RICHARD FERNANDEZ: A Civilization with Feet of Clay: Can Truth Be Separated from the Fallen Teller?

If Washington and Jefferson can become villains overnight, why not [Martin Luther] King? Western academic culture is besieged by the modern version of the Donatist heresy, a 4th-century belief that “Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and their prayers and sacraments to be valid.” Since King was not flawless, doesn’t that damage his legacy?

Modern woke Donatism has plunged public life into a frenzy of virtue signaling since today truth comes from virtue. The highest form of virtue is victimhood, which is practically the new martyrdom, a necessary prerequisite for any public argument to be taken seriously. That has resulted, Psychology Today notes, in an epidemic of victim hoaxes.

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