Wokeism and Pushing Back

 

For those of you that do not realize it, we are in a religious as well as a political war.  It is a religious struggle unlike the ones that have gone before- unlike the Crusades, unlike the Spanish Inquisition, and unlike the jihad of Islamic extremism (although it sometimes partners with it). 

I recognized it fairly early… about three years ago, and I was quite alone but now I am hearing similar things from notable voices—Douglas Murray, James Lindsey,  Bret Weinstein and others---that Wokeness is a new religion.  According to Douglas, man has a need for religion and with the decline of Christianity and Judaism in the West, Wokeness has come along to fill the void.  It has moved very quickly, taking over large swaths of our government, our educational institutions, from K-12 through universities, and much of large corporate America.   Once you begin to think about Wokeness as a new religion, more about the current turmoil in the West makes sense.  For instance, taking little children to Drag Queen Story Hour seems absurd, until you accept that these moms believe that they are taking their kids to some sort of religious service of a religion they believe in.  I do not even think about it as “political correctness” anymore—it has evolved from that harmless nuisance on college campuses to something more virulent.

Like Christianity, Wokeness has a Holy Trinity and a priesthood.  The Woke Holy Trinity is comprised of:

Racial Justice

LGBTQ Militancy

Climate Change

In addition to a Holy Trinity, Wokeness has its four gospels--- the gospel according to Ibram Kendi, Robin DiAngelo, Nikole Hannah-Jones and Michelle Obama.  But unlike Judaism or Christianity, it has no mechanism for redemption.   Judaism has its day of atonement- Yom Kippur.  Catholicism has the confessional.  But Wokeism has no redemptions.  It tolerates no dissent.  Its precepts are taken as articles of faith.  Each of the trinity contains a kernel of truth.  Blacks did suffer systemic racism, but it is debatable how much of it lingers.  Gays did suffer from some discrimination, but it was on the wane and gays were granted “marriage equality” in the U.S, and we should not sacrifice womens’ sports on its altar.  Yes, we should be good stewards of the environment, but that does not mean we should collapse our economy in pursuit of clean energy on unrealistic timetables. 

But Wokeism blows all these things up, magnifies them, and distorts them beyond all recognition. According to the Woke,  Blacks suffer from systemic racism,  are being indiscriminately killed by police, and the entire system is racist and must be dismantled.  Gender is a social construct and fluid. Climate change is manmade, happening so fast that it threatens all of mankind and requires massive and immediate government intervention.    Empirical evidence that contradicts any of these articles of faith is summarily dismissed, and anyone serving it up is written off as “alt right,” “right wing extremist.”  

If you doubt the seriousness of this movement and its dreadful implications for our society, I urge you to listen to this short exchange between Bret Weinstein, an evolutionary biologist and a self-proclaimed liberal  (but pro-science and pro-free speech) and members of the racial justice mob on the new platform Clubhouse.

 www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEK3fNJvCyI&t=82s

In this clip, Bret (who has a wonderful weekly podcast with his wife, Heather Heying (Dark Horse Podcast)), naively attempts, in good faith, to engage these people in a reasoned, intellectual conversation.  A few minutes in, it is apparent that he is trapped in a Maost type inquisition in which he is accused of being racist and transphobic (Weinstein is about as far from those things as you can get).  The black supremacist mob cuts him off, shouts him down, then accuses him of trying to “wiggle out” of answering their accusations. This clip is important and anyone that reads my blog should take a few moments to listen carefully.  This is the mob.  It cannot be reasoned with.  It does not wish to hear your point of view.  If you do not accept their doctrine, you are guilty.  Period.

In his latest New Discourses podcast in which James Lindsay, author of Cynical Theories, explains that this movement is NOT an extension of the civil rights movement, ends his podcast with this assertion:

“The question ‘Does this (CRT) continue the work of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s?’ has a definitive, clear, unambiguous, simple answer expressed in two letters—NO! ‘ ‘This is a paradigm shift’ they say.  No it’s a radical flipping over.  It’s not a paradigm shift.  It’s a radical inversion of the Civil Rights movement.  And these f***ers claim the Civil Rights movement as if they were its new heroes and champions.  They are literally rejecting it.

It’s the most effective lie that has ever been foisted in the world in the last 100 years.  And you say, “No, in 100 years?  You ignore the Nazis.  You’re ignoring Stalin.  You’re ignoring Mao.’ Where do you think this is going if this isn’t stopped?  It’s the same logic as all that.  It’s got Hitler’s race.  Mao used race.  It’s got the same cultural revolution moves as Maoism.  It’s got the same underpinnings.  Where do you think this is going?

And it’s taking down a society not like Russa or torn destroyed Germany between the world wars or peasant, broken China.  It is taking down the strongest liberal society in the world.”

This is deadly serious stuff.  Douglas Murray and Bret Weinstein have also wondered aloud how this doesn’t end in gulags (prompting Weinsten to sell “First Against the Wall Club” paraphernalia.  I do not think these intellectuals are being hyperbolic).  I watched The Killing Fields a few weeks ago and was haunted by the similarities between what is going on now and the re-education camp scene

In just the past couple of weeks,  the Mob has successfully gotten Mr. Potato Head de-gendered, Dr. Seuss canceled, and a film about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas de-platformed.  Coca-Cola has told its employees to “try to be less white.”

It has powerful allies in media, government and academia and is growing in strength.  Bari Weiss wrote a masterful article, “The Miseducation of America’s Elites,” which I highly recommend.

The Miseducation of America's Elites - Common Sense with Bari Weiss (substack.com)

While Wokeism has momentum, the pushback has begun.  As I noted last week, conservative and libertarian students at the University of Chicago started an online publication “The Chicago Thinker” with its motto “Outthink the Mob.”  These courageous students are willing to put their names on this publication,  in full knowledge that it risks their embryonic careers.

And a diverse group of public intellectual started a new foundation – The Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR)(www.fairforall.org) .  It’s statement is wonderfully crafted:

“Increasingly, American institutions—colleges and universities, businesses, government, the media and even our children’s schools—are enforcing a cynical and intolerant orthodoxy.  The orthodoxy requires us to view each other based on immutable characteristics like skin color, gender and sexual orientation.  It pits us against each other, and diminishes what it means to be human.”

FAIR is precisely the kind of organization that is needed to counter the toxic and dangerous movement that Lindsay has been speaking and writing about.  FAIR has a wonderful, diverse (both racially and politically) group of people behind it—Bari Weiss, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Peter Boghossian, Melissa Chen, Samantha Harris, Steven Pinker, John McWhortle, Megan Kelly and Abigail Shrier among them.  James Lindsay labeled FAIR, the Un-Woke ACLU.  I have already signed up for FAIR’s newsletter, made a donation and sent an email to become a volunteer.

So many friends of mine are seeing this assault on our culture and on our basic principles of reason and the Enlightenment coming from all sides but are at a loss as to what to do.   Signing on as a donor and volunteer for FAIR is a good start (www.fairforall.org).

Yes, we are behind in the game.  And yes, it looks pretty dark and gloomy at the moment.  But the initiative of the students at The University of Chicago and the folks that have started FAIR, both within weeks of each other signal that the battle has been joined.  It is a battle that must not be lost.