DaveB wrote:shugie wrote:The whole "woke" business appears to me to be little more than those on the right seeking to suppress political views they don't like,...
Speaking as one from the right of the political spectrum, I have to say that I think you have somehow got the thing backwards.
It is not the political right who are:
- demanding so-called 'hate speech' laws which are so broadly drafted that they would in fact completely completely abrogate the right of free speech, such
as making it an offence to criticize Islam;
- shouting down and preventing from speaking ('cancelling') anyone whom they perceive to be 'wrong', which to them means anybody with whom they
disagree;
- corrupting academic research and scientific investigation along political lines;
- demanding so-called 'safe-spaces' at university where they can be protected from hearing any opinion which might disagree with their accepted world
view;
and most importantly, it is not the political right that is rioting in the streets and destroying private property, seemingly with complete impunity.
As for woke. I just found this on-line and it is something with which I agree when it comes to 'wokeism'.
America is undergoing a godless revival. A new creed—called “social justice,” “wokeism,” or “the successor ideology”—resembling religion yet avowedly secular and anti-spiritual, is spreading across the country. Its seminaries are the nation’s elite universities, its missionaries work in prestigious newsrooms. Adherents are remaking powerful institutions by “canceling” anyone who dissents or lacks zeal for the cause. Like any good revival, this one is replete with hellfire preaching. Eager audiences are told of their inescapable guilt, or “privilege.” Repentance is demanded, but forgiveness is not offered.
Secular progressivism has become more zealous and evangelical, trampling over traditional American notions of limited governance and tolerance. The defining fault line in American politics may no longer be between left and right. The relevant division now is between people who accept the binding, state-backed power of the new post-secular creed and the diverse coalition of groups—including traditional religious communities, conservatives, left-wing materialists, and one-time liberals alienated by the creeping dominance of left-wing absolutism—who resist its authority.
Heresy on the cardinal issues of race, the nation, and gender is not tolerated. Prominent media, educational and ordinary citizens have lost their jobs or otherwise been punished for alleged ideological infractions. “Wokeism” is not merely an idle belief system—increasingly it is the official philosophy of the ruling class, employed to justify the exercise of coercive power. Governmental authorities and corporations now coordinate in enforcing the dictates of the new secular progressive faith, often at the cost of protecting the constitutional liberties.
Consider the response to the novel coronavirus. Actual religious services among Jews, Christians, and Muslim communities were banned, while mass demonstrations were cheered on by elected officials, civic leaders, and public health professionals. This provides the clearest articulation yet of the way in which the original understanding of America has been reversed: The state, having aligned itself with one creed over others, no longer serves to protect freedom of expression.
