The Nazi-youth are back, but this time under the guise of radical progressives and their intellectual book-burning agenda.
'Group-think' is being enforced at university campuses through mechanisms of social control—echoing the tyrannical movements of the past. The main social controls seem to be mob-hysteria and outrage, and are used to drown out the voices of critics or intimidate them into silence. Ridicule and verbal abuse are also utilised in attempts to shame or humiliate those with different views—and at times violence is even used.
Conform or get out
Recent video footage shows a professor being encircled and shouted down on campus because he told some Yale students to 'look away' if they were offended by Halloween costumes. This is a prime example of social control and suppression of individual expression by the mob. (Intellectual book-burning as a metaphor).
Peer-pressure and passive aggressive treatment are obvious consequences, doled out to many members of the academic community who deviate from the established, politically correct, opinion restraints and speech codes implemented on many campuses. And if the social consequences are not enough—these individuals face the outright punishment of losing their jobs.
Guest speakers who differ in their views from the Marxist-narrative are usually dis-invited or excluded from campuses, as to not offend the hyper-sensitive adolescent-children populating universities today.
The pursuit of a single narrative
Facing social opprobrium and marginalisation is enough to keep most teaching staff in line. The childishly sensitive students at universities these seem to want to be coddled and protected from challenging words. They need safe-spaces where they can escape from a fictional community of hate. In order to create this fictional community they censor everyone else, as a means to force social-conformity to their opinions and acquire emotional 'protection' from disagreement.
Progressives seem to want a single-narrative society where secular, cultural Marxism is the only accepted doctrine to be publicised. Every other perspective must be drowned out by censorship, silence and inattention or lack of publicity.
The hive-mind society progressives want is antithetical to diversity of thought and opinion. Blind conformity is normalised, and individual thought stifled, so people are not trained think outside of the box, or see problems from different perspectives.
Since these emotionally fragile students don't like to be challenged, they prefer a society that coddles them and pats their backs for reciting 'group think'. They get good self-righteous feelings from toeing the line, by enforcing speech controls on others too. This is an intellectual inquisition against heretics—only progressive dogma is sanctioned and tolerated while conservatives and Christian opinions are burnt at the stake.
So where does this leave Christians?
We are the new counter-culture, we are the revolution facing the new progressive inquisition—those who prefer the truth in an age of feelings.
Amos is an evangelical conservative, who cares about where the world is going, and seeks to understand why it is happening, especially in light of prophecy and the spiritual powers behind the scenes. Amos currently lives in Auckland New Zealand. Amos pursues salvation for the lost, and considers himself a defender of traditional Christian values, liberal democracy and the historically unprecedented freedom and liberty established and defended by our forebears—which unfortunately, is gradually being eroded.
Amos Sale's previous articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/amos-sale.html