The woke ideology doesn’t adhere to the concepts of nations, borders, and heritage. In fact, its ultra-identitarian mindset aims to divide communities irrespective of geographic considerations. Individuals are granted immediate access to the same rights as local residents upon entry into any territory. However, they are also expected to integrate into a racial, ethnic, sexual, or any other community that will protect them against inevitable oppression.
Transnationalism
Islamism, be it Shiite or Sunni, recognizes neither borders nor nations, as these concepts fundamentally oppose its religious and historical dogma. Within its limitless caliphate, Islamism negates cultural identities, recognizing only religious communities of dhimmis who assume the conqueror's identity, history, heritage, and origins. In this context, the oppressed have the right to practice their religions but are denied the freedom to preserve their languages and histories. People are forced to integrate into a community that will define their rights and duties.
Furthermore, Wokeism is communitarian and, as such, rejects the notion of individualism. This doctrine believes that the individual only exists as an intrinsic component of a group in perpetual confrontation with other groups. This identity-based communitarianism clearly differentiates the woke from the legacy of French philosophers and thus the French Theory. While Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, or Gilles Deleuze deconstructed and rejected the notion of identity, Wokeism established itself around the slightest identity nuances.
Ultra Identity-Based Communitarianism
The philosophy of the woke American legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw highlights Wokeism’s deep-seated emphasis on identity. Here, the individual's existence becomes inseparable from and exclusively defined by their racial, social, sexual, professional, and religious identities, which subsequently merge into communities. Individual freedom is thereby written off, along with free will and the potential for self-liberation. Individuals become confined by their skin color, sexual inclinations or preferences, social standing, religious affiliation, origins, obesity, physical or mental disabilities, and the countless labels conferred to them.
The common ground between Wokeism and Islamism lies in this dual characteristic, as both are identity-driven and focus on identities. In addition, both are transnational in their rejection of the concept of national preference in Western territories while embracing it in Islamic ones. Advocating for ultra-communitarism, both Wokeism and Islamism forsake the principle of equality and abolish the pre-existing heritage.
The Post-Apocalyptic Doctrine
In the Hadith, the Prophet stated, "Islam negates all that preceded it" (Ibn Shimasah al Mahri). Islamists (banned in many Arab-Muslim nations) apply this principle literally, as seen in their destruction of churches in Syria-Mesopotamia, the ancient steles of Nineveh, and the historic Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan. Similarly, adherents of Wokeism forbid and ostracize, viewing all aspects of Western culture and science as tainted by colonialism, slavery, racism, and patriarchal misogyny. This legacy, which embodies only evil in all its manifestations, ought to constantly be denounced, criticized, and abolished.
It is therefore necessary to fully condemn its literary, architectural, artistic, musical, spiritual, technical, and scientific heritage. Acts of desecration and vandalism are on the rise, targeting cathedrals, museums, masterful sculptures, paintings, and even classical music, which is being vilified. We are witnessing a post-apocalyptic mindset where everything needs to be rebuilt anew by wiping the slate clean of the past and its heritage. The reign of evil is deemed over, and an allegedly new truth must emerge from the ashes. Nothing positive can be drawn from the past except evil and ignorance. This marks the Jahiliyya (the pre-Islamic era) of the emerging woke religion, significantly opposed to the teachings of Christ, who proclaimed, "I have not come to abolish, but to fulfill." (Matthew 5:17).
Wokes and Islamists find commonality within their shared ultra-communitarian, ultra-identitarian, transnational, and post-apocalyptic doctrines and, therefore, their values. This would explain the renaming of school holidays to avoid any reference to a bygone past. For the woke, Christian references are the Buddhas of ignorance (Jahiliyya), which must be written off from history. This would also explain the ban on Christmas nativity scenes in public spaces while lavish Ramadan iftars are being celebrated. Wokeism relies on Islamism to erase its Western legacy, while the latter promotes the woke ideology in the West to dismantle its foundations and peacefully conquer what it failed to achieve militarily. One of the strategies of the woke is to eliminate God and create a kind of spiritual void. Yet nature abhors hollowness, which will inevitably be filled by another form of spirituality. Cardinal Robert Sarah warned that the absence of God and his removal from Western civilization is a “tragedy with unforeseen consequences."
What About Lebanon?
Despite all the warning signs, the wokes are unfortunately emboldened by the legitimacy bestowed upon them by their universities. Graced with prestigious degrees and doctorates, and granted esteemed positions, they have easy access to the media as well as local and international platforms. The authority, fame, and respect accorded to them leave little doubt regarding the righteousness of their cause.
During the 2020 student elections at one of Beirut's Christian universities, the dean of the Faculty of Political Sciences expressed outrage and deep concern for the country’s future following the victory of the Lebanese Forces party. Yet, that same respected figure never showed any concern over the numerous seats previously secured by the Islamist Hezbollah party.
On March 8, 2024, as Ireland decisively rejected the destructive woke ideology, a devastated Lebanon continued to grapple with it. Among its esteemed academics from leading English- or French-speaking national institutions are activists who are adamant on lecturing. With utter arrogance, these advocates of the ultra-identitarian doctrine of Wokeism staunchly oppose any federalist project aimed at preserving Lebanon's cultural diversity, ironically labeling it as an identitarian approach.
Read more
Comments