Wednesday 4 December 2019

Fear of becoming the victim of a politically correct witch hunt

'Bonald' has posted an excellent reflection on the problem of, and the fear of, becoming a victim of some kind of politically correct witch hunt, of being 'doxxed' as he terms it. This refers to the leftist method of posting somebody's personal information online along with dishonest accusations of some kind of thoughtcrime like racism, with the 'deniable' intent of provoking violence against the victim.

(Rather arrogantly, I published a massive comment there about my own experiences of this kind of thing, back in the 2000s. Sorry about that Bonald!)

My book Thought Prison (2011) was a consequence of these experiences - both in terms of being a reflection on the experience and its implications; and also because - having been sacked from one of my jobs - I now had time and energy to do daily blogging, which led to this book.

I'll just add a couple of opinions about 'what to do' if this happens to you - and how to behave in light of such things; adding to what I wrote at Throne and Altar

What to do when it happens? 

I would, in general, focus on learning from the experience. Because of my scholarly interests (evolutionary psychology and intelligence research) I have known (personally or as colleagues) many people who have suffered PC witch hunts - and the saddest thing about it is how few have learned from the experience. Most were atheist leftists before they became SJW victims; most remained atheist leftists after the experience.

(If you are the kind of person, in the kind of situation, that you want to 'fight back' - then Vox Day's books - SJWs Always Lie/ Double-down - would be helpful about what to do, and especially what Not to do - i.e. not to apologise, explain, argue etc. My books on Political Correctness and the media might help too.)


What to do if it has not happened (yet)?

'They' want us to live in fear, because chronic fear supports the demonic agenda of evil. Therefore we should strive not to fear - which means, at least - as a first step, that we should repent our fear.

The bad news is that nobody is immune from being the victim of a PC witch hunt; the good news is that nobody is immune from being the victim of a PC witch hunt...


This arbitraryness means that you 'might as well' do the right thing (the Christian thing) in your life - as indicated by faith, hope and charity; and not worry about trying to stay out of trouble. (What a relief! Such is the evil of our times that Being Good is no 'worse' than doing evil!)

Trouble can come to anyone, and many of the most famous victims of witch hunts have been lifelong 'card carrying' SJW-types. Past credentials mean absolutely nothing when the scapegoating frenzy seizes the Leftist mob.

Indeed, The Left loves nothing more than to beat-up and kill their former heroes. In destroying - sooner or later - his closest friends and most loyal servants, Stalin was the rule for leftists, not the exception.   


God is our Heavenly Father wants the children of his family to learn from their experiences of mortal life; but he does not want us to live in a situation of chronic angst, suspicion, resentment and despair. Indeed, he calls these sins.

In a world of injustice and arbitrary persecution - or, even more, in a world of inverted justice and persecution of the Good - it is most vital for Christians to cultivate as care-free and hope-full attitude as may be possible: in consequence of this mortal life being a finite and transient phase of experiencing and learning between the two eternities of pre-mortal spirit life and post-mortal resurrected life.

This mortal life is very important, but it is not everything; and ultimately (for Christians) it is secondary to what comes afterwards - when we live in God's family as participants in the continued work of creation. Such convictions can help more than any others if, or when, you become a victim of totalitarian persecution. 

2 comments:

Bonald said...

It would seem, then, that the only preparation to be done is spiritual. There's no way to make oneself save, not even by giving in and joining them! This is roughly the conclusion I've been coming to as well.

Also, I'd recommend those here to read your comment at Throne and Altar, which is grimly revealing of the degree of policing that goes on even in a real science. People sometimes talk about the "chilling effect" from punishing authors for unpopular opinions, but the effect of punishing an editor, who merely allowed the unpopular opinion to be published, must be much worse.

Bruce Charlton said...

@B "the only preparation to be done is spiritual" - That's it, in a nutshell.