Anti-Wokeness Must Not Become It's Own Religion

Wokeness. It's a hot topic, as the kids say. The kids still say that, right? Anyway, wokeness has been compared to a new religion. And those describing it that way aren't wrong in their assessment, really.

So, why is wokeness seen as a religion by some? Generally speaking, when it comes to wokeness, there is a set of dogmas that has been developed around issues like race, gender, sexuality, privilege, oppression, colonialism, etc. You must adhere to the narratives engrained in these dogmas and repeat the mantras that have manifested. If you do not, you are deemed a sinner and must repent. If there is no repenting, then there must be excommunication. There is little room for blasphemy and if you dare cross a line, cancel culture comes calling. Yup, a very religious structure. To be woke is to be very strict and unforgiving - fundamentalist, shall we say. It often involves brimstone and fire rhetoric. There are sacred cows that must not be criticized or spoken ill of. So the analogy is apt.

RELATED: Yes, Cancel Culture DOES Exist

The whole woke culture thing has made some quite angry, creating a negative pushback. Critics of wokeness are starting to gain traction. There are those who are tired of the narratives, tired of the demands for conformity, tired of being called racist or a bigot for not saying the right things. They are tired of lectures, of diagrams fitting everyone into neat categories of victimhood, tired of seemingly everything revolving around race and gender. People are tired of being shunned for questioning questionable ideas. So, yes, there is a pushback. It's understandable and necessary.

However, the growing backlash risks become it's own religion in short order, in which case we are all back to square one. It is important to stop anti-wokeness from becoming the new wokeness if it's not too late already.

Too often, in the woke camp, words are thrown around to discredit those that go against the doctrines of the woke. Nazi, fascist, alt-right, grifter, transphobe, TERF...this a small sampling of the lingo that the woke love to use against those that dare disagree.

But, the anti-woke camp would be better if it didn't adopt a similar way of dealing with opponents. Unfortunately, it may be too late. In fact, using the term woke as a slur and writing off the opinions or ideas of anyone deemed woke is a perfect example of the anti-woke brigade slipping into religious territory. The sin, in this case, is being woke. In order to regain acceptance, denouncing all that is woke is necessary for some. That's not good. That's not progress in this matter.

Some have made a good career out of being woke and selling wokeism. Some will cite people like Ibram X. Kendi or Robin DiAngelo who have made a lot of money from white people telling white people how awful and racist they are. Can't blame people for that, really. The same thing seems to be happening in the anti-woke camp. Now, I am a big fan of Bill Maher, for sure. BUT, I have noticed much of what he is doing these days is obsessed with anything and everything deemed woke. Honestly, there is plenty of comedic material in some of that woke stuff. He's often quite spot on with his assessments, but sometimes it just seems like the obsession with being anti-woke is equal to the obsession I see some have with being woke.

Ya, there you go. Funny? I think so. But, you know, when every week it's an anti-woke fest, at some point you want to say, "Hey, Bill, maybe expand your repertoire again." Big fan, think he's funny, but, definitely, turning anti-wokeness into a bit of a religion in itself.

And then, we have critics of being woke, like Ben Shapiro, who fall decidedly on the right-wing side of the debate who have their own crazy ideas going on. So, him and folks like him being critical of the woke and their crazy ideas often comes across as hypocritical and short-sighted because they are the anti-woke bizarro world, mirror image of the craziest of the woke.

The thing is, not everything woke is bad. Woke can get pretty cringy, nasty, ugly, bizarre, hypocritical, lazy, judgmental. But, you know, there are some good ideas at play. Things like racism or homophobia do thoroughly suck. Maybe those deemed being woke don't handle anti-racism or anti-homophobia in the best way. Quite a bit of anti-racism, for example, has just turned into a new form of racism in itself. But, to just shun everything that is considered woke is a bit foolish, if you ask me. I can agree with a LOT of wokeness, honestly, even if the execution is a bit on the questionable side.

Many in the anti-woke camp see themselves as free-thinkers that don't want to conform to the scripts set forth by the woke brigade. But, it seems at times that these free-thinkers start to develop their very own scripts and quickly stop actually being free-thinkers.

Who would have thought? Two polarizing schools of though mirroring each other? Again? And, as often seems to be the case, the woke and anti-woke are divided by a tribal line, with many anti-woke folks being on the more conservative side of things, while those deemed woke are on the left side of things. Funny how this keeps happening. But, because it does, it almost seems that it's a very natural thing. It's almost like this is how humans are, this is how are brains are wired. It's almost like us human animals have a predisposition to tribalism and conformity in thinking. It probably has some kind of evolutionary benefit. Or, at least, it highlights the fact that even though humans are intelligent, we are still animals with limitations.