Bigotry is returning to our world. For a while it seemed as though we might overcome it and realize Martin Luther King’s dream that we would judge people by the “content of their character” rather than the “colour of their skin.” That sentiment now seems to have fallen away. We are more divided than ever. What happened? 

Identity Politics

Identity politics happened. A few decades ago our ideas about what was noble and good began to change. To some degree we lost the concept of objective morality. Along with it went other important ideas such as good citizenship and “civic nationalism.” What is civic nationalism you ask? It is the idea that, regardless of your ethnicity or background, you are a citizen of your nation. Civic Nationalism welcomes differences but asks for national loyalty. Identity politics is the opposite. It says that your personal identity based on race, religion, ideology or political slant comes first. The nation is second. And, if you are part of an aggrieved or historically oppressed group your interests are especially important.  

The Power of Marginalization

Nowadays  it seems that if you are marginalized you have more rights and power than anyone else. If you are “marginalized” and find your nation wanting, you may feel that you have the right to ignore its laws, tear down its symbols, vandalize its monuments, revise its history and advocate for its destruction. No problem. You do not need to have a higher loyalty. You are loyal only to yourself, and you have the right to attack those who do not agree with you, either physically or figuratively. It is inside this bizarre sense of entitlement that the source of the new bigotry lies. The rise of identity politics has a led to reverse bigotry. Who are its victims ? 

The New Bigots

Its victims are  traditionalists, conservatives, defenders of law and order, advocates of common sense and last, but certainly not least, Christians. They are the new oppressed. The world order has turned upside down. What were once accepted values are now the target of the radicals society has decided to empower. Of course, there is something very wrong with this, and people are starting to realize it. Bigotry is not now coming from conservatives, Christians or social conservatives. It is coming from liberal progressives and the far left. They are the  bigots now. 

People Silenced, Churches Burned

The terrible extremes to which this new bigotry has gone are astonishing. As I write this 57 churches in Canada have been burned or vandalized. Conservative voices on the internet have been silenced by Big Tech in both Canada and the U.S. The response to all this has been muted, or even non existent. 57 churches burned or vandalized with relatively little response or condemnation. Let that sink in for a moment. Conservatives and social conservatives demonized and silenced. Let that sink in as well. What does all this mean? 

The New Resisters 

Some time ago I wrote a post entitled “You Are the Counter Culture.” In it I argued that conservatives and social conservatives have become the new version of the 1960s “Counter Culture.” They are the ones with the strange ideas and revolutionary views, the new hippies, yippies and radicals of the 21^st century. Objective reality, common sense, moral decency, restraint and rationality are condemned as narrow minded, bigoted, myopic and phobic. Sensibleness, a reverence for historical truth and a respect for Judeo Christian values are restrictive and racist. I’d like to suggest that, bearing this in mind, we might want to consider ourselves “resisters” rather than counter culturists. There’s no question that we are right and that the reversal of values we are experiencing is wrong. It has hurt too many people and must end. The point now is that, since we are the real victims who’ve been marginalized by the new bigots, we really need to actively resist them. It’s time.