As I have pointed out previously, modern politics is dominated by a secular quasireligion broadly understood as liberalism. This quasireligion has its own moral code (e.g. diversity, inclusion and equity), its own martyrs and saints (e.g. George Floyd), its own blasphemy laws (political correctness / hate speech), its own original sin (racism), its own devil (White people), its own liturgical calendar (e.g. Pride Month, Black History Month, Juneteenth, Earth Day) and its own end times prophesy (climate change). What I failed to mention is that liberalism also has its own redemption story.
In Christian theology, Redemption is the restoration of man from the bondage of sin through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. To participate in this redemption, St. Peter instructs us to "Repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” 1 Repentance “is a radical reorientation of our whole life, a return, a conversion to God with all our heart, an end of sin, a turning away from evil, with repugnance toward the evil actions we have committed. At the same time it entails the desire and resolution to change one's life, with hope in God's mercy and trust in the help of his grace.” Christian redemption means living a virtuous life developed through habitual participation in prudence, justice, fortitude, chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, kindness, patience, humility, faith, hope and love. It means the humility to recognize our faults and shortcomings. It means becoming a better student, teacher, friend, sibling, husband, wife, parent and so on. The liberal redemption story is radically different.
In its essence, liberalism is the political doctrine that securing individual freedom and equal rights is the primary purpose of government. Thus the purpose of liberal government is to advance, protect and defend the atomized individual — the power and ability of the individual to freely self-create and self-define — from external interference, influence and judgement. Each individual is a demigod in his own personal sphere freed from the oppressive chains of tradition, culture, morality, religion, marriage, family, nature and any and all circumstances the individual has not freely consented to. Salvation within liberalism is thus a radical form of self idolatry.
Idolatry means the divine worship of any object or person other than God. In its essence, worship simply means “total devotion”. The only Being worthy of total devotion or worship is a perfect Being, i.e. God. The liberal principle that each individual is free to create “one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life” 2 is to treat the self as god. Redemption is achieved, not by a conversion to God with all our heart, but rather a conversion to self. This conversion is popularly expressed by the slogan be “true to yourself”. Salvation is thus achieved by indulging in every desire, whim, preference and pleasure while affording this same “right” to everyone. We see this liberal redemption story in countless movies and TV shows. A prime example is Season 1, episode 8 of Doom Patrol:
Darren: What the hell has this abomination done to you?
Morris: Danny didn't do anything, except help me realize who I am.
Darren: What? No. No, this is not who you are, Morris. You're a man. This place, these people are...
Morris: No. You don't get to tell me or anyone else who they are ever again. I am proud of the person I see in the mirror. My face is beat. My look is flawless, and I am dusted from head to toe.
In Morris's redemption story, Darren represents the Oppressor. From the perspective of Morris, Darren is his oppressor because he suggests there are natural substances having their own intrinsic teleological properties. These teleological features are simply a consequence of having a particular substantial form. We can know a natural substance’s teleological features by simply examining the substance itself. For example, we can know that an acorn is inherently “directed toward” becoming an oak tree or that eyes are inherently “directed toward” seeing 3.
In the story, Darren explains to Morris that Morris is a man by his very nature; it's who he “really is”. Thus Morris is a man by having the substantial form of a man with particular teleological properties. This, however, binds Morris to the oppressive chains of nature and objective reality, which Morris must transcend and break free from. Morris finds redemption by defeating Darren and the oppressive chains of nature by asserting his autonomous will. He informs Darren that he is the author of his own reality and that he is proud and perfect. He has finally become the demigod he was meant to be. Self idolatry is his salvation.
The liberal redemption story is a false and wicked understanding of redemption. Man is not the arbiter of all things. Man has an intrinsic nature, created as male and female in the image of God. Salvation is only found in Christ. The liberal story is a path to damnation.
Acts 2:38
Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992)
Edward Feser, Aristotle’s Revenge: The Metaphysical Foundations of Physical and Biological Science (Neunkirchen-Seelscheid: Editiones Scholasticae, 2019), 36-38.