Absolution & Absolutism: What's Been Lost In The Woke Ascendency
Perhaps it’s apt. But 2019 ended with the Wokerati consuming a beloved children’s author while two popes debated the beauty of soccer and forgiveness.
The author in question is the ubiquitous scribbler J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame. Rowling’s mistake was not staying up to date on the latest policy directives from her fellow travellers on the Left. In this case, Rowling took issue with the latest lunacy that decrees men can have babies. Rowling leapt to the defence of an academic who was fired by her craven employers for suggesting that trans labelling is a tad presumptuous.
Rowling tweeted: “Dress however you please. Call yourself whatever you like. Sleep with any consenting adult who’ll have you. Live your best life in peace and security. But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real? #IStandWithMaya #ThisIsNotADrill,”
If Rowling thought her previous support for liberal causes might grant her an immunity shield, guess again. (As Churchill said, “An appeaser is someone who feeds the crocodile in hopes that he will be eaten last.”) The parsing priests of the SJW church immediately leapt down her throat. Here’s a legal fund that champions the trans movement.
"Lambda LegalVerified account @LambdaLegal This ain't it, chief. Trans women are women. Trans men are men. Nonbinary folks are nonbinary. The enormous universe of #LGBTQ young people & adults who have been inspired by JK Rowling's work deserve better.”
There was plenty more. “Grey’s Anatomy” star Sara Ramirez called Rowling a bigot. GLAAD claimed Rowling, “has now aligned herself with an anti-science ideology that denies the basic humanity of people who are transgender,” You get the idea.
It’s not Rowling’s first dustup with these zealots, either. After saying one of her character was “domtop” she was grilled for not making Dumbledor gay enough in her books and films. Rowling should have anticipated the religious fervour her comments elicited. Except that the new Left is a religion without forgiveness. It’s compliance or the gibbet. No in-between.
Whatever your thoughts on the Catholic Church it still advertises forgiveness. And forgiveness is the theme of a new film The Two Popes on HBO. It depicts the days leading up to the unprecedented transfer of papacy from Pope Benedict XVI to Pope Francis in 2013.
As the film opens in 2005 Francis (Jorge Mario Bergoglio) has lost the papacy to Benedict (Joseph Ratzinger) following the death of Pope John Paul. He comes from Argentina to Rome to tell Benedict that he wants to retire. But he finds the current pope intransigent. He will not let Bergoglio resign.
In a series of tense conversations the two men debate the issues of reform and the place of the Church in the 21st century. Benedict is scathing about Bergoglio’s liberal notions. And says he doesn’t understand soccer. They move the debate to a room inside the Vatican where the two men relax, listening to music and Benedict’s favourite Austrian TV show, Das Kommisar, about a police dog. Eventually they soften toward each other.
Eventually, we learn about Bergoglio’s past in Argentina and his failure to protect his friends and fellow priests from the deadly Army purges. How he was fired as head of the Jesuits in Argentina and sent to be a poor parish priest in the 70s. Then we find out that Benedict— who’s called a Nazi by his critics— is immersed in various scandals from abusive priests to the leak of secret documents. Benedict reveals to Bergoglio that plans to resign and hopes he will succeed him as pope.
Burdened by their failures the two men offer absolution to each other. (They even dance a tango together.) Bergoglio becomes Francis, Benedict retires to Castel Gondolfo, and viewers are reminded of the healing powers of forgiveness. The final shots show the men together watching the 2014 World Cup soccer finals between Germany and Argentina. (Spoiler: Germany won)
The movie illustrates what’s been lost and what’s been gained in the transition to this new age of tampons in men’s rooms and reparations for the U.S. Civil War. While the past is an imperfect play, its actors saw using forgiveness as a bridge to the future.
Today’s actors seem only intent on burning all the bridges of the past. The statues are torn down. There will be no absolution in the Church of Bernie Sanders. There will be no more tangos.
Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the publisher of Not The Public Broadcaster. He’s also a regular contributor to Sirius XM Canada Talks Ch. 167. A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada's top television sports broadcaster, he is also a best-selling author whose new book Cap In Hand: How Salary Caps Are Killing Pro Sports And Why The Free Market Could Save Them is now available on brucedowbigginbooks.ca.