New York mayor, Zohran Mamdani has released his “Preliminary Citywide Racial Equity Plan.” It purports to show “show racial disparities in areas like housing, education, and income, and his new plan aims to "establish a new framework for how New York City measures affordability, understands inequity, and plans for a more equitable future.” The report further states that “we cannot tackle systemic racial inequity without confronting the affordability crisis head-on, and we cannot solve the cost-of-living crisis without dismantling systemic racial inequity.”
As you can quite imagine, Mamdani got immediate blow-back from a large swath of the citizenry. The objections basically fall into two categories. The first is that it picks winners and losers based on race – which is totally contrary to America’s founding principles based on the Constitution. The second objection is that it is based on values derived from a naturalistic worldview (specifically Marxist), as opposed to America’s founding principles based on Christian theistic values. You can read about this at: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mamdani-unveils-new-racial-equity-plan-more-equitable-future-prompts-quick-doj-pushback.print
The question is, though, why does this matter? And to answer that question, we need to look in a couple of different areas.
Worldview Foundation Matters
The first objection to Mamdani’s approach relates to the source of values. The ones he promotes are contrary to America’s founding principles. America’s founding principles emerged directly from a Christian theistic worldview. This does not mean the country was founded as a theocracy. Rather, it means that the value set that forms the foundation for the American system is derived from the Bible. Mamdani’s values, on the other hand, are based on Marxist beliefs.
One of the main values that Mamdani is trying to remove in order to implement his plan has to do with equality. The system he wants to implement values equality of outcomes (equity) over equality of opportunity (human equality). You will not find him using the word equality when dealing with governing. Equality involves being equal in status, rights, and opportunities. With that foundation, outcomes are necessarily going to be different for different people based on their freedom to pursue their own direction in life. Equity means that no matter what people pursue, they will all have the same outcome. Thus, those who don’t work hard, or who pursue goals that have a monetary value that is different from other people, will still have the same outcome as everyone else.
The values that Mamdani believes in are not based on biblical concepts, but on Marxist ones. Marxism is founded on a naturalistic worldview and is atheistic. With no belief in God, there is no choice but to base values on the preferences of human beings. And the particular human beings whose preferences dominate are those who are able to gain power over their opponents.
The second reason many people object to Mamdani’s approach is that it puts a priority on the collective as opposed to the individual. This is, once again, an expression of a naturalistic Marxist philosophy. It should be noted that in both biblical and Marxist beliefs, there will be some interest in both the collective and the individual. The difference is in the priority.
In Biblical Theism, the emphasis is on the individual. God established salvation to be focused on the individual. Every person has to make their own decision about whether or not to enter into a personal relationship with Him. That priority, then, filters down into the foundation of society as a whole. Just as people have to make a personal decision about their relationship with God, they must also make personal decisions about all of the other aspects of their lives. For this to be accomplished, the political system must be set up in a way that allows individuals to have that freedom. That freedom does not permit people to infringe on the freedom of others, so there are boundaries. But the priority is the individual.
In Naturalistic Marxism, the emphasis is on the collective. The ultimate goal for Naturalists is the survival of the species. To promote this priority for society, there must be a ruling body whose purpose is to protect the collective – some kind of ruling elite. While taking care of individuals is not totally ignored, it does take second place to the needs of the collective. So any action an individual might take that interferes with the priorities of the collective must be squelched. Thus, society must be highly regulated necessitating limits on individual freedom.
Based on Marxist ideals, the best way to protect the collective is for equity to prevail in areas like housing, education, and income – as expressed in Mandami’s priorities for New York. But it leads to loss of freedom. God’s way is to place the emphasis on the individual and allow the highest level of freedom possible. The proof is in the pudding. Marxist societies crumble, while those following Christian principles thrive.
Freddy Davis is the president of MarketFaith Ministries. He is the author of numerous books entitled The Truth Mirage, Rules for Christians Radicals, Liberalism vs. Conservatism, and his latest book Shattering the Truth Mirage and has a background as an international missionary, pastor, radio host, worldview trainer, and entrepreneur. Freddy is a graduate of Florida State University with a BS in Communication, and holds MDiv and DMin degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is a popular speaker, particularly on the topic of worldview and its practical implications for the Christian life. He lives in Tallahassee, FL, with his wife Deborah.
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