Secularism cannot cope with being wrong. Part 1

(An analysis of the contrast between secular and religious ideology in 6 parts)

Secularism cannot cope with being wrong

Part 1: Why is so much modern ideology intrinsically totalitarian?

My general theory on secularism is that it promotes an ideology much worse than that which religion promotes. I also have a specific view that secularism – having abandoned or rejected religion because it is deemed to be false and destructive to society – has nevertheless set about recreating all the bad features of religion (but sadly without all the good features of religion). Today, I pick up on a particular feature of how secularism goes wrong.

Why is it that so much of modern secular ideology is intrinsically totalitarian? An easy answer to that is because many of these ideologies come from a Marxist school of thought, and Marxism is intrinsically totalitarian. However, going deeper than that, we can locate this totalitarianism in the spirit of our age, which is instant outrage and utter intolerance. Now, the spirit of an age will depend on many factors, but we mustn’t just say, “That’s just the way the cookie crumbled”. Why are so many people – especially in the younger generations – vulnerable to outrage and intolerance?  

An important factor is the loss of vital strengths that religion gives to people, and I particularly focus on two: forgiveness and assurance.