Helen Pluckrose, James Lindsay et al on Social Justice as a Religion

Video via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AvyqUOKhGA

Description

Handwaving Freakoutery:

"The first hour of that video is the case, the second hour is Q&A, and if you have no time for either, here’s a summary:

Defining religion is tough, because there’s no explicit quality that defines them, but they share a broad range of features which bind them conceptually. They are meaning making structures, which help us make sense of things we find chaotic or don’t understand. Religious communities are organized around adoption and promulgation of certain moral principles. They have scripture, which conveys doctrines and ideology. They focus on moral purity, they focus on the in-group, they demonize the out-group, and they demonize and excommunicate blasphemers. They impart a sense of control, if not actual control, over uncontrollable circumstances.

Social Justice has all this stuff.

There are many important additional parallels. Religions have a tendency to identify everything good with God, so when a religious person hears an atheist say they don’t believe in God, the religious person has a tendency to hear that to mean they don’t believe in Good. Social Justice followers react the same way. When someone questions their equity driven approach to “equality,” that’s “hate speech.”

Religious thinkers invent their own epistemologies, in such a manner that their religious teachings become unfalsifiable. The Social Justice approach to this is called “standpoint epistemology,” and finds its roots in cultural postmodernism. If you and I disagree, then that’s because we come from different standpoints, therefore you cannot falsify my claim because you lack my standpoint. This is the Social Justice adaptation of “God put the dinosaur bones there.”" (https://hwfo.substack.com/p/social-justice-is-a-crowdsourced)

Discussion

Handwaving Freakoutery:

Heretical = Problematic

Blasphemy = Not Politically Correct

Excommunicated = Cancelled

Original Sin = Privilege

Church = Safe Space

Born Again = Woke

"There are a wide range of almost direct adaptations, which form a kind of a lexicon.

In religion, an idea is heretical if the idea goes contrary to the indoctrinated narrative, or if its promulgation may undermine portions of the narrative even unintentionally. Galileo was convicted of heresy not because he was intending to undermine the Catholic Church with heliocentrism, but purely because that scientific fact created problems for the Church’s narratives. The Social Justice analogy to heretical teachings, are things they find “problematic.”

In religion, blasphemy is the act of speaking against doctrine, and apostates must be shunned or excommunicated. The Social Justice analogue to this is political correctness, which serves precisely the same function. Cancellation is excommunication.

In religion, we have original sin, which is something people are born with, for which they must atone by adopting the indoctrinations of the religion, else be shunted to the outgroup. It acts as an evangelism pressure tactic, a means of drawing ingroup boundaries, and a means of behavioral control through institutional shame. Non-atoners are shunted to the outgroup and attacked. The Social Justice analogue to this is privilege, which again serves the exact same functions.

In religion, we have church, which is a gathering place where heresy and blasphemy is prohibited, for conveyance and discussion of the indoctrinations themselves. In Social Justice, we have safe spaces, which are by function simply censorship zones where certain opinions cannot be expressed.

In religion, we have “born again,” which is an indication that atonement for original sin has been made before peers, and an individual has been officially moved from the outgroup to the ingroup by accepting the indoctrinations. The Social Justice analog to this is “woke.”

In religion, we have an outreach to the downtrodden as an evangelism tactic. “The meek shall inherit the Earth.” The Social Justice analog to this is “the future is intersectional.” (https://hwfo.substack.com/p/social-justice-is-a-crowdsourced)

 Ignoring Stability Fails

Handwaving Freakoutery:

"Where Social Justice fails as a religion, is in its efficacy. Every religion that’s survived the historical gauntlet of religious Darwinism has done so by promulgating key features which make a society stable. This stability usually includes an order or hierarchy, but not always, as in the case of Buddhism or Wicca. The Golden Rule is a must have, for the in-group. It’s not necessary for the out-group (Burn the Heretic! Kill the Mutant! Purge the Unclean!) but Golden Rule principles within the in-group are not negotiable if a religion is to survive. Golden Rule indoctrination guides people towards good behavior among their peers without the need for a burdensome behavior enforcement apparatus. Social Justice fails on this, because of what we might call the Totem Pole of Oppression.

A key fixture of Social Justice thinking, particularly once Intersectionality is added to the mix, is that all people within or without the religion are assigned a subgroup based on their skin color, gender, and sexuality, and their virtue within the group is prioritized based on how “marginalized” they are, based on a kind of a virtual oppression credit system. A black gay female has more oppression credits than a white gay male, even though they both might be considered more oppressed than a straight white male. A hierarchy (or “matrix”) of oppression is explicitly stated within the doctrines of intersectionality, although the problems it creates with in-group fighting are obvious, and sometimes fought against within the Social Justice sphere. It looks like this. Straight white males are at the top of a virtual totem pole of power, straight white females one rung below them, and so on, until somewhere at the bottom we have gay trans disabled old poor black Muslims, or similar. The rules of the totem pole state that you can punch up the pole however much you like, but not down. Racial prejudice against white people is not “racism,” because white people are higher on the pole, for example. “Shut up and Listen.” This erodes the Golden Rule within the in-group, leading to things like its adherents attacking “White Feminism.” When you assign every individual a place on the totem pole, and make it your goal to chop the top off the totem pole, you’re left with a shorter totem pole, with someone else at the top who needs to be chopped off. This is already rampant, and characterized within the blogosphere as “The Liberals Eating Their Own.” This characterization is poor, because it’s not “the liberals” doing it, it is specifically the Social Justice Religion sub-factions, as they follow their religious edicts to their natural conclusions. Where Social Justice fails as a religion, is in its efficacy. Every religion that’s survived the historical gauntlet of religious Darwinism has done so by promulgating key features which make a society stable. This stability usually includes an order or hierarchy, but not always, as in the case of Buddhism or Wicca. The Golden Rule is a must have, for the in-group. It’s not necessary for the out-group (Burn the Heretic! Kill the Mutant! Purge the Unclean!) but Golden Rule principles within the in-group are not negotiable if a religion is to survive. Golden Rule indoctrination guides people towards good behavior among their peers without the need for a burdensome behavior enforcement apparatus. Social Justice fails on this, because of what we might call the Totem Pole of Oppression.

A key fixture of Social Justice thinking, particularly once Intersectionality is added to the mix, is that all people within or without the religion are assigned a subgroup based on their skin color, gender, and sexuality, and their virtue within the group is prioritized based on how “marginalized” they are, based on a kind of a virtual oppression credit system. A black gay female has more oppression credits than a white gay male, even though they both might be considered more oppressed than a straight white male. A hierarchy (or “matrix”) of oppression is explicitly stated within the doctrines of intersectionality, although the problems it creates with in-group fighting are obvious, and sometimes fought against within the Social Justice sphere. It looks like this. Straight white males are at the top of a virtual totem pole of power, straight white females one rung below them, and so on, until somewhere at the bottom we have gay trans disabled old poor black Muslims, or similar. The rules of the totem pole state that you can punch up the pole however much you like, but not down. Racial prejudice against white people is not “racism,” because white people are higher on the pole, for example. “Shut up and Listen.” This erodes the Golden Rule within the in-group, leading to things like its adherents attacking “White Feminism.” When you assign every individual a place on the totem pole, and make it your goal to chop the top off the totem pole, you’re left with a shorter totem pole, with someone else at the top who needs to be chopped off. This is already rampant, and characterized within the blogosphere as “The Liberals Eating Their Own.” This characterization is poor, because it’s not “the liberals” doing it, it is specifically the Social Justice Religion sub-factions, as they follow their religious edicts to their natural conclusions." (https://hwfo.substack.com/p/social-justice-is-a-crowdsourced)