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

by Andrew Doyle

We find ourselves in a similar position with the culture warriors of the present day. While their power often makes it seem as though they represent the consensus, their views have never been shared by the cowed majority. The new puritans, in other words, rely on our complicity to keep us as their marionettes, but cutting the strings would doubtless conduce to a healthier society. Self-censorship is always a choice, even when the consequences for speaking our minds can be dire. The story of Salem can be considered a microcosm of a culture that is learning to draw itself out of a collective delusion. The first to speak out are invariably the casualties, but their sacrifice lessens the risk for those who follow. Ultimately, even those who are most responsible for perpetuating the fantasy come to their senses. With any luck, it will be same with the new puritanism. It is my wish, in other words, that within a generation this book will be obsolete. The few who remain with any interest in perusing these pages will, I hope, smile and shake their heads at the bubble of absurdities that enveloped us in the first few decades of the millennium. They will vaguely recall those outlandish years when verifiable truths were ignored or denied, when a few powerful cliques attempted to sabotage our educational and political systems, and when we were all expected to parrot the same shibboleths to appease this obnoxious elite. And to think, they might reflect, authors wasted their time writin...