Liberal self-congratulation: hilarious, sad, and a little frightening
A new breed of website has sprung up, powered by social media, in which liberals congratulate themselves, and attempt to provide spiritual instruction on improving the world through their ideology. Bookworm chronicles two of them, in a fascinating post:
I would note here that many people find the discipline of genuine religions daunting, unpleasant, and a general buzz-kill. Liberalism offers hedonism and self-congratulation in place of genuine contact with the numinous. It may not have any depth to it, but for those inclined to reject everything that came from their forbearers' world, convinced that they have found a better, or at least a more pleasant approach to life, liberalism is a decent crutch. The only problem is that it requires constant reinforcement form others in the form of approval, since there is no approach to actual spiritual depth possible in this creed.
Bookworm continues:
One gets a sense of the shallow meritriciousness of Upworthy by what it omits:
In the words of Seinfeld character Elaine in another context entirely: Fake, fake, fake!
The Good men Project is, if anything, even more pathetic:
Kevin Williamson also has some elegant and entertaining thoughts on the Good Men Project, well worth a read.
Liberals have a pathological need to reassure themselves that their political ideology makes them good people. That is an itch that needs constant scratching, in fact. Substituting politics for genuine transcendent spirituality is unsatisfying. Thus the need to become evangelists, proclaiming the superiority of their faith, and the evil of those who disagree with them.
Quite a few liberals attempt to harness Jesus, tikkum olan, and other elements of actual spiritual traditions to the political sphere, but ultimately it does not work.
But false religions can take hold and enrapture large numbers of people. I think ridicule is our best weapon, because logic does not work with these folks. But there is no denying that this sort of thing appeals to a substantial fraction of the American population, those alienated from traditional religions.
I've noticed a trend on my "real me" Facebook page. More and more of my liberal friends (and that means almost all of my real world, as opposed to cyber world, friends) are regularly linking to Upworthy and the Good Men Project. Conservatives should heed the rise of these two sites they market themselves to knee-jerk liberals who cast votes as a way of saving their (non-religious) souls.
I would note here that many people find the discipline of genuine religions daunting, unpleasant, and a general buzz-kill. Liberalism offers hedonism and self-congratulation in place of genuine contact with the numinous. It may not have any depth to it, but for those inclined to reject everything that came from their forbearers' world, convinced that they have found a better, or at least a more pleasant approach to life, liberalism is a decent crutch. The only problem is that it requires constant reinforcement form others in the form of approval, since there is no approach to actual spiritual depth possible in this creed.
Bookworm continues:
Upworthy is a site that posts made-for-Facebook (i.e., made-for-easy-distribution) videos showing people striking blows against racism, sexism (i.e., male chauvinism), hetereronomativism, homophobia, Islamophobia, etc. Here's just a sampling of the videos of the moment (sans hyperlinks):
- "Her Husband's Abuse Once Kept Her Behind Closed Doors. Now She's Speaking Out, Loud And Clear." (Evil male hegemony)
- "They're Harassed And Criminalized. But Could They Be The Solution To A Big Sex Industry Problem?"(Fighting prostitutophobia)
- "Bully Calls News Anchor Fat, News Anchor Destroys Him On Live TV" (Beating back weight-ism)
- "Meet The 17-Year-Old Who Blew The Lid Off Racial Profiling With His iPod" (The war on racism)
One gets a sense of the shallow meritriciousness of Upworthy by what it omits:
For a website devoted to victim-hood, I find it interesting that I can't find any videos at Upworthy in which people strike self-righteous blows against antisemitism, which is rearing its hydra-head in virulent form around the world. A quick search reveals that neither the word "antisemitism" nor the word "anti-semitism" has ever appeared at Upworthy. There also don't seem to be any videos exposing the deadly anti-Christian ideology that's rapidly stripping the Middle East and parts of Africa of their Christian citizens. Instead, I found only videos attacking Christians for being homophobic (such as this one). Also lacking are videos striking self-righteous blows against the misogyny and homophobia in the Middle East and Africa, that deprives women and gays of any rights whatsoever, and that routinely sees them hanged or stoned for imaginary crimes of adultery or for real or imagined acts of sodomy.
In the words of Seinfeld character Elaine in another context entirely: Fake, fake, fake!
The Good men Project is, if anything, even more pathetic:
...today's Good Men Project offerings include the following:
If you like your men gender-neutral, and that's how you want to raise your own sons, Good Men Project is definitely the site for you. Me? I like my men a little more . . . you know, manly, so the site doesn't just leave me cold, it leaves me with a creepy, crawly, itchy feeling on my skin.
- "Be Honest With Yourself - How Racist Are You?" (More than you know, my friend. More than you know.)
- "My Daughter's Room is Grey for a Reason" (What could be more gender neutral than gray?)
- "The Most Dangerous Four-Letter Word (Dick Simon has found a single word that marginalizes, isolate and insult. That word is THEM.)" (You need to know that not all Muslims are terrorists. To which I reply that I totally agree with that statement. I'm just troubled by the fact that the vast majority of terrorists are Muslims - and, worse, they you refuse to acknowledge that reality.)
- "Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person" (Believe it or not, it can be done. All white people are guilty.)
- "What's Law Got to Do With It? A Straight Married Guy's Perspective on Marriage Know Thyself: An Open Letter to My Transgender Child" (I'm glad you love your child. Now stop politicizing it.)
Kevin Williamson also has some elegant and entertaining thoughts on the Good Men Project, well worth a read.
Liberals have a pathological need to reassure themselves that their political ideology makes them good people. That is an itch that needs constant scratching, in fact. Substituting politics for genuine transcendent spirituality is unsatisfying. Thus the need to become evangelists, proclaiming the superiority of their faith, and the evil of those who disagree with them.
Quite a few liberals attempt to harness Jesus, tikkum olan, and other elements of actual spiritual traditions to the political sphere, but ultimately it does not work.
But false religions can take hold and enrapture large numbers of people. I think ridicule is our best weapon, because logic does not work with these folks. But there is no denying that this sort of thing appeals to a substantial fraction of the American population, those alienated from traditional religions.
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