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This month’s content features a new poem. This poem was inspired by the cultural battle over the words used to describe the constellation of beliefs known as “woke.”
What does the word actually mean?
Some claim wokeness is an attempt to intervene to change social practices that encourage discrimination against groups based on false and offensive beliefs. Others associate the term with racial issues, specifically to the historical struggles faced by African Americans in the US.
Because the term carries a different definition based on who is uttering the word or listening to its use, the ability for culture to come to a collective understanding regarding the proper meaning and use of “woke” is frustrated.
Of course, this is not a new phenomenon. Words, particularly those that carry political or social weight, have always changed over time. But, what is fascinating, and far less likely to enter mainstream political discussion, is how the same structural problems associated with defining the term “woke,” apply to the shared moral values necessary to the development and maintenance of a cohesive, peaceful, and flourishing society.
American culture has moved away from a cultural commitment to shared truth, instead embracing relativism, and a belief that circumstances and personal experience dictate what is - and is not - moral. But, there is a problem. As culture has distanced itself from Christian values, the human need to prioritize belief and action through the use of hierarchies, including structures of shared values, has not dissipated. Instead culture preaches relativism, while practicing a code of ever shifting moral absolutes, grounded in accepting the authority of a set of principles that represent an abstract, unknown canon.
This structural difference between religious and secular absolutes, gives secularism a tactical advantage. Supporters of religious beliefs are bound by the four corners of texts that are difficult to interpret and increasingly misunderstood by modern people who have little exposure to religious thought and no motivation to understand what they already scorn.
Seculars do not share this problem. Because no specific text informs their beliefs, they are able to accept and discard moral principles al a carte. Thus, those who attempt to critique secular thought face definitional hurdles that are difficult to overcome.
Culturally, this commitment to secular, relative thought leads to confusion because, when each person determines what is sacred and profane, social conflict is inevitably multiplied.
The profane, sacred, and sacrilegious exist in secular societies because they are structurally embedded within the system of human culture. Simply put, it is impossible to live out an philosophy that denies the existence of good. Humans naturally revere particular ideals, while condemning others. Some ideas receive scrutiny, others deference. No abstract commitment to relativism can negate this truth.
The poem below, titled Blasphemy, critiques the current moral landscape of American society by highlighting the inevitability of cultural concepts traditionally tied to religion, and criticizing some of the ideas secular culture holds as sacred.
Blasphemy
Blasphemy is an offense against the sacred
It opposes the truth and mocks that which is good
Where relativism rules blasphemy grows
For the sacred is simply what each man chose
With millions of “gods,” subject to profanity
Culture becomes an exercise in vanity
Rather than leading to charity
Civilization is led by insanity
In any culture there surely exists
A propensity sacrilege to resist
Ancient gods dictated blasphemy’s definition
In the present moment this has been upended
Instead, an unknown standard judges the commission
Of speech leaving a faceless god offended
Some Gods are transparent, speaking their names
Making it known what they consider profane
Such an approach is archaic and outdated
Without notice blasphemy may now be created
What constitutes irreverent is a moving target
Still, some sins are identifiable and certain
Challenge these precepts at your own risk
For the unnamed god grants no man a pardon
1. Failure to affirm
A failure to affirm a person’s choice
Violates our faceless god’s moral code
It your duty other’s choices to uphold
Although unseen, this god values control
Speaking words, one believes to be untrue
Is a virtue of unparalleled price
Senseless chatter may from his mouth spew
If it avows one’s feelings it cannot be a vice
Invoking the right to silence profane
What heartless being denies someone’s “truth”?
Silence can be heard; it is wrong to refrain
For failure to speak ends this weak god’s reign
2. Audacity to disagree
Failure to speak is one form of blasphemy
There are surely others to consider
Our unnamed god, speaks loud and angrily
Telling us to which ideas our minds must defer
Worse than a failure to voluntarily agree
Are those who openly question this decree
How dare someone inquire into another’s choices?
Such people should have no tongues and no voices
Questions are evidence of hatred and malice
This god does not seek voluntary consent
Against the inquisitive she is cold and callous
She seeks validation and crushes dissent
Tactics of shame and embarrassment are used
To quash young minds through fear of power
In defense of blasphemy there is no excuse
Thus, many into robotic silence cower
For comfort is more enticing to the masses
Then interrogating the worst of power’s misuse
Most are hesitant to pay the social taxes
Accompanying our nameless god’s abuses
The last of offense is most indecent
Intolerable in polite society
Only those full of malfeasance
Promote the doctrine of equality
3. Promoting equity
The god of chaos hates equality
For it promotes each man’s equal worth
This idea should be viewed with hostility
Some men are useless before and after birth
Circumstances lead to unequal outcomes
Some are born in poverty, others fortune
Many are loved, others live in emotional slums
Equality oppresses those on the margins
To right each wrong, equity must prevail
Treating some lives as more worthy than others
Is just, for it repays historical sins at scale
Against this precept it is profane to utter
The natural law of cause and effect
Is weaponized by our nameless god
Virtues such as empathy and respect
Are used as cudgels to camouflage fraud
Values of grace and mercy are distorted
To justify the reign of our unknown god
True love and sympathy is thwarted
Instead, discrimination culture now applauds
If you liked this poem, you may be interested in purchasing my debut collection here
Also, questions, thoughts, and reflections are always welcome. Comment below or message me to share your perspective!