Many Christians who reject critical race theory do so because of toxic doctrines that compete with it. They consider their interpretation of the Bible THE word of God, they can’t think critically about subjects if a doctrine they hold as final, absolute, truth is challenged.

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Doctrines like original sin teach that everyone is a sinner, no matter what they do or don’t do; therefore fighting for equity and justice is a futile endeavor because sin will always be with us and those oppressed deserve that oppression, we all deserve it.

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A theology of suffering that teaches people that suffering sanctifies, God uses all things for good, and we ought to rejoice in suffering; makes the fight against oppression irrelevant, after all God will use it all for the benefit of the oppressed IF they submit to *him.*

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Penal Substitutionary Atonement Theory teaches that Jesus died willingly, in obedience to God, as a sacrifice for the sins of humanity and to conquer the devil. The only way to ensure justice for humans is to become Christians so that they’ll see justice in the afterlife.

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Christians say they believe that we are all equal and use verses like “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” to assert that CRT is irrelevant, except that’s not people’s reality or even how they treat people.

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Toxic theology keeps people from considering other people’s reality, and even their own; it keeps people from engaging others without having to filter everything through a narrow interpretation of the Bible. Beliefs they have about the Bible and doctrine trump reality.

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Any conversation about CRT with Christians that hold these theologies is never going to be fruitful. Without them being able to deconstruct their theology they can’t have conversations that require critical thinking skills and for them to listen to others.