men like William Wilberforce in Britain and Christians like Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and Charles Finney in America saw slavery as an affront to God’s Word.
- Women’s Suffrage: Many suffragists were devout Christians who appealed to biblical equality in creation and the moral necessity of women’s voices.
- Civil Rights: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached from the prophets and the Gospels, declaring, “Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream” (Amos 5:24).
Injustice was real, but the pursuit of justice was driven by faith. Erase Christianity, and you erase the moral framework that fueled reform.
2. The Critical Theory Mood
Clinton’s comment reflects the prevailing lens of Critical Theory, which sorts people into oppressor vs. oppressed. In this grid:
- White = oppressor.
- Male = oppressor.
- Christian = oppressor.
From that perspective, the story of America is simple: bad men built a bad system, and progress means tearing it down.
But here’s the problem: that’s not history, it’s ideology. It flattens a complex story into a caricature. It forgets that the same demographic accused of oppression also built hospitals, schools, orphanages, and constitutional liberties that still benefit us today.
Critical Theory does not deal in gratitude, it deals in grievance. It does not heal division, it entrenches it. And it does not leave room for grace, only guilt and power.
3. A Biblical Worldview
Here is where the real weight of the matter lies. The Bible tells us something Clinton’s framework cannot:
The Problem is Sin, Not Skin
- “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23, LSB)
- Sin is not a white problem or a male problem; it is a human problem.
- Pharaoh oppressed Israel. Babylon enslaved nations. Rome crucified Christ. Oppression is not bound by race, gender, or creed. It is bound by sin.
The Foundation of Equality
- “God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”(Genesis 1:27, LSB)
- Every human has dignity because every human bears the Imago Dei.
- True equality is not a modern discovery; it is as old as Eden.
The Gospel’s Answer to Division
- “For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups one and broke down the dividing wall of the partition.”(Ephesians 2:14, LSB)
- At the cross, Jew and Gentile, male and female, slave and free were reconciled in Christ (Galatians 3:28).
- Christianity does not erase identity; it redeems it and unites us in worship of the One true King.
The True Trajectory
History is not drifting toward utopia because of human progress. History is moving toward the kingdom of Christ because of God’s plan. As Paul writes: “He made known to us the mystery of His will…that in the fullness of the times He might sum up all things in Christ.” (Ephesians 1:9–10, LSB)
Critical Theory offers endless struggle. Christ offers final peace.
4. Fairness and Common Sense
Let’s test Clinton’s statement by flipping the script. Would it be tolerated to say: “The problem with America is Black women of a certain religion”? Of course not. And rightly so, it would be unfair, prejudiced, and absurd.
So why is it acceptable to scapegoat “white Christian men”? Because in our cultural mood, fairness is sacrificed on the altar of ideology. But common sense says: truth is truth, regardless of who speaks it. Good ideas should be honored, evil deeds condemned, without blanket condemnation of whole demographics.
As Proverbs 11:1 reminds us: “A false balance is an abomination to Yahweh, but a just weight is His delight.” God demands fairness. Our discourse should too.
Conclusion: The True Path Forward
We don’t move forward by demonizing white Christian men, nor by pretending America’s past was flawless. We move forward by acknowledging the reality of sin, giving thanks for the good, repenting of the evil, and reclaiming the biblical truths that made justice and liberty possible.
At the end of the day, the problem isn’t whiteness, maleness, or Christianity. The problem is sin. And the solution isn’t Critical Theory or nostalgic nationalism: it’s Christ.
That’s not scratching where it doesn’t itch. That’s putting the finger right on the spot.
