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

by Andrew Doyle

It comes down to the difference between those who wish to be combatants in the culture war and those who, like me, wish to see it come to an end. I have come to the conclusion that in order to reinvigorate social liberalism we need to be more selective. There is little point in attempting to engage with zealots who have abandoned reason in favour of insults and mindless platitudes, and who only assume the worst of anyone who dares to disagree. This is why I always block those on social media who cast insults or insist on deliberate misconstructions of my words. We make ourselves foolish by wasting our time on the congenitally intransigent. 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’. That said, we should be keen to engage with those who take issue with our viewpoints in the spirit of generosity. It is only a handful of ideologues who are no longer open to persuasion, even though many of them unfortunately now occupy positions of cultural power. Nor should we expect an easy ride from those who take a different view. Conflict is the palpitating heart of politics. As Bernard Crick once argued, political discourse is a form of conflict resolution, an answer to ‘the problem of order which chooses conciliation rather than violence or coercion’. Although human instinct doe...

.c2