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Culture War Roundup for the week of February 13, 2023

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That's putting the cart before the horse though. You're assuming it's a small difference.

Both might engage in identity politics, but on opposite sides. Which is arguably more of a practical difference.

The woke left is a subset of identity politics. The white nationalist right is a subset of identity politics. But that gap is pretty severe.

Its more of a "real" Satanist (i.e. not atheists) vs Christian difference rather than 2 sects of Christianity. They both believe that God and Satan exist yes but their actions will be very different. If real Satanists commit acts the Devil likes as part of their practice it's likely that Christians and say Hindus would be closer to each other practically than either are to the devil worshippers even if the Christians and devil worshippers share the same cosmology and underpinning belief system, whereas the Christians and Hindus do not.

Both might engage in identity politics, but on opposite sides. Which is arguably more of a practical difference.

And my argument is that it's not. That democrats engaging in identity politics are democrats engaging in identity politics regardless of what side they claim to be on. Like I said, within within the context of northern protestant Christianity the difference between a Lutheran and a Episcopalian might seem really important, but from the perspective of a Catholic, Muslim, or Jew, Protestantism is Protestantism.

I maintain Satanist vs Christian is the better comparison, same underlying belief system very different conclusions and actions.

Whereas branches of Protestantism are going to act much the same at a macro level (If we count Quakers, perhaps excepted) , a white nationalist and a woke leftist are going to be pushing for very different worlds.

Thats why I am saying you put the cart before the horse, you claim its a minor difference but you're not actually making an argument to demonstrate that.

In 20 years an out and out white supremacist America, would look very different than an out and out woke leftist one. At a bare minimum which groups are favored by various policies would definitionally be different. The philosophical underpinning of identity politics may be the same, but WHICH identities they champion are very different.

That's not a tiny difference, its one that fundamentally changes what kind of world and government would be created.

I maintain Satanist vs Christian is the better comparison, same underlying belief system very different conclusions and actions.

I'll endorse that, with the emphasis that at the end of the day it is the same underlying belief system.

I agree there, but as an atheist (and therefore with a different belief system entirely) I can still recognize that I would probably rather have a Christian neighbour than a Satanist (again a "real" Satanist, i would probably get on with the atheists cosplaying as the Church of Satan) because their actions will be different, as the expression of their belief system is so radically opposed.

In other words having the same belief system doesn't mean the morality of their actions (from my point of view) is equal.

Sure they are from my position both wrong about their beliefs, but one is wrong and involves the memetic Satanic child sacrifice and the other is wrong and involves potentially moralizing at me about gay marriage and abortion.

So as a non-progressive non-woke neoliberal center leftist I am still going to prefer the woke to white nationalists even if they are both built atop the same framework.