Evil has a habit of taking good words and inverting their meanings. Consider that many now use “freedom” to describe slavery to base appetites and say “love” when they really mean “fleeting infatuation that ends when physical attraction fades”.
One of the latest terms to be hijacked is “social justice”. The concept’s moral theology pedigree can be traced all the way back to Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical Rerum novarum. “Social justice” originally meant the authorities’ obligation to make sure that society gave individuals their due as human beings.
It’s ironic, but not accidental, that a teaching laid out in an encyclical that repeatedly smacks down socialism has been co-opted by socialists; or that a principle meant to ensure inalienable human rights is being invoked to abolish free speech. A new class of totalitarian activists flying the banner of social justice have gained so much influence that even their Leftist professors are starting to worry that they’ve created monsters.
They have good reason to fear. The social justice mob and its keyboard warriors have amassed enough power to disemploy Nobel laureates like Sir Tim Hunt and tech pioneers such as Brendan Eich, not to mention a largely silent multitude of anonymous offenders who lost their livelihoods for the crime of disagreement.
Into this bloody arena steps author Vox Day.
Having been illegally expelled from the SFWA, Vox is well qualified to give a detailed analysis of a social justice warrior purge. That’s just what he’s done–and much more–in his political philosophy opus SJWs Always Lie: Taking Down the Thought Police.
The book was originally conceived as a polemic, but the end result is more like a field guide to navigating the SJW-riddled minefields of Western academia, business, and media. Vox shares accounts of people who lost their employment and reputations to social justice witch hunts, walks the reader through a step by step analysis of the SJW attack sequence, and offers actionable advice for what to do when you come under fire for alleged violations of ever-shifting social justice doctrine.
In reading SJWAL, it fascinated me how much SJWs’ elitist, polarizing, and unaccountable attitudes resemble those of a cult. This observation is consistent with the fact that all malignant ideologies now threatening Western civilization are Christian heresies to some degree.
Heresy isn’t simply untruth. It’s a truth unhinged from other balancing truths and exaggerated out of proportion. Pelagianism was the overemphasis on human will to the exclusion of grace. Arianism focused on Christ’s divine Sonship to the point of denying His divinity. Similarly, the SJW cult absolutizes social justice while rejecting the immutable nature from which human rights are derived.
The mental state required to embrace such a self-contradictory worldview is responsible for Vox’s First Law of SJWs and the title of his book. Because they believe that adopting an irrational ideology makes them morally superior to everyone else, SJWs have no qualms about lying to advance their goals. This includes smearing, libeling, and falsely accusing others.
SJWAL‘s most valuable public service has been sounding a wake-up call to ordinary people whose well-meant misconception that SJWs could be reasoned or compromised with allowed their witch hunts to gain so much traction.
By pointing out that no one–not even rocket scientists–is safe from this heretical inquisition, Vox has shown that anyone–even you–can be next. It doesn’t matter if you “haven’t done anything wrong” or “have nothing to hide”. Since your accusers have no compunctions against lying, they have nothing against trumping up charges against you.
And no, fear of exposure and punishment is no hindrance to SJWs. The tacit cooperation of normal people in the state, media, corporations, and cultural institutions has fostered the social justice cult’s lack of accountability.
What does Vox recommend for targets of SJW attacks? The gist of his advice is to recognize that you’re being attacked,and know what you’re dealing with, remain calm, and do not agree to any of their demands.
The most difficult–and perhaps the most important–rule for SJW victims to grasp is Vox’s vehement warning not to apologize. This tenet seems to contradict a basic convention of civilized society, but taken in context, it’s a sound principle. The purpose of an apology is to heal social bonds and help restore transgressors to full membership in the community. An apology is not due to someone who demands it in bad faith in order to condemn you; especially if you really haven’t done anything wrong.
On a personal note, I can vouch for this book’s effectiveness. Even if actual SJWs are a minority, their cultish M.O. is spreading. The corporate world, with its vague codes of conduct and dehumanizing HR departments, seems particularly vulnerable. That’s where I encountered SJW-style ostracizing worthy of Kafka.
My adversaries weren’t self-declared SJWs, but they followed the same attack sequence to the letter. Vox hadn’t written this book yet, but I wish he had, because upon reading it I realized that I’d unknowingly followed most of its advice. True, my time with that employer came to an end, but when the dust settled neither of the parties responsible were employed there, either. I can only speculate about how things might have turned out if I’d had SJWAL to guide me through the ordeal.
Organized, unscrupulous people are out there right now, seeking their next victim. Don’t leave your survival to chance.
SJWs Always Lie: Taking Down the Thought Police, published by Castalia House, is available for Kindle and in paperback.
UPDATE: welcome, Vox Popoli readers. And thanks to Vox for the link.
It's not like a cult. It IS a cult. Blend Jim Jones with Lyndon LaRouche and you get the Social Justice cult. Deal with them accordingly.
Agreed. And well said.