Scripture tells us the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. In other words, if you want to live a wise and profitable and good life, you begin by obeying, worshiping, and loving the Lord. To live wisely, God and His word must be our organizing principles. If we have other organizing principles that rule our thinking, and that are contrary to God, then we will think, say, and do foolish things. Critical Theory is one such organizing principle (a way of thinking about life), that leads to foolishness. Critical Theory is admittedly difficult to define, but one seemingly foundational tenet of critical theory is that those who are perceived to have power, or are in the “oppressor” class, are inherently and inevitably in the wrong. Or, at the very least, those who are privileged and have power cannot help but have a self-interest that doesn’t allow them to see and act on what is good and true. Meanwhile, those who do not have power, who are the victims, have an innate ability to see truth and reality. Critical Theory assumes the “oppressed” are in the right. While it may touch on some element of truth, Critical Theory leads to foolishness. And we are now seeing it manifest. For example, we are seeing many of those in the LGBTQ community aligning themselves with Hamas, a terrorist organization that, to my admittedly limited knowledge, is not exactly known for being LGBTQ friendly. One quote I saw online said; “Free Palestine is a Feminist Issue, it’s a Reproductive Rights Issue, it’s an Indigenous Rights Issue, it’s a Climate Justice Issue, it’s a Queer Rights Issue, it’s an Abolitionist Issue.” While “free Palestine” is not exactly synonymous with supporting Hamas, we might still ask the question of what these issues have to do with each other, and why/how in the world are they possibly related to one another (and to the extent that they are all on the “same side”)? Which is to ask, how is it that those who are “pro LGBTQ” would also be “pro Hamas?” On its face it is a ludicrous and foolish alignment. The answer is Critical Theory. Both Palestine and LGBTQ (along with reproductive rights, feminism, etc.) are seen as having victim/oppressed status. And they are against the “oppressors,” which in these cases are Israel and anyone seen as anti-LGBTQ. These oppressors are the enemy. And by a twisted logic, those who have “victim” status are aligned with one another in their supposed righteousness. The end result is the foolishness of thinking that the LGBTQ community and Hamas somehow stand together. It’s the kind of twisted thinking that happens when we stray from fearing the Lord, and letting His will and word be our ultimate guide for wisdom.