Tyranny Watch

Will Wokeism be the next totalitarian regime?

“Yeah, I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but . . .”  How many conversations have you heard begin with that line? A lot lately, I’m guessing.

With waning trust in institutions and the lack of reliable news sources, it is difficult to not feel as though everything is fragmenting and fraying. In making sense of it all, we are sometimes drawn to theories of conspiracy. The spectacle of it all grabs our attention.

When I was doing research for my dissertation twenty years ago, I found a book in the Ashland University library about the LGBT movement. It was a playbook, of sorts, laying out strategies for changing the culture by infiltrating various institutions. The chapter I recall most clearly addressed how to move denominations toward acceptance of same-sex marriage. Though it didn’t fit my line of inquiry, I’ve since wished I’d made notes of its title and contents.

Movements don’t get traction without leadership and strategy. Whether it qualifies as a conspiracy or not, the way in which Trans ideology has captured universities and has spread through the institutions of law and medicine certainly gives evidence of a well planned attack.

In the last post, we considered three points from On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Yale prof Timothy Snyder. There we considered these lessons: Defend Institutions; Take Responsibility for the Face of the World; Stand Out.

Here are three more. Comments are welcomed from free subscribers. I will pose questions throughout for our discussion. The bold print is the lesson. And the italicized is a direct quote from his chapter summaries.

Be calm when the unthinkable arrives. Modern tyranny is terror management. When the terrorist attack comes, remember that authoritarians exploit such events in order to consolidate power. The sudden disaster that requires the end of checks and balances, the dissolution of opposition parties, the suspension of freedom of expression, the right to a fair trial, and so on, is the oldest trick in the Hitlerian book. Do not fall for it.

After the twin towers collapsed on September 11^th, I very clearly remember the enthralling mixture of fear and patriotism. Most of us, myself included, were willing to have some of our freedom and privacy compromised if it meant security from terrorists. Soon the USA PATRIOT Act became law. Driven by fear of future attacks, the Senate passed it 98-1. Among other things, it increased government power to monitor telephone and other electronic communications.

Anyone know how much of those freedoms were returned? Don’t know, but I’m guessing none.

So how did Hitler capitalize on tragedy? The German parliament building was destroyed by fire in February of 1933. The true arsonist was never discovered, but here’s how Hitler took advantage of the Reichstag fire:

Gazing with pleasure at the flames that night, Hitler said: ‘This fire is just the beginning.’ Whether or not the Nazis set the fire, Hitler saw the political opportunity: ‘There will be no mercy now. Anyone standing in our way will be cut down.’

Snyder goes on to say:

James Madison nicely made the point that tyranny arises “on some favorable emergency.” After the Reichstag fire, Hanna Arendt wrote that “I was no longer of the opinion that one can simply be a bystander.”

Note again the lesson: “Be calm when the unthinkable happens. In other words, when a crisis like 9/11 hits or any other catastrophe, don’t join the mass hysterics, and be well aware of attempts to use the circumstances to take away your rights.

Let’s consider the pandemic, for example. I’m sure we would all like a do-over in our response. We might still make a beeline to Walmart for toilet paper, but would we have done some things differently?

No, not a page out of the Hitlerian textbook, but once the crisis hit, the situation was used to the advantage of those waiting for an opportunity to accelerate their Trans agenda.

For the comments below, what would you have done differently? What evidence do you see that people took advantage of the situation to advance their agenda? Or, was the pandemic merely a distraction as plans moved forward?

Believe in truth. To abandon facts is to abandon freedom. If nothing is true, then no one can criticize power, because there is no basis upon which to do so. If nothing is true, then all is spectacle. The biggest wallet pays for the most blinding lights.

Likely the big wallets Snyder had in mind were the deep pockets which funded the Trump campaign. However, it has become increasingly clear that tech billionaires are flipping on the blinding lights for Wokeism.

It is true that some children experience dysphoria. It is now also true that due to the influence of social media and perhaps educators in their schools, a much higher rate of kids are identifying their anxiety, depression, and/or feelings of peer rejection as indicative of being born in the wrong body. This, of course, has led to hormonal treatments and drastic surgeries which have sterilized and maimed many of today’s teens.

Again, dysphoria is real. The feelings can be torturous for the extremely small percentage of those who have grown up with it. But the truth to believe scientifically is that there are only two genders—XX and XY. Even with the extremely small numbers of variations, most are still clearly female or male. Despite heart-tugging testimonials, this is the truth.

What evidence do you see that truth has been distorted?

Be kind to our language. Avoid pronouncing the phrases everyone else does. Think up your own way of speaking, even if only to convey that thing you think everyone is saying. Make an effort to separate yourself from the internet. Read books.

If you’ve read Orwell’s 1984, you likely remember how Big Brother controlled society through disinformation and surveillance. The Ministry of Truth was the government’s office to change history, confuse the language with “doublethink,” and change the meaning of words—hence the the name The Ministry of Truth. It promoted anything but truth.

The word freedom was forbidden. It simply did not exist. To eliminate certain words helped to make concepts disappear. It was the means of thought control.

Orwell included this not so much as a prediction of the future, but as what he suspected was happening under Stalin and Hitler.

Yeah, I’m sure you are already applying it to the politically correct distortions of all language related to gender. And this raises the question of the proper use of pronouns. On this point, Christian leaders are divided.

Preston Sprinkle freely honors the pronoun preferences of the people he works with. His book Embodied reflects this clearly as he refers to one key figure as “they.”

Rosaria Butterfield, however, absolutely disagrees. She believes it is outright sinful.

What do you think?

For me it seems to depend upon who it is, where you are, and what the context is. In your home with your teenager? Absolutely honor the language by using correct pronouns and firmly explaining why. But I think there might be occasions when you need to choose your battles wisely.

What cannot be compromised is a commitment to scripture and the truth. And so when I worked with a client in his early 30’s, I’ve said right up front that I did not agree with his choice to alter his body. Being up front about my beliefs was simply a matter of integrity. But given his age and my desire to help him, I was willing to compromise on his choice of name and pronouns. In his case, this built trust with him. He wanted to go forward with the counseling. And amazingly, as we sought to work toward his goals, he decided a few years later to detransition.

But again: What do you think? Is it ever appropriate to honor the chosen pronouns? Or do you believe that doing so is always a sinful capitulation?

At some point, we must adopt the statement quoted above attributed to Hanna Arendt: “I was no longer of the opinion that one can simply be a bystander.” Whether it smells like a conspiracy or not, children’s lives are being destroyed by this ideology. We must choose how best to take our stand within our own sphere of influence.