Cancel Culture and the New Heresy Trials

History is a graveyard of great ideas turned oppressive. Whether religious, political, or ideological, movements often begin as forces for liberation but eventually become the very thing they once opposed—dogmatic, intolerant, and tyrannical. The Catholic Church, communist regimes, Puritan theocracies, the French Revolution, Islamic caliphates, and cults all share a pattern: they claim absolute truth, demand unwavering loyalty, suppress dissent, and punish heretics.

Modern progressivism follows this same path. It may claim to be different, but its enforcement of ideological conformity, its ruthless treatment of dissenters, and its control over institutions show otherwise. If we fail to recognize this cycle, we risk allowing yet another movement to silence freedom under the guise of righteousness.

The One True Path: How Movements Claim Absolute Authority

Each of these historical movements declared itself the sole possessor of truth.

• The Catholic Church taught that salvation could only come through its doctrine, punishing heretics and excommunicating dissenters.

• Communist regimes claimed Marxism was the only valid ideology, imprisoning or executing those who questioned it.

• The Puritans in colonial America established rigid moral codes, exiling or executing those who refused to conform.

• The French Jacobins saw themselves as the enlightened vanguard of the people, purging anyone deemed counter-revolutionary.

• Islamic theocracies enforced strict Sharia law, punishing apostates with death.

• Cults like Scientology demand absolute loyalty, cutting off those who leave from family and friends.

The modern progressive movement follows this same pattern. It claims to be the only morally righteous ideology—questioning it is not seen as an intellectual disagreement but as proof of moral failure. If you express the "wrong" opinion on race, gender, or social issues, you are not simply wrong—you are a “bigot,” a “fascist,” or an “oppressor.” Like the movements before it, modern liberalism refuses to allow competing ideas, branding them as inherently evil.

Dissent is Dangerous: How Freedom of Thought is Crushed

No ideology can maintain control unless it eliminates dissent.

• The Catholic Church suppressed independent theological inquiry, even persecuting scientists like Galileo.

• Communist regimes silenced opposition through censorship, forced labor camps, and purges.

• The Puritans executed accused witches and banished religious dissenters.

• The French Revolution guillotined those who dared to question Jacobin rule.

• Islamic theocracies outlaw blasphemy and dissent, enforcing compliance through fear.

• Cults demand blind obedience, using psychological manipulation and control.

Progressivism does not send people to the gulag, but it does ensure that those who challenge its orthodoxy pay a heavy price. Academics who question race-based policies are fired. Celebrities who make off-color jokes are blacklisted. Regular people who express politically incorrect views lose their jobs and reputations. The effect is the same—people become too afraid to speak, and the ruling ideology goes unchallenged.

Public Shaming and Forced Confession: The Rituals of Control

Every authoritarian movement relies on public displays of submission to reinforce its power.

• The Catholic Church required public confessions and acts of penance for sinners.

• Communist regimes forced intellectuals and politicians to make public apologies before disappearing into prison camps.

• The Puritans made sinners wear visible marks of shame, such as the infamous scarlet letter.

• French revolutionaries required public declarations of loyalty to the new order.

• Islamic theocracies enforce religious rituals to prove compliance, sometimes on pain of death.

• Cults subject members to humiliating self-criticism sessions to break their will.

Today, progressivism has its own version of this. When a person is accused of ideological wrongdoing—whether it be an insensitive tweet or a decades-old joke—they are expected to issue a public apology. But these apologies rarely grant forgiveness. Instead, they serve as public humiliation rituals, reinforcing the power of the movement. The accused must grovel, confess their ideological sins, and promise to “do better.” Just like in past oppressive regimes, these forced apologies do not redeem the individual—they simply prove the movement’s dominance.

Institutional Control: How Power is Maintained

No ideology becomes dominant without taking control of society’s key institutions.

• The Catholic Church controlled education, law, and public life in medieval Europe.

• Communist regimes controlled media, schools, and workplaces, ensuring only state-approved ideas were spread.

• The Puritans established strict theocratic rule, regulating all aspects of life.

• The French Jacobins purged universities, newspapers, and even the calendar of pre-revolutionary influence.

• Islamic theocracies dominate courts, education, and the press, ensuring obedience.

• Cults isolate their members from external information, keeping them in mental captivity.

Modern progressivism has achieved similar dominance. It controls universities, the entertainment industry, corporate HR departments, and social media platforms. Those who do not conform are pushed out of public discourse. Just as the Church once controlled the written word, and communist regimes controlled the press, today’s progressivism ensures that dissenting voices are de-platformed, demonetized, or outright banned.

Excommunication and Cancel Culture: The New Inquisition

Finally, these movements enforce compliance by exiling those who refuse to conform.

• The Catholic Church excommunicated heretics, cutting them off from society.

• Communist regimes labeled dissenters as "enemies of the people," ensuring social and economic ruin.

• The Puritans banished or executed those who refused to obey.

• The French Revolution sent thousands to the guillotine for ideological nonconformity.

• Islamic theocracies still issue fatwas and death sentences for apostates.

• Cults practice shunning, severing ties with former members.

Today, cancel culture serves the same function. Those who question progressive orthodoxy are not debated—they are destroyed. They lose jobs, reputations, and even personal relationships. Friends and family turn on them, much like the excommunications of the past. It is a digital inquisition, where mobs determine who must be cast out, and once branded, there is rarely a path to redemption.

Breaking the Cycle: Defending True Freedom

The lesson is clear: every movement that claims absolute moral authority eventually becomes tyrannical. Whether religious or secular, political or social, all ideologies follow the same arc if left unchecked. They begin as liberators but become oppressors, silencing critics and enforcing conformity.

If we wish to preserve true freedom, we must reject any movement that demands total obedience. We must defend open debate, refuse to bow to public shaming, and resist attempts to control institutions. Freedom is fragile. It dies not in an instant, but through a slow erosion—one canceled voice, one silenced dissent, one forced confession at a time.

We have seen this story play out before. If we do not resist now, we will live to see another era where the rulers declare, "There is only one way," and the people, too afraid to disagree, nod along in silence.