By: Hugo Marcelo Balderrama - 20/10/2025
Guest columnist.In the last five years, we've witnessed the emergence of wokeism. The term is new; however, it serves to unite a group of activists who seek to fight against all kinds of "oppression." What was once a worker versus capitalist struggle has now multiplied into heteronormativity (where heterosexuals are the bad guys), cisgenderism (a battle to vindicate transsexuals), micromachismo (the idea that men harm women even by looking at them), anti-punitiveness (a madness that casts the criminal as a victim), and global citizenship (the opening of national borders without any kind of oversight). The disarray is so great that woke activists have even accused gym trainers of being oppressors; their "oppressive" act was promoting a healthy lifestyle.
Wokism is configured as a political religion, as its militants claim to be at a "higher" level of consciousness; they are "awake," while the rest of us remain asleep. Furthermore, it has its own liturgical acts, for example, LGBT and indigenous marches, and acts of contrition, such as white people begging forgiveness on their knees for the actions of their great-great-grandparents. However, unlike Christianity, Wokism does not forgive; the oppressor will always be the oppressor. Hence, the woke militant constantly demands that the oppressors lose all their rights.
However, one of the most contradictory points of woke militants is their furious attack on Christianity, but their broad acceptance of Islam, a religion they portray as a victim of Westernization. Ironically, Islamic radicalism detests many of the causes that wokeism champions. Let's look at a few:
Regarding homosexuality, not only is it considered an offense against Allah and an act against nature, but it is also punishable by death. The sentence is usually carried out in a brutal manner: by stoning. This is the law against homosexuals in most countries ruled by Islam. Or in those where fundamentalist militias control large parts of the territory, as is the case in Nigeria or Syria and Iraq, where the Islamic State maintains cities under its control.
After the outbreak of the war between Hamas and Israel (October 2023), the woke community flooded their social media with the Palestinian flag and even symbols of the terrorist group Hamas. Ironically, a group of women appeared with the sign: "Feminists for Hamas." A complete contradiction, as Islamic radicalism isn't exactly respectful of the female sex. But let's take a look at some articles from Hamas's Founding Charter:
Article 17: Explains the role of women in Islamic society as "men-makers." It condemns Western organizations such as the Freemasons, Rotary Clubs, and secret services as "saboteurs" because they promote subversive ideas against women.
Article 18: Defines the role of women as homemakers and educators and provides men with education and moral leadership.
Here, I have some questions: How do we explain to the woke that, for the most observant Muslims, women count less than camels? How do we make them understand the ban on alcoholic beverages and the death penalty—yes, death—for those who consume them? How do we tell feminists that female promiscuity is punishable by stoning? How do we make them understand, especially those who defecate in Catholic cathedrals, that the Shari'a law punishes blasphemy against Islamic holy sites?
Rob Henderson, a social psychologist, explains that wokism and its cousin, progressivism, are luxurious ideological positions, since they are symbols of belonging to a wealthy class, or rather, to a sect that is very successful on academic campuses but unsuccessful in real life. It so happens that, in the face of the technological revolution, material objects are increasingly accessible to all budgets, ergo, those who want to stand out from the rest no longer do so by buying an expensive phone, but by declaring themselves progressive. Hence, most of the activists of the new left come from wealthy families and university classrooms.
Because they come from wealthy families, woke people almost never face the consequences of their ideas. A police force with no budget doesn't affect them, as they live in expensive neighborhoods with private security. Uncontrolled migration doesn't bother them, since illegal immigrants don't settle in their homes, but in the most popular neighborhoods. Environmental regulations make public transportation services more expensive, which, eureka, they never use. And while they celebrate men being forced to deconstruct themselves for being toxic machos, Muslims are colonizing the West. In short, wokeism is the useful idiot of Islamic radicalism.
«The opinions published herein are the sole responsibility of its author».