It has now essentially become a religious cult.
Michael Shellenberger and Peter Boghossian created a detailed chart that explains it all.
Click on the graphic below to enlarge it.
Here’s a Shellenberger essay explaining why wokeism is a religion. He begins by pointing out how the devoutly woke believe things that are demonstrably untrue, but that are defended fanatically by the true believers. More:
But just because an ideology is dogmatic and self-righteous does not necessarily make it a religion, and so it is fair to ask whether Wokeism is anything more than a new belief system. There is no mythological or supernatural element to Woke ideology, and its adherents rarely, if ever, justify their statements concerning a god, or higher power. But a deeper look at Wokeism does, indeed, reveal a whole series of mythological and supernatural beliefs, including the idea that white people today are responsible for the racist actions of white people in the past; that climate change risks making humans extinct; and that a person can change their sex by simply identifying as the opposite sex.
We decided to publish the Woke Religion Taxonomy because it was helpful to our understanding of Wokeism as a religion, and we felt it might help others. The Taxonomy identifies common myths and supernatural beliefs and helps explain why so many people continue to hold them, despite overwhelming evidence that they are false. We are under no illusion that the Taxonomy will reduce the power that Wokeism holds over true believers. But we also believe it will help orient those who are confused by its irrationalism and are seeking an accessible overview. Finally, we are publishing it because we recognize that we might be wrong, either about matters of fact or classification, and hope it will encourage a healthy discussion and debate. As such, we have published it with the caveat that it is “Version 1.0” with the expectation that we will revise it in the future.
Both Peter and I would like to stress that we have published the Taxonomy in service of the liberal and democratic project of social and environmental progress, which we believe to be under threat from Wokeism. We believe the U.S. is well-positioned to reduce police killings, crime, and carbon emissions; protect the lives and the mental health of trans, non-gender conforming, and cis-gender people; and better treatment of the mentally ill and drug addicted. But doing so will require that Wokeism weaken its grip over the American psyche.
Read the whole thing. If the chart I’ve pasted in above isn’t clear enough, there’s one at the end of Shellenberger’s essay.
Shellenberger points out that both he and Boghossian are liberals who want to see progress against social ills like racism — but they believe that as long as wokeness holds its death grip on the minds of so many, progress is going to be much more difficult to achieve. Good work, men.