The Woke are modern Pharisees, ‘Woe to you, you hypocrites!’

We need to call out woke virtue signalling and hypocrisy, as Jesus did with the Pharisees.

  In the long build up to Christmas the thoughts of many, whatever their religious beliefs, turn to the nativity, whether due to impending school nativity plays, carol services or just as an image on cards. The image of the, to quote favourite carol Silent Night, ‘tender and mild’ Christ child is probably the abiding image of Jesus in the minds of non Christians. However those of us who read the Bible know well that Jesus was not mild or ‘meek’, as the famous Charles Wesley hymn describes him. Nothing shows this more than the fiery rebukes he gave the Pharisees, the Jewish teachers of the law. Matthew Chapter 23 contains seven ‘woes’, three ‘you blind fools/men/guides’ and the glorious ‘you snakes, you brood of vipers!’ He also importantly calls them ‘hypocrites’ six times in this one address. The Woke are modern day Pharisees. The climate change cultists, the lawyers and activists defending endless streams of illegal immigrants, the critical race theorists and the #bekind social media accounts are all guilty of the hypocrisy and virtue signalling Jesus is condemning.

  There is a few more glaring demonstrations of this hypocrisy than the current ludicrous spectacle of COP27. It seems obvious to sensible people that a mind bogglingly expensive gathering of the rich, famous and those who aspire to be both, reached by jets expending the carbon footprint of a small nation, is only benefitting the PR and wellbeing of attendees.

‘They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries (taxes) wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honour at banquets . . .’ (Matthew 23:3-6).

Indeed! ‘Phylacteries’ denotes a special poll tax levied on subject peoples, not Roman citizens. Sound familiar? Rishi Sunak has confirmed that the UK will stick to the goal of providing £11.6bn in climate funding and will triple its funding on green adaptation to £1.5bn by 2025. He says this is the ‘right thing to do,’ but for whom? The UK has a near unprecedented tax burden and can expect more tax rises and spending cuts affecting public services in the Chancellor’s autumn statement. This presents a real threat to the average person and especially the poor while the super privileged who govern us emote about the apocalyptic threat of warmer summer and weather events that may or may not be getting more frequent. Notably absent from the emoting will be targeted criticism of China‘s polluting ways. However there will be a chorus of calls for ordinary people to ‘do their bit’ by adhering to the Green scripture’s commandments of forgoing car usage, holidays involving flights, central heating and meat. With regards the latter it is true to Pharisaic form that they themselves are enjoying the COP27 gourmet delights of grilled chicken, salmon supreme, sea bass and beef fillet (sautéed with a mushroom sauce for a mere €100),  

Bernie's Tweets @BernