The Inquisition was created in the 13th century in order to fight those who have deviated from the Catholic Church's dogma. The inquisitors hunted down the heretics and punished them. The biggest offenders were the ones who would refuse to mend their ways even after a grace period and would not agree to inform on others who have not followed the Church's teachings. They were heavily penalized by the enforcers, who had a radical interpretation of the holy scripture.
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Although those practices were abolished in the 19th century, another cult has recently evolved: The Human Rights Religion. It has tried to hunt down those who have refused to fall in line and is out to get anyone who, God forbid, tries to establish their own thoughts. Instead of Satan, there is the white privileged man. This new religion is focused on the victims of this devil who have a different pigment in their skin. Instead of inquisitors from the Mendicant Orders, there are purists in academia, the media, and the liberal arts. The punishment the heretics suffer is less painful than burning at the stake: Canceling them. This is a form of virtual crucifixion in the city square and a loss of livelihood.
The bad news is that these enforcers of the politically correct thought police have managed to dumb down our discourse and media coverage, as well as publicly delegitimize what does not fall in line with their radical social constructs that make it impossible for their "victims" – be they real or rake – to be responsible for their actions.
They are "asylum seekers," they are "weakened populations" even if they do not want to work (and God forbid you cannot just call them weak, but only "weakened" by the privileged). Likewise, the violence between Arab clans is always attributed to the Israel Police's lack of action against organized crime, and reports on extortionist practices in the agricultural world make little mention of how it is rampant in Arab towns. The barbaric pogroms perpetrated by Arabs (as well as despicable violence by Jews) in Acre and Lod were classified as violence by "both sides" while ignoring the inciting rhetoric of prominent Israeli Arabs who see such flare-ups as part of their national calling. In a similar fashion, radical feminists say that it is racist to fight the oppressive treatment Arab women get in Arab and Islamic societies, and they impose their extreme worldview on the general public.
The good news is that these radical forces have become too extreme for any civilized person who values his or her sanity. There are countless examples: from canceling the production of Madama Butterfly for fear it would come off as racist, to the boycotting of JK Rowling because she dared to say that transgenders should be referred to as women if their biological sex is female. Even Dr. Seuss and "Little House on the Prairie" have been targeted. This was made all the more despicable in New York recently when it was reportedly decided that COVID treatment would be prioritized to non-whites.
This cult has managed to take over parts of society in Europe and Western Europe, leading to the end of careers and livelihood through a reign of terror. In Israel, they have only managed to garner partial success. They should be countered, but not by adopting values that are from the other extreme. Radical purism is wrong because it undermines the very foundation of free public discourse. Yes, we can look at past behavior and amend it, as well as revisit works of art through the current values we hold, but such scrutiny must be done through pluralism that lacks self-righteousness and zealotry.
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