by Daniel H. King, Sr.
Synopsis: In recent decades, American culture has changed radically—most notably with the woke mindset. This perverse phenomenon is eating like an acid through the fabric of our society. Where is it taking us and what does the future hold for us?
Wokeness is a new reality on the American landscape. Sometimes referred to as Cultural Marxism, Neo-Marxism, social justice, and identity politics, it is a fly in the ointment of the modern cultural environment. For most ordinary people, it is considered a freakish mob of small-minded, would-be tyrants. They refuse to reason with others, shouting them down, cursing and insulting them. One would think that few people would give them the time of day. Yet, there is little doubt that, despite the dilettantish fetishes of these people, they have gotten the attention of the public media outlets, grabbed control of the major universities in the US, forced many corporations and national institutions to kowtow to their whims, and even slithered into the upper echelons of the national government. As Mike Pompeo said, “Wokeism is not what America is about. It distorts our glorious founding and our real history to make this country look like something it isn’t now, or ever has been.” It is like a cultural cancer that consumes the vitals of our nation. Its effects are only destructive, never beneficial.
This ideology is based on Critical Theory, borrowed from German philosophy and social theory in the Western European Marxist tradition, known originally as the Frankfort School. It sees itself as a movement which challenges the underlying power structures of society and liberates people from the restraints that control law and order. According to Critical Theory, “the only things that exist are hierarchies of power, and those hierarchies must be eliminated. The goal of these theorists is to completely dismantle a culture, and reinvent it from the ground up. This new religion. . . has infected every facet of American culture. Since wokeism is self-centered destruction of society, it must create its own commandments and rules to meet its goals and objectives. Wokes use these rules to banish anyone who they consider a threat to them. Critical Theory does not improve society, so wokes use every means possible to eliminate people who support the traditional institutions, morals, and social values that guide normal societies. They develop their own rules and ostracize everyone who does not conform” (William Haupt III, 4/26/2021).
America was already a hopelessly divided nation politically, almost evenly divided along lines of traditional versus liberal and progressive thinking. With the arrival of wokeism, the division has now risen to a fever pitch. People are at one another’s throats, ready to fight at the drop of a hat. The culture is at a tipping-point, or, perhaps the expression, boiling-point, is better. Revolution is in the air. Surprisingly, it is coming from two different directions: the ultra left radicals and the far right patriotic crowd. Both sides blame the other for the problem. Violence is a constant on American streets. Conservative speakers are shouted down and not allowed to speak on college campuses and even at public events. Murder rates and crime rates have been much higher lately in the inner cities, ghettos, and gang infested neighborhoods. Life is not as it was. Peace and solemnity seem to be a thing of the past in the American public square. What is ahead for us?
Woke progressives are intent on making distinctions between people whom they consider “the oppressed” in society versus those who are labeled “oppressors.” This being so, divisiveness in society will continue to increase so that Americans will find it difficult to work beside others who are different from themselves in some way or another. For many people, this will be a strange new phenomenon because, all of their lives, they have lived and worked beside others from whom they have differed greatly and have done so peacefully and harmoniously until lately.
One of the most evil aspects of cancel culture and the woke agenda is its tendency to aggravate what has always been the deepest division in most societies: racial or ethnic differences. This has been a source of hatred and war since time began. Christianity spoke to this problem and has always been a source of moderation in such matters (Col. 3:11). There are two very wicked aspects of this tragic obsession with racial differences that characterize this way of thinking. First, it makes “oppressors” out of people who have never oppressed anyone in their lives, simply by virtue of the color of their skin. Second, it makes “victims” out of people who have never in fact been victimized by anyone, once more, simply by virtue of the color of their skin. One person who is innocent must be punished and the other person who has not been injured must be rewarded, in both cases because of one factor: skin color. This has come to be called “identitarian ideology.” This is a perspective that “espouses that group identity is the most important thing about a person, and that justice and power must be viewed primarily on the basis of group identity rather than individual merit” (The Urban Dictionary). Any society built on such a premise cannot stand, but will end in societal fracture.
City mayors and criminal prosecutors who are woke are convinced that the jails should be emptied and criminals should not be prosecuted for their crimes if their skin is a certain color, hence people who dwell in the areas into which these career criminals are released will become increasingly the victims of individuals with long criminal records. Most of their victims will be the poorer members of society. We are seeing this already in most of the larger cities of America. Unsurprisingly, we are seeing it in every single city where the mayor and prosecutors are woke. Is it not strange that an ideology that seeks to “help” the poor and downtrodden, in fact, only hurts and destroys their communities, and subjects them to fear and victimhood? We are not supposed to notice this, however, because it is not results that matter but only the “good intentions” of these perverse idealists.
The wane of Christianity in our society has led to an expected result which we are also seeing all about us. Leftists and progressives can say what they would like to say about Christianity, but one thing is certain: it has a civilizing effect on people who may not otherwise have been so. Christian people are not perfect. At times, they may fail to live up to the high expectations of their religion, but it is inarguable that it is to be preferred to living in the midst of heathens and barbarians (cf. Luke 6:35; 1 Cor. 13:4; Eph. 4:32). In effect, that is precisely what we are experiencing to a greater degree lately. Christianity is taught and learned. With people not attending churches any longer, civil society is on the wane. One aspect of this reality is wokeism. The woke elites are rude, crude, vulgar, churlish, and at times even brutal monsters who go for the throats of their enemies like hungry wolves. They are not nice people. Do not fool yourself in thinking so. Simply read after a few of them on Facebook or Twitter. It will not take you long to see of what sort they are.
