The new religion?

This has been playing on my mind for some time. Previously, I was a big supporter of "‘The New Atheists” & “The Intellectual Dark Web”. I was particularly fond of the works of the late Christopher Hitchens and of Sam Harris. Subsequently, my fondness for Harris (since his Trump Derangement Syndrome) has decreased. I was still a fan of Douglass Murray (less so after 2020).

What has been on my mind is the failure to comprehend how their anti religion stance has not translated into our new faux religions. Foolishly, I presumed that the western more progressive (in the original sense) opinion on dogma and freedom of choice could also apply to the new secular religions.

Let us take as an example the new Green movement. If you know how (prior to the reformation) the Catholic Church enriched itself with indulgences you’ll know how the Vatican City was built. The basic premiss is that if you are rich enough you can commit as many sins as you wish as long as you pay up. Let us take this forward to the new Green activists (especially very rich celebrities). Now, this is nothing to do with money, this new currency is virtue. So, even you fly first class or via your private jet across the Atlantic (carbon footprint) you can indulge yourself because by speaking or even attending a climate event you have earned your indulgence.

Another religious similarity is the self flagellation. How many Green activists have told us that we must embrace the zero carbon agenda? However, the fallout of this is not really felt by the mostly middle or upper class environmentalists but by us plebs. Cynically, I feel that this is horribly classist. You plebs having two weeks in Spain is destroying the planet, no cars for you & if you cannot afford an electric one, well tough shit.

A horrible Malthusian trope in regard to having children is also apparent. Notice that the elite have as many children as they wish but to prevent overpopulation we must limit our families.

And now we come to the ‘woke agenda’. No one with any sense can fail to have noticed some rather strange things happening within our culture. Again, we have a new religion where any heresy can make you persona non grata. Heretics can be cancelled, sacked and regarded as vile homophobic/racist/transphobic bigots without any trial.

The covid nightmare of 2020/2022 has only reinforced my horror of our current situation. I tweeted some time ago “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions” but the road to tyranny is illuminated by gaslight.