Why The Social Justice Mindset Is BAD For Mental Health!

 

In modern times there is a phenomenon that has swept our world by storm and has even infiltrated many churches within the Body of Christ too. What is this cultural phenomenon you ask? It is called the Social Justice Warrior mindset. As someone who was once a huge proponent of this mindset, I am very familiar with this movement. I used to think of myself as a revolutionary who was merely "fighting for the rights of the oppressed minority". In reality, however, I was actually expressing very racist rhetoric that was harming not only other people but it was harming my own mental health. If it seems odd that I am saying it was harming my own mental health, it is because you have never heard anyone talking about the Social Justice Mindset in such a way. In this blog, I shall be discussing five different ways that this mindset is harmful to mental health and I hope that after you read this you will understand how dangerous this mentality really is. However, for the people who are living under a rock, I think it would help if I briefly explained what the Social Justice Warrior mindset really is about because there are a lot of misconceptions about it. The Social Justice Warrior mindset is an ideology that supports and promotes Critical Race Theory, LGBTQIA, and Feminism as a whole. This is important to note because some people think that an SJW is someone who just holds to one of these views but in reality, one can only be called a Social Justice Warrior when they support and even promote all three of these ideologies together. On the surface, being a Social Justice Warrior seems like it is honorable and it does have a certain appeal to it too. After all, who does not want to see justice be done on earth? Also, most of us have the desire to want to be a part of something significant and so this mentality makes us feel like we are significant. So, what could actually be so bad about this mindset? I will discuss the five ways this mindset is bad now. 

Perpetual Victimhood Stance: 

This mindset leads the people who hold to it into a state of perpetual victimhood. What I mean by this is the fact that these people are always behaving with some sort of martyr complex. They are always looking to blame someone else and they never take responsibility for their own actions. An example of this is when certain types of people cry racism because a store manager followed them but they fail to acknowledge that they were looking suspicious. Another example is when these people cry foul when the police pull them over but fail to realize that they were pulled over for speeding. These people do not want to take responsibility nor are they even capable of taking responsibility for their behavior. In these people's minds, everything is always other people's fault but never their own. They are always the victim of some kind of nefarious system that is built to be against them. 

Forever Angry:

You can always spot a Social Justice Warrior from miles away because they always seem to be full of anger. It is not righteous anger. The reason that these people are always angry is that they always see themselves as the victims of some sort of abuse. No matter what is going on these people will always find something negative to point out in every situation. Since they are perpetually angry all the time, it leads them to express their anger with some very hateful rhetoric. For example, when I was subscribing to this mindset, I would constantly refer to "white people" as "caucazoids" as a way to dehumanize them. However, when I would refer to them with this term it did not do anything to make me personally feel any better about myself. The problem is these people are so obsessed with their own sense of justice that any kind of justice they receive will never be enough because they literally want blood. 

Isolationist:

People who subscribe to this harmful mentality tend to isolate themselves from anyone in their life who is healthy. The reason for this is that healthy people do not want to be around someone who is constantly negative and angry all the time. So the healthy people tend to avoid people with this mindset and since we are social creatures these people will either be alone with their anger or they will seek out people like them. As a result, these people end up drawing more angry and negative people around them because "misery loves company". These people will then feed off of each other's negativity and anger and pain. 

False Sense of Purpose:

I mentioned earlier in this blog that most of us desire to be something significant in this life. I firmly believe that most of the appeal to the Social Justice Warrior mindset is that it allows its adherents to feel like they are part of something "bigger than themselves". None of us want to think that we are insignificant and this mindset helps us feel important because it makes us feel like we are the catalyst for social reform. These people honestly believe that without them that this world would truly suffer and that it is because of their own brilliance and wit that the world will prosper. This mentality leads them to believe that they offer something to the world that we otherwise would be lost without. 

Entitlement Mentality: 

The final thing that makes this mentality so harmful to mental health is the fact that it leads its adherents into a state of perpetual entitlement. What I mean by this is the fact that these people truly believe that since they are always the victim then the world somehow needs to make things up to them. These people believe that to solve their victimhood the world owes them resources and happiness and comfort. The problem with this is that these people will never be satisfied no matter if they receive anything they ask for. The government can offer to give them a million dollars and it will not be good enough because they will think they deserve much more. The issue is they do not want to work for what they have. They merely want everything given to them because they think that is what they deserve. 

I hope that this blog has shed some light on the dangerous mindset of the Social Justice Warriors and that next time you come across one you will have a better understanding of their mentality. Thanks for reading this blog and may the grace of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all! 

-David Lee Chu Sarchet 
Christian Mental Health Advocate 

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