Today's New Flagellants

During the Middle Ages small groups of especially guilt-ridden sinners did penance by whipping themselves… at times in private, but also in public. They were called flagellants.

During the plague years said flagellants marched through towns whipping themselves. They believed that it was a good way to purge themselves and their communities of sin. Since the plague was obviously punishment for their sins, they believed that if they did sufficient penance for their sins, God would withdraw the plague. 

The modern version of the plague is obviously: global warming. It was caused by the sin of the Industrial Revolution and can only be stopped if we engage in empty penitential gestures-- like renouncing plastic shopping bags in favor the germ-ridden burlap bags.

As we know, publical flagellation didn’t work. The plague killed something like half of the population of Europe. Eventually, good Europeans figured out that their suffering was not part of a theological drama but had been caused by microbial organisms. And they learned that God’s work in stopping plagues would best be done through medication and sanitation.

As it happens, our contemporary flagellants believe that their sins have caused all of the world’s ills, especially those associated with income inequality and racial injustice. If they are true believers and also white males they feel excessively sinful and never miss an opportunity to do public penance… often by making complete fools of themselves.

Witness the scene yesterday at a public meeting conducted by Chelsea Clinton.  Having been called upon to ask the first question, a male took it upon himself to apologize for being a man.

The Daily Caller has the story:

“Well, first off, I’d like to state that this is a great idea,” the questioner continued. “Sorry that the first person to get the mic is a man.”

“I do apologize for that. I do think it’s important to encourage women’s voices in every aspect of life.”

Got it? This pathetic excuse for a human being was apologizing for being a man. That’s what political correctness has been doing to the country. 

And just in case you were feeling especially guilty about being white, you can attend a free online seminar designed to purge your toxic whiteness. Because white people are responsible for all of the world’s ills and you would not want to be associated with such a race, would you? From, The College Fix, via Maggie's Farm.  And you were wondering why people were upset.

The seminar defines toxic whiteness, which obviously causes white privilege:

Similar to toxic masculinity, toxic whiteness is something that was created by white supremacy and is not inherent to white people. Like all social constructs, whiteness doesn’t have to be toxic – it’s just that the way it predominantly exists today is indeed toxic. This becomes clearer when you take a historical view of how toxic whiteness was invented. In the early 19th century, the wealthy northwestern European landowners who colonized the Americas created the social construct of whiteness to prevent poor Europeans (like the Irish and Italians) from joining with enslaved Africans and indigenous folks against the ruling class. In return for access to what was once denied to them in addition to people of color (e.g. land, education, and jobs), poor Europeans had to disconnect from their cultural heritage, the history of why they left oppressive Europe, and truth about how they were being exploited by wealthy white people into oppressing others. It was a pretty raw deal that manipulated them into acting against people of color and their own well-being in exchange for white privilege (which continues to happen today). That’s why it’s important for white people to free themselves from this toxic whiteness, which was created by white supremacy and has unconsciously conditioned them to this day.

This represents what currently passes for thinking. It is more paranoid than what was going on during the Middle Ages. But, if you attend certain colleges or hang around with certain crowds, you will quickly learn that if you are a white person, you are complicit in all the crimes committed by white people in the course of human civilization. Evidently, this altered state of consciousness will debilitate and demoralize you.

Note well, that if you ever dare say that the police are more suspicious of people of a certain ethnic group because they are far more likely to commit crimes, you will be pilloried and punished to within an inch of your moral being.

Guilt by association for me, but not for thee.