The cultural wars that have caused great friction in American politics for the past two decades are in their own way a religious war.
Religious wars have been fought throughout human history. Even the settling of European colonists in North America had a religious aspect. Those who left the old country and arrived in the new did so oftentimes to be able to practice their religion without threat or coercion. The lack of an official state religion in the US is one of the great assets that have contributed much to the success of the American experiment.
In today’s American culture, we are ultimately having a battle of religions. On the one side, which is often called conservative, red, old-fashioned or the like, are people of many different faiths who still believe in many religious concepts and principles for both the individual and the nation. On the other side is a growing group of people who are either not religious as we would normally define the same or whose religion is subservient to something else. That something else may be called science or secularism or leftism. However one calls it, it definitely is based on principles and concepts separate from those which underpin traditional religions.
Let’s look at some obvious issues that often come up in social and political discussions.
*Most religious people of all persuasions are either completely opposed to abortion or wish to restrict it significantly. Those on the left/science side see no reason not to allow abortion at any time up until birth.
*Most religious people find the idea of “trans women” to be false and are offended when men who claim to be women take hardware in women’s sporting events. Those on the left/science side are convinced that sex (XX vs XY) is not determinant of gender and that one can choose to identify as he or she pleases.
*Most religious people are patriotic and feel that the US, while imperfect, is a force for good and is the best country for the individual and family. Those on the left/science often denigrate the US, accusing the country of having stolen land and being inherently racist.
These comparisons could go on and on for a whole host of subjects. While theologically, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus and others differ, they generally hold civic opinions that are often quite similar. Evangelicals and orthodox Jews break for Donald Trump in large percentages and would give similar answers about the goodness of the United States and its positive role in world affairs. When the US was a far more religious country, there was more agreement on many basic issues on which today we cannot agree. No one in the 1960 Congress would have supported gay marriage, “trans rights,” or abortion-on-demand. Not so today.
But are those who are on the left and hold science as the ultimate truth really practicing another religion? It may depend on how you define religion. We are accustomed to most religions being directed towards God or some deity who is considered omnipotent, unfailing, etc. Those on the left have elevated science to the role of the godhead that cannot be questioned, who is always right, and whose doubting is considered a form of blasphemy. Not for nothing did the disingenuous Tony Fauci say that he was science: he could not be questioned, he could not be doubted, and anyone who acted against him was a heathen worthy of punishment or being sent away. While science and the scientific method have helped us to better understand our world and have provided many amazing technologies, they are no better than their practitioners.
Covid was the perfect example of this reality. “Science” in the form of the Wuhan Institute of Virology created and released the hybrid virus that killed millions throughout the world and destroyed economies, big and small. Fauci and his friends at the NIH and CDC slanted their approach to get rid of potentially useful treatments so as to open the door to experimental vaccines. You remember when they promised that whoever was vaccinated would not get sick? How many shots did Fauci and Joe Biden take before each one reported being sick with Covid this year? When people began to question Fauci’s judgment, veracity and approach, they were mocked or denounced as heretics. People who did not buy into Dr. Science’s immunization program lost jobs or were kicked out of the military. At a certain level, what is different between these outcomes and the shunning and rejection of people who do not toe the line in religious communities? Someone with natural immunity who was thrown out of her hospital job because she saw no need to take one of the mRNA vaccines—is she not similar to someone who is excommunicated for asking tough religious questions? Several top-flight climate scientists were hounded out of their profession because they dared question the official scientific dogma. Real science would encourage debate and discussion. A rigid religion welded onto science would see a threat and do everything to stamp it out.
One might quibble and say that the approach of the left is more an ideology than a religion. Because their system does not tolerate questioning (“My body, my choice”; “climate change is real”; “the US is systematically racist”, etc.), their approach seems to be more akin to a religious fervor than some philosophical positioning. Look at the enthusiasm with which many on the left marched for and cheered on rapists, mass murderers, children slayers, and kidnappers of young women. Because Jews and Israel have become the official satan of their religious system, anything that harms them is good. I have never seen one marcher or speaker for these demented folks who could give the Jews of Israel even a smidgen of sympathy. You know, “Well, yes women were violently raped and murdered, and it does appear that children were killed in front of their parents. But still, since Israel is a colonial occupier, one has to say that they deserved it.” No, they skip the first part and end up only with the final sentence: the official evil group of the New Left Religion suffered because they deserved it. Israel is not alone as the evil one for the New Left Religion: Donald Trump, the US, white males, and others are also considered evil in their view. Around 50 percent of Democrats were not too upset that someone nearly killed Donald Trump.
There was a rabbi who was consulted on interfaith programs around half a century ago. He said that they could join but must limit their focus to issues of mutual interest: helping youth at risk, keeping neighborhoods safe, and the like. He said not to discuss theological issues as there would be no common point of reference. As the left has raised every issue from trans to climate to wholly open borders to a religious issue that cannot be questioned or doubted, there is no further room in our country for healthy political debate. We are no longer battling over ideas, political theories, and personal ideology. We are in a full-blown religious war between those who still affiliate with traditional religion and associated views and those who have replaced science and modern theories as their gods that cannot be crossed.
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