Opinion | The eleven commandments of radical rights

According to PVV leader Geert Wilders, Woke is « the new religion. » But what does the creed of his own church look like? For years there has been criticism of the so -called Left Church in all kinds of keys, with their ‘Woke hassle, spring jitters, gender indoctrination and equality gulp’. But what happens when we turn the frame? What is the story of the right -wing church, which gains influence worldwide? Who are their saints? What are their dogmas, their sins and commandments?

Every time I and many are with me, yet surprised by what radical-right is doing again. Faber’s policy seems inimitable. Trump promotions randomly. For me personally, the prohibited glossary of the Trump government was the tipping point. As an anthropologist I know that behavior, norms and commandments arise from the belief in certain values. This whole forms a cultural narrative, with its own logic. So what is the internal logic of radical-right? What is the connecting story behind all one -liners and provocations, in America and in our Dutch politics?

It turns out not to be a mess of angry white men, but an ideological ecosystem with a close logic. A system that acts as a base for serious policy choices. I caught myself that I initially laughed almost The Rabbit Hole indovery. The statements of the thinkers I encountered were so bizarre. « It is hard to take this seriously, » I cried out loud. But with that form of laughing – and screaming – I stopped. This is a serious religious system with more and more followers, also among political leaders.

Intellectual undercurrent

It is a conviction in which empathy is seen as a weakness, democracy as a decadent, and progress revolves around technological acceleration – without a brake or moral compass. The figures that propagate this ideas (Trump, Wilders, Le Pen, Putin, Musk) are just the visible faces of a wider movement that gains influence worldwide.

Behind them lies an intellectual undercurrent of thinkers and influencers who seem obscure at first sight, but whose ideas trickle through in political speeches and policy notes. Curtis Yarvin, for example, an American software developer and blogger who is also known as Mencius Moldbug, argues for a technocratic monarchyled by a CEO-like dictator who rules the people without interference. Nick Land, a philosophical cult figure, introduced the concept of Dark Enlightenmentin which democracy and equality are seen as obstacles for progress. These ideas, once marginal, are now influential among Silicon Valley millionaires and the new generation of politicians, such as JD Vance.

The French writer Renaud Camus is the spiritual father of the ‘great replacement’, with a book in which he states that white Europeans are systematically replaced by non-Western immigrants. His rhetoric is now spread worldwide, from European nationalists to American media figures As Tucker Carlson. And then there is Andrew Tate, The influencer Who reaches millions of young people with his message that women are inferior, empathy is a pitfall, and real masculinity revolves around aggression, dominance and control. Tate is an admirer of Trump and That affection is clearly mutual.

The eleven commanded

The ideas points in one direction: the liberal, egalitarian and pluralistic system must be broken. It is decadent, slow, effort and weak. The new must be strong, male, hierarchical, technological. No society that is governed, but led. Not through compromises, but through strength. This ideas now have the structure of a religion, perhaps even a cult. And so I asked myself the question: what are the eleven commandments of the right -wing church?

I call it: a catechism of power, fear and desire.

1. Empathy is a sin

Compassion makes week. Vulnerability is female weakness.

Women have too much power and bring confusion.

2. Male dominance is order

Strength and decisiveness are virtues. The rest is noise. Vulnerability is female weakness and causes confusion.

3. Democracy is weak and decadent

The mass must be led, not heard. Do not give people a choice, but a direction. Decisiveness above participation. Obedience over consultation.

4. Non-productive people are ballast.

Those who contribute nothing can disappear. Without economic value, no right to exist. Refugees, artists, sick – unnecessary.

5. Woke is the enemy.

Diversity sows division. Equality is a lie. Inclusion is indoctrination.

6. The elite lies.

Media, science and institutions manipulate the truth. They are bribed. They must be broken. Think for yourself. Under pressure the elite, because she oppressed you first.

7. Own people first.

Limits are sacred. Cultural relativism is heresy. Cultural preservation requires exclusion. Uniformity is stability.

8. Honor the leader – he knows the way.

He knows your anger, your fear, your desire for order and simplicity. He speaks on behalf of the true people. You only have to believe and follow.

9. Acceleration is redemption.

Disruption and chaos are the path to innovation.

Churn on technology. Let the system crash. What is weak must die. Something stronger will rise. Move Fast and Break Things.

10. Anger is a virtue.

Anger is pure. You will be angry, always. Reasonableness is capitulation. Indignation is the proof of you right.

11. Deny everything.

Say: « We are just worried. » And: « We only ask questions. » Smile. And meanwhile sow doubt.

The right church is no longer a peripheral phenomenon. She moved to the center of power. She responds to unrest and longing for simplicity. Promises truths, but sows lies. And she gets away with it. In fact, this belief is in danger of becoming the new standard. Middle parts slide to the right. The eleven commandments through unnoticed, slowly become commonplace.

The greatest danger

But the greatest danger is not the leaders of this church. The danger is in us. In our willingness to believe them. In our gullibility. In our moral laziness – the desire for a simple solution with a leader who predicts a story in which you don’t have to change anything and make the other guilty. In that respect, empathy is indeed a weakness unless we link her to moral courage and virtues such as moderation, wisdom, justice, faith, hope and love.

The right church shouts murder and fire that the left church consists of virtues. But there is nothing wrong with soundness. On the contrary: a powerful moral and human compass is exactly what this time needs. It is time for us to take their faith system seriously. To understand, recognize and break through.

So ask yourself: do you believe in the eleven commandments of the right -wing church? And if the answer is no – then it’s time for action. Not by fighting the right -wing church, but by believing in ourselves. In the power of humanity. And you can call that a left gospel. Or just human. I myself argue for the latter.

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