The Moral Obsession that Drives Anti-ICE Protests

American Thinker 

As ICE agents continue to enforce immigration law in America, the radical Left continues to organise and inspire anti-ICE protestors who block streets, vandalize property, and harass law enforcement agents. The problem is that these protestors don’t see themselves obstructing justice and undermining democratic rule. To the contrary, they’ve been led to believe that they are heroes, good empathetic people bringing justice back to our world, standing up to Trump administration -- evil “revolting monsters” -- and ICE agents -- “thugs who terrorise” illegal immigrants.

Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey stated “the moral imperative” as the first reason why the city won’t cooperate with ICE. This interpretation of moral lawguiding righteous struggle of good people against evil ones is not unique to progressive radicals, but rather a hallmark of all extremist radical movements appealing to people’s good nature and empathy towards the “downtrodden,” and aimed at bringing down western egalitarian law and order: firstly, to elevate and codify in law hierarchical privileges of “oppressed” and “undervalued” identity groups, secondly, to discriminate, downgrade, or execute the group identified as “oppressors,” thirdly, to hunt down, cancel or prosecute all “evil enemies” who disagree with extremist politics, and, most importantly, to reserve the pinnacle of the totalitarian hierarchy -- positions of authority, political decision making and ideological influence -- for the radical elite to run the show. This way communists were liberating the exploited proletariat from the shackles of greedy capitalists. Nazis were advancing supremacy of the Aryan race and exterminating Jews. Islamists aim to take over political power, introduce Sharia law and subdue infidels. Progressives seek to expand rights of variety of “marginalized” minorities and women, while discriminating against white men.

Empathy towards the “downtrodden” and participation in the struggle for their salvation is the highest virtue in the moral law of extremism. This empathetic devotion is expected to override all other empathies, personal interests and responsibilities. Martyrdom is glorified, snitching on family members encouraged. 

In order to defeat the “forces of evil” and achieve “righteous ends,” this moral law justifies the use of all sorts of antisocial, unethical means: from leftist violence and election fraud subverting democratic order to the mass incarnations and mass murders by fascists, communists, and Islamists sustaining their totalitarian states.

In Stalin’s Russia, Igor Guberman writes:

Epidemic of the secular variety of religious insanity swept the country dividing everything in the world into the forces of good and evil, embodiments of light and darkness. Absolute, pure goodness was shining in the triumph of the revolution and in all its slogans, without exception, bestowing its supporters the right to execute and pardon, to destroy and rebuild, to take away and distribute, to elevate and overthrow, to abolish and establish. The very participation in the goodness granted mandate and indulgence. And for the same reason, everything in the world that interfered with the bearers of good belonged to the forces of evil… Commissars of good could burn, rape, persecute; and even a slight doubt in their right and righteousness meant involvement of such person in the forces of darkness and the righteous need to destroy him.

Another prominent feature shared by all successful extremist movements is their focus on indoctrination of the young to secure a grip on power and make sure future generations see the world through the lens of the moral law that supports extremist politics.

The increasing power of college diversity bureaucrats over academic affairs since the 1990s has been stunning… Chief inclusion officers track departmental race and sex demographics, pressuring department chairs to correct diversity deficits. Associate provosts for diversity coordinate campaigns for required courses on identity and grievance within the curriculum… Vice presidents for equity monitor campus speech, on the lookout for punishable microaggressions.

From kindergarten age, children are taught tenets of progressive doctrine: ‘“whiteness is a bad deal …and color-blindness is racist.” As part of the anti-government activism training taxpayer-funded schools escort kids to anti-ICE protests.

In the article “MAGA’s War on Empathy” Hillary Clinton takes the reasoning supporting anti-ICE protests even further talking about their roots in Christianity and highlighting “the contrast between traditional Christian morality and Trumpian amorality”: ‘MAGA  rejects the teachings of Jesus to “love thy neighbor.”’

This is a masterpiece of a radical gaslighting. Love thy neighbour does not teach us to treat our neighbors as above the law. Endorsed by religious sages from ancient times “as expressing the essence of the moral life” the reading of Love thy neighbor as thyself is Whatever is hateful unto thee, do it not unto thy fellow. In other words, Don’t do to others what you don’t want others do to yourself.

Paul writes in Romans 13:10, “Love does no wrong to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” 

It is one of the main principles of Judeo-Christian morality -- Western moral law. This principle takes down hierarchy of dominance. As we don’t like being dominated, manipulated, or coerced into submission, so we won’t do it to others. It also stops unethical, criminal behaviours -- instrumental in power struggles. Appealing to our self-conciseness and then shifting focus to the victims of our possible wrongdoings this rule leads us to develop self-control, conscience and empathy. Furthermore, it reinforces and protects personal agency, leaving decision-making to the individual.

Judeo-Christian morality is profoundly egalitarian by nature. Biblical maxim “the last will be first, and the first will be last” does not endorse rearrangement of the dominance hierarchy. In political context it commands transformation of dominance hierarchy into hierarchy of duties and responsibilities, turning political leaders and government officials into public servants: “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave…” (Mathew 20:25-27)

Alongside the Ten Commandments, family values, respect for hard work, entrepreneurship and meritocracy, there is the principle Don’t do to others what you don’t want others do to yourself as a bedrock of Judeo-Christian morality -- the moral law of the western world; the moral law that underpins our egalitarian democratic order, our legal system whereby everyone is equal before the law and nobody is above the law; the moral law that draws the line separating good and evil not between identity groups but between every person’s actions and intentions, between whatever you do to your fellow.

If we want to safeguard this legacy, it is imperative to cancel “required courses on identity and grievance” in schools and universities, to introduce studies of Judeo-Christian morality and to explain the difference between these two moral laws in order to give younger generations moral clarity which is supportive -- not destructive -- to our democratic order, to make sure they won’t fall under the sway of radical ideas joining BLM, anti-ICE and other extremist movements in growing numbers.