It’s not a pleasant thing when the monkey grabs the car keys. It gets less pleasant if said primate knows exactly where to insert the key and turn. The loud and predictable bang may well spell the end of your poor and loyal Family Truckster. This is easy to comprehend and probably worth an evil chuckle if it’s someone else’s Family Truckster. So what happens when the bug-ridden simian gets his grubby mitts on something like a religion or an ideology? Nothing particularly good.
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The Millennial Heretic cons the audience by offering two things. They promise to painlessly forgive everyone’s sins and then punish “the real racists” or some other (((Goldstein))) instead. The painless forgiving of sins can either be religious or secular. The Christian version involves the baptism. This involves the death of the sinful version of me and then my subsequent rebirth as a saved and redeemed person.
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The Post-Christian version of this 100% absolution is even less binding. You don’t even need to bring a new set of clothes and a towel over to the baptismal font. This is called virtue-signaling, and it’s as stupid as it is tempting. All I have to do to be saved is play Stuart Smalley from Saturday Night Live. “I’m nice enough, I’m smart enough, and gosh darn it; people like me!” That, or “I’m not one of the racists, sexists, capitalists, etc…” Once you’ve claimed that, the pearly gates are supposed to open and Stoned Jesus smiles a vacant smile. Except for the small print under this contract.