Elites of this ilk are incorrigible hypocrites. Abhijit Naskar said it best: “Woke and cancel culture are signs of a judgmental culture. In their world, you cannot speak to another person without worrying about what they will be thinking about you” (Quoted by Haupt). Jesus taught us not to be judgmental toward others, but rather to show them mercy and understanding (Matt. 7:1ff.), seeing that we all make mistakes and none of us is above sin. In recent years, we have watched as wicked men and women have condemned others for the slightest wrongs in the name of “political correctness.” Meanwhile, many of these same critics have been guilty of the most evil behaviors imaginable, but because they are on the correct side of the political divide, their own transgressions are ignored or even justified because “the end justifies the means.”
Proponents of the woke agenda offer no second chances for anyone. If you commit a transgression against the woke ideology, you will be banned and exiled forever. Forget public life; you are done. There have been a number of high-profile comedians who have been destroyed because a single joke “offended” some minority group or another. The most recent cases have been associated with “transsexuals” whose feelings were hurt by a fellow who was himself a minority race storyteller. They sought his firing, as they had done with so many others previously, but in this case, they were unsuccessful. His own minority status apparently shielded him, but others have not been so fortunate. wokeism is an unforgiving religion, and, make no mistake about it, it is a cultic religion that fills the God-shaped vacuum in the lives of these godless individuals. Even though it has no religious structure as such, it has all the functions of religious doctrine and has become the only religion of some atheists. It has a unique epistemology (theory of knowledge), an evaluation of the human condition, as well as a redemption narrative (Max Funk, 10/20/2020). Jesus, on the other hand, taught us to forgive and show compassion to others, seeing that we all will require it on our own part (Matt. 6:14, 15). wokeism, however, is opposed to traditional religion, so it cares nothing for the Judeo-Christian ethic. It can be unforgiving if it would like, and so it is.
Promoters of the woke agenda malign traditional morality as they promote sexually deviant lifestyles such as homosexuality and transgenderism. “In a truly surreal inversion of reality, they paint traditional morality as immoral by charging it with being homophobic, transphobic, and similar terms” (Knights Templar Order International, 4/30/2021). Name-calling is very much a characteristic of the woke.
Expect more intense hostility toward the Christian religion and additional persecution of Christianity. These advocates of atheism, deism, pantheism, etc., possess an intensive hatred for traditional Christian faith. They describe it as patriarchal, intolerant, and oppressive. This, in spite of the fact that they are the most intolerant and oppressive people around.
Climate change advocacy is based on the notion that it is desirable and possible to arrest climate change by human actions. Question the “science” on this issue and their response is always: “Off with your head!” Climate change has characterized the planet since its beginning. The idea that human beings can alter it is practically and theoretically absurd. Scientists have always been divided on this issue. Every few years, though, these radicals cannot help themselves and they tell us the world will end in “X” number of years. Thus far, all of their predictions have proven false. Why would anyone believe them anymore?
Will the woke mentality eventually disappear? Not likely. Tyler Cowen suggests that it will probably evolve into a sub-culture here in the Americas “that is highly educated, highly white, and fairly feminine” (Bloomberg, 2/18/2022).” They are entrenched in human resource departments, and fear of employment lawsuits will make it hard to dislodge their risk-averse procedures and pro-diversity rhetoric. The status quo for hiring practices, for better or worse, is now a permanent feature of the American life. . . . The woke also are likely to achieve an even greater hold over American universities. Due to the tenure system, personnel turnover is low, and currently newer and younger faculty are more left wing than are older faculty. The simple march of retirements is going to make universities even more left wing, and even more out of touch with mainstream America” (Ibid.). Christians might be better off to avoid these schools altogether. Alternatives are available.
Clearly, wokeism has lost steam in recent months as its advocates have lost their positions on school boards and as prosecutors who have refused to prosecute violent criminals. Even in San Francisco, California, there are limits to people’s patience with wokeism. In fact, even secular humanists have begun to chafe at their profligacy as they saw Richard Dawkins have his “2020 Humanist of the Year” honor rescinded because of statements he made which under the “guise of scientific discourse” were employed “to demean marginalized groups.” When you have lost the atheistic humanists, you have probably gone too far to be relevant much longer! Let us hope wokeism dies a quick death.
Cowen, Tyler. “Wokeism Has Peaked.” Bloomberg.com, February 18, 2022. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-02-18/wokeism-has-peaked-in-america-but-is-still-globally-influential.
Funk, Max. “Wokeism—The New Religion of The West.” Converge Media, October 20, 2020. https://www.convergemedia.org/wokeism-the-new-religion-of-the-west/.
Haupt III, William. “The Critical Theory of Racism and Wokism.” The Center Square, April 26, 2021. https://www.thecentersquare.com/national/op-ed-the-critical-theory-of-racism-and-wokism/article_11271ebe-a42c-11eb-91a7-73990da1289e.html.
“Identitarian.” UrbanDictionary.com. https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=identitarian
“What Is ‘Wokism’?” The Knights Templar Order International, April 30, 2021. https://www.knightstemplarorder.com/what_is_wokism.
