"The common theme is politics as a theology of salvation, with a heroic transformation of the human condition (nothing less) promised to those who will agitate for it." -- Glen Wishard

This type of thinking dominated the bloody twentieth century turning the insights of socio-economic thinkers into grotesque parodies. It had roots in the nineteenth century absolutism of continental Europe, which was itself a perversion of the insights of the various eighteenth century enlightenments. The American war of independence from Britain in the eighteenth century, steeped in the fallibilist philosophy of the Scottish enlightenment, when exported to France and transformed by that absolutism, set off a blood bath that engulfed much of Europe in the nineteenth century. The twentieth century disease of politics as theology was a continuation of absolutism, extended by the ideas of anarchism, socialism and fascism.

In each case these twentieth century isms had an incomplete fragment of useful insight at their core that was made monstrous by politics as theology and the absolutist influence of the continental enlightenment. Though the twentieth century is history we still have a hangover from that insane orgy of destruction, and still haven't fully recognized the falseness of politics as a theology of salvation. The rag-tag remnants of the post-socialist paleo-left have scrambled to find a place to stand since the foundations of their creed have crumbled. Many have sought refuge in the various reactionary "green" groups, substituting environmental issues for the class issues previously used as a wedge to advance their political religion. The message is the same, politics as a theology of salvation, and the results will be the same if they aren't at long last truly enlightened by saner voices.

There is some hope. The environmental movement in which these reactionary thinkers have taken refuge has fallen on hard times. The socio-economic and ethical forces that brought down communism in the late twentieth century continue to weaken political theology movements, not least because they have aligned themselves against the working classes and so lost popular support. They are now losing the support of funding organizations that have a finger in the wind and sense change coming. Environmental preservation and remediation, like working class progress in the past, is a legitimate issue but the politics as theology crowd are bungling it too.

They are buffoons, tragicomic clowns that will self destruct, but like their Jacobin, anarchist, socialist and fascist ancestors they can cause a lot of pain for all of us in the process, so they can't just be ignored and allowed to conduct their humiliating public self-immolation unopposed. It is useful to expose and denounce each of their attacks. For example:

For environmentalism's "No" to mean something, there must be a corresponding "Yes." That "Yes" must consist of technical, economic, and cultural innovations and solutions. They must be invented, championed, and adopted, as rapidly as possible. They must do nothing less than transform the world. ...

That's ultimately why reframing -- and other strategic communication, intellectual and creative work -- is so important. Reframing, done right, will give us the ability to better tell new stories about the meaning of environmental advocacy. Better stories will let us change the context in which we are heard. . .

New stories will make easier the work of defending what we have, and more possible the task of imagining the new. Helping these stories to emerge is a critical piece of work here at the beginning of the 21st Century. To do that, we need better framing. We need better visions. We need an explosion in innovation. We need a creative, cultural, intellectual wing of the movement to build a sustainable civilization which is energized, well-funded and well-heard.

No, a new testament won't help, will not bring salvation. Those who preach theology of salvation are not themselves saviors. They are not creative or intelligent. They are not a "creative class". They are groupies, the fans and hustlers that prey on the energy and productivity of those who are creative and intelligent. They are the ones who fail to grasp the importance of Independent Cacophony for social wisdom. Everything they do seeks to dumb society down, to persuade and deceive, reach agreement and consensus, and so inflict the destruction of Unanimous Fallacies on the world.

We cannot build that which we cannot imagine. We have the opportunity here to imagine a bright-yet-green future for the planet, and describe it in ways which people can embrace. Let's take it.

Pathetic. Every person on the planet is imagining the future, that's what humans do. The more independent and diverse their imagined futures the better the future will be when it arrives. Groups of diverse problem solvers can outperform groups of high-ability problem solvers. Imagine how much superior their performance is to groups of mediocre ability. It's important to grasp why this is true and work to enhance this process. Narrowing of the information stream - the chief attack of salvation theologians; and political organization - their end game strategy; can be usefully opposed. Speaking out well and often to enrich the information stream and foster diversity and independence of mind can do this. The objective isn't to persuade society to follow a different theology, it is to enable individuals to arrive at their own conclusions based on their life experience. They will variably interpret and understand the information they acquire, enriching the aggregate social mind.