In a caste-based epistemology, whiteness is positioned at the top of the social hierarchy, and the Western conception of God is positioned at the top of the spiritual and religious hierarchy. This is not accidental—it is a reinforced epistemological system designed to dictate not only who holds power, but how reality is known, interpreted, and controlled.
The Epistemological Caste System: A Structure of Knowing and Being
A caste system is not just about social stratification; it is also an epistemological structure—a framework that dictates who gets to know, who gets to define knowledge, and who is trusted to interpret truth. In this system:
1. Whiteness sits at the top of the social hierarchy – determining whose experiences, histories, and cultures are deemed legitimate, civilized, and authoritative.
2. The Western God sits at the top of the religious hierarchy – defining who is sacred, what is holy, and what is considered divinely ordained.
These two hierarchies function together to shape how people see themselves, how they relate to power, and how they make meaning of their existence.
In other words, whiteness controls bodies, while the Western God controls souls—and both dictate the terms of reality.
The Function of the Western God in Caste-Based Epistemology
The Western conception of God—particularly within Christian supremacy—operates as the divine justification for caste.
• God positioned as the ultimate unquestionable authority, the omnipotent ruler, the divine king—mirroring earthly empire.
• Demands obedience, hierarchy, and submission or else you will be tortured eternally —reinforcing caste and fear-based control.
• Is justifiably violent, male, and distant toward those who don't live up to his standards—aligning with colonial ideals of supremacy and domination.
• Defines purity and holiness as separation from the “unclean”—mapping spiritual hierarchy onto racial and social hierarchy.
They have turned God into more than a theological construct; they've made god into an epistemological weapon—who dictates not just who is saved, but who is worthy of knowledge, truth, and self-trust.
With God is at the top of the spiritual hierarchy, and whiteness at the top of the social is it any wonder how racism becomes divinized?
To be closer to whiteness is to be seen as more civilized, more human, more worthy and to be further from whiteness is to be seen as more depraved, more sinful, more in need of discipline and salvation. Knowledge and wisdom are measured by proximity to whiteness and Western logic, while Indigenous, African, and other non-Western epistemologies are seen as primitive or suspect (think about how people talk about urban ministry and overseas missions).
The Consequence: A Diseased Imagination Rooted in Caste Theology
If whiteness sits at the top of the social order and the Western God at the top of the spiritual order, then the imagination of those at the bottom is the true battleground—because it is here that caste’s most insidious work is done. Those who find themselves on the chopping block of empire are not just oppressed economically or politically—they are conditioned to internalize unworthiness, dependency, and epistemological distrust.
People at the bottom of the caste structure are taught to distrust their own knowing, their own bodies, their own experiences. Spirituality is outsourced to external authorities, who dictate worth, salvation, and morality—often holding others to a higher standard than they possess themselves. Those in power, riddled with their own hypocrisy, wield obedience, purity, and submission as tools of control.
And yet, these are the very things Jesus rendered arbitrary.
Instead of calling people to the pursuit of absurd impossibility, he called them to the pursuit of freedom, presence, and divine actualization.
This is why so many people struggle to imagine a world beyond whiteness, beyond empire, beyond Western Christianity—because the epistemological caste system has trained them to see its limits as reality itself.
They fear the cost of defying the status quo. But this is exactly what Jesus pointed to—and what he calls his people to now.
Jesus and the Dismantling of the Epistemological Caste System
Jesus’ ministry was an attempt to dismantle the epistemological caste system of his day. We have to do the same in ours.
• The divine is not at the top of a hierarchy—it is present within us.
• Holiness is not about purity or separation—it is about full presence and actualization.
• Knowledge is not owned by the powerful—it is embodied, intuitive, and shared among the oppressed.
If we want to make it through the next four years—or beyond—we must recover an internal compass that is not dictated by whiteness or its God. We must reclaim our agency, our intuition, and our ability to see beyond the limits of empire.
What do the scriptures say? How do you read them?
That is the question before us now.