The Old Morality of the New Religions

Why does the “antiracist” movement mobilize to deplatform or fire anyone who slights or asks the wrong questions about the dominant views of “social justice”? What explains the irrational fervor of the “woke”? John McWhorter, noteworthy Columbia linguistics professor and New York Times columnist, grapples with this question in his recent book, Woke Racism. The book’s subtitle reveals his provocative answer: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America. To understand the “woke” movement, he shows, we must take seriously its religious character. In this episode, Ben Bayer reads aloud his article, “The Old Morality of the New Religions.” In that essay, Bayer argues that McWhorter shows how woke “antiracism” is a “new religion,” but he underappreciates how its zealotry is empowered by centuries-old religious morality. Bayer’s article was originally published in New Ideal on January 4, 2023.