Is it Bad to be “Woke”?

Over the last few years, the word “woke” has been used, and praised, in some circles, largely misunderstood and/or ignored in others, and castigated in some. But what about it? Is it bad to be “woke” as some charge? 

Definition of “Woke”

Perhaps it is best to start with a good definition of “woke.” Here’s one: “Woke means being conscious of racial discrimination in society and other forms of oppression and injustice.” This is from Dictionary.com’s “slang dictionary,” which also summarizes the historical development of “woke.”

The above article also includes this explanation:

Woke was quickly appropriated by mainstream white culture in the mid-2010s, to the criticism of many black observers. In many instances, woke did spread in keeping with its activist spirit, referring to awareness of other forms of injustice, such as sexism, anti-gay sentiment, and white privilege.

Criticism of “Woke” in Religious Circles

In my May 30 blog post about the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), I made a brief reference to the new movement calling itself the Conservative Baptist Network (CBN). I first learned about it in “Conservative Baptist Network launched amid 'woke' trend in SBC,” a Feb. 15 Christian Post article

Being “woke” was linked to ideas CBN deems objectionable. On their website they state clearly, “The Network rejects various unbiblical ideologies currently affecting the Southern Baptist Convention such as Critical Race Theory, intersectionality, and social justice.”

Russell Moore and Al Mohler are two prominent SBC leaders whom CBN finds most problematic. Moore is a former professor at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS, where Mohler is president) and since 2013 has been the president of the SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

It seems quite ironic to me that Mohler, whom in my book Fed Up with Fundamentalism I discuss as one of the four most influential fundamentalist leaders after 1980, is now being attacked by conservatives for being too “woke.”

The Black Lives Matter (BLM) organization was started by people who affirm Marxism. So perhaps partly in response to the criticism of him earlier this year for being “woke,” last month Mohler wrote an article titled “Black Lives Matter: Affirm the Sentence, Not the Movement.”

The BLM movement is criticized mainly because the founders are Marxists.

Critical Race Theory (CRT), which is supposedly being (or has been recently) taught at SBTS is seen by some as linked to Marxism, or Marxist ideas at least. (If you need a neutral description of CRT, check out this Encyclopedia Britannica article.)

Among Christian conservatives and others, it seems to be widely held that the concept of “systemic racism” is a Marxist idea. That is one main reason why they, as well as conservative (Republican) politicians, are prone to deny there is systemic racism in the USA.

Intersectionality basically means that “people are often disadvantaged by multiple sources of oppression: their race, class, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, and other identity markers.” This, too, gets linked to Marxism and thereby criticized.

So, SBTS is being criticized by CBN for being “woke,” that is, too much in favor of Critical Race Theory, intersectionality, and social justice, all linked, in one way or another to Marxism—and by extension, perhaps, to socialism, currently the big bugaboo to the Christian Right and DJT's base.

Criticism of “Woke” in Political Circles

DJT has made some attempt to reach out to Black citizens in the U.S. He wants and badly needs their votes if he is to have any chance of winning the Nov. 3 election.

A webpage on the DonaldJTrump.com reelection campaign website has a page advertising a Woke cap (for $35). The sales appeal says, “Proudly wear your official Woke hat and show your support for our great President.” 

But in reality, DJT seems to have been moving in the opposite direction in recent days. A July 2 article in the online Intelligencer is titled, “Trump Believes That He Is Losing Because He Hasn’t Been Racist Enough.”

That piece quotes DJT as saying that he wants “no more of Jared’s woke s[**]t.”

Enough said.