Heresy of the Day: Kinism

The Evangelical Church has been embroiled in controversy over the last decade, fighting the culture wars of the world that are infecting every facet of Christian thought. In the midst of that controversy has been the charge of racism, particularly, “white supremacy,” against certain conservatives, for no other reason except for her refusal to take a knee and bow to the tenets of cultural Marxism. But there is a subtle heresy that exists in Christian thought that actually lends credence to these charges, and as conservative, Bible-believing Christians who hold to a biblical ethic, we should be careful to identify and denounce it.

There is no shortage of heresies and false teachings throughout the vast land of Christian ideas, and one particular false teaching that is taking the professing church in its grips is the Kinist movement. As the name suggests, this ideology centers around kin, or family, and focuses specifically on race. Kinism, in its most extreme form, advocates for racial segregation and supremacy under the guise of biblical interpretation, leading to an alarming trend of misuse of Scripture to justify ungodly attitudes and behaviors.

Kinist ideology, as we know it today, began largely in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, mainly within certain circles of the American South. Rooted in a unique blend of racial beliefs and flawed interpretations of certain biblical texts, the movement represents a modern manifestation of these long-standing tendencies to misconstrue Scripture to prop up an ethnocentric worldview.

Kinism has its roots in the aftermath of the Civil Rights movement, a period that saw the racial dynamics of the United States dramatically shift. As social norms began to change, pushing towards racial equality and integration, a reactionary response emerged among certain sub-Christian sects which caused them to feel threatened by the change and sought to justify their resistance through religious beliefs.

In their attempt to reconcile their worldview with their faith, they turned to the Scriptures, cherry-picking and re-interpreting certain passages to advance their narrative. As a result, they began to propagate a racially charged interpretation of Christianity that developed into the Kinist movement we see today.

Kinists argue that Scripture champions the concept of nations living in isolation, and as a result, they endorse racial segregation. They often turn to Deuteronomy 32:8, "When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God." Similarly, they often point to Acts 17:26 where the Apostle Paul asserts that God "made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place."