Perhaps the worst ideology in the world
Since this is 2020, an election year in the United States, there’s going to be a lot of talk on social media feeds about ideology. It won’t just be political ideology, nor will it be limited to political issues. That’s because in 2020, we are convinced that political opinions are just the surface-level expression of a deeper ideology held by the person expressing those opinions. While this is true to a degree, many of the most popular voices take it to an extreme.
If you watch the news, listen to talk radio, or read the posts of your opinionated friends, you will likely see and hear from numerous people who seem to believe that they can penetrate into the deepest parts of their ideological opponents’ corrupted souls and expose the ugly underbelly of their deviant views. Conservatism or liberalism, it would seem, is a dangerous worldview that must be debunked or silenced. Otherwise, in 2024 we may find that the Handmaid’s Tale comes to life and we start calling women Ofdonald and Ofmike. Or we wake up to find that the clock has turned back to 1984 and Big Brother is watching us from the shores of the Potomac.
Obviously, that’s ridiculous, and the people who promote this sensationalism should be ashamed of themselves. Surely there are dangerous ideologies held by people in this country, even people with influence. But your co-worker who thinks the Green New Deal is a bad idea or that we need to tighten up background checks for gun purchases? That’s not in that category.
So what is the most dangerous ideology on Earth? There are plenty of candidates. Is it the racism that led to the trans-Atlantic slave trade, European colonialism, and American slavery and Jim Crow laws? Is it the Nazism that led to the worst war the world has ever seen, and the decimation of the world’s Jewish population? Is it Communism, the deadliest system of governance in history under people like Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, and the Kims? Or maybe radical distortions of religious belief that led to events like the Crusades in the past and global terrorist movements in the present?
In fact, the world’s most dangerous ideology is none of those–not in and of themselves. For there is a common core belief underlying all of these ideologies and others like them, one which is far more insidious. It does well at hiding itself in plain sight, because we all hold to a form of this view. Because of our sinful and prideful human nature, it’s hard not to.
What is that view? The idea that one group of human beings is inherently superior–in some way–to another group of human beings.
It’s evident how this core ideology lies at the heart of the most deadly ones just named above. One race holds its members are genetically superior to members of other races. One religion holds that its members are divinely-esteemed superior human beings to those of other religions. One economic class holds that its members possess some kind of inherent moral superiority to those of another class, and are justified in righting those wrongs by force and oppressing all who stand in their way.
Almost no one in Western culture holds to the most infamous radical, destructive ideologies. But virtually everyone holds to the source of those ideologies, the most dangerous of them all. We all witness manifestations of it every day. And we all, at times, hold to and live out that dangerous ideology ourselves.
We see it when someone dismisses the worth of someone else’s voice because of a demographic they belong to–minority or majority.
We see it when someone slanders those who disagree with them as nefarious or evil, thoughtlessly and maliciously lumping them in with the worst kind of extremes.
And we live out that ideology when we act like we’re better than someone else. When we think we deserve more. We live it when we think we have the right to gossip about someone, or slander them publicly. We live it when we suggest that someone who disagrees with us must be less intelligent or enlightened. We even live it when we look at someone and believe that we would never be them, because we are too good to have done what they’ve done.
Our own moments of arrogance and pride in our hearts might not hurt anyone greatly. But they are where all deadly ideologies come from. They are the source and root, and a constant reminder of what we humans in our worst depravity are capable of. No wonder Jesus said things like, You have heard that it was said to the ancients, ‘Do not murder.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ will be subject to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be subject to the fire of hell. Contempt and anger aren’t the same thing as murder, but they are the root of murderous acts. As Jesus goes on to point out, lust isn’t the same thing as adultery, but it’s the root of adulterous acts.
And so in the same way, the ideology that one human being is inherently superior to another is, I believe, the root of all oppressive acts.
The Bible has the answer to this distorted ideology:
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness… (Genesis 1:26a)
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:21)
Everyone is made in the image of God, no one less or more than anyone else. This is the foundational idea underlying every document, charter, and treatise that asserts some form of “all men are created equal.” This idea was unheard of before the advent of Christianity, and it has changed the world from the inside out when it’s truly been lived.
Because we are all God’s image-bearers in equal measure, there is no basis for thinking that you matter more (or less) than anyone else. Nor is there a basis for claiming or acting like some people deserve less than you do by virtue of who they are or where they come from.
The idea that some human beings are inherently superior to others–this is the ideology we need to eliminate from our way of thinking. And unfortunately, as long as human nature is the way it is, it’s hard to see that ever happening. But at least we can oppose it where we see it, starting within ourselves.
A good thing to keep in mind this year, as we hope for one less toxic than 2016.
