The New Puritans: How the Religion of Social Justice Captured the Western World

by Andrew Doyle

the best critics are able to appreciate a piece of work on its own terms, whereas the worst seem to believe that success should be measured on the basis of how closely the artist reflects their own ideological perspective.

When the novel was republished, Wilde added a preface as a form of rebuttal, which should be required reading for all critics today. In it, he explains that vice and virtue are simply ‘materials’ for artists, reminding us that the depiction of immorality is not necessarily an endorsement of such behaviour.

the essence of bullying is that it is not subversive; rather, it is a means by which those with power may assert their dominance.

his status continually oscillating between high and low, toying with our certainties and blurring the boundaries of authenticity and fantasy. In any case, that so many seem determined to interpret stand-up as a literal expression of the comedian’s true feelings is suggestive of the low regard in which the art form is held.

These suspicions make even less sense when one considers that there are virtually no working comedians whose intention is to attack marginalised groups.

‘The greatest enemy of authority’, wrote Hannah Arendt, ‘is contempt, and the surest way to undermine it is laughter’.

As Thomas Paine put it: ‘To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead, or endeavouring to convert an atheist by scripture’.

We can see this most notably in the proponents of Critical Social Justice, who start from the premise that unequal outcomes – disparities in average earnings between men and women, for instance – are evidence of structural inequalities in society. They are beginning with the conclusion and working backwards, mistaking their own arguments for proof.

Many of the most abusive individuals on social media cannot recognise their behaviour for what it is because they have cast themselves in the role of the virtuous.

For all their posturing as guardians of public morality, such activists have been exposed as both fallible and cruel.