The New Orthodoxy

For the first two hundred years of American history, Judeo-Christianity was orthodoxy—the background ethos of society—but in the past generation a new woke orthodoxy has displaced it, particularly among elites. Most Christians are troubled by this, not only because it means their views are now becoming marginalized, but also because those who advance the new orthodoxy don’t seem to be able to make a distinction (as most Christians could) between accepting/teaching the orthodoxy and compelling others to accept it (e.g., through state sponsorship, censorship, condition of employment, etc.). Whereas few Christian employers would have fired non-Christians, woke employers are firing non-woke employees quite routinely. Most Americans would have opposed requiring federal (or even corporate) employees to undergo Christian training, and yet they are routinely required to undergo woke critical race training. Samuel P. Huntington talked of a cultural “clash of civilizations” among the peoples of the world, but he didn’t anticipate that it would play out domestically. This is happening as the old cultural orthodoxy finds itself being replaced in all of the elite sites of power by a new cultural orthodoxy. This seems a key to understanding the high degree of polarization and violence in America today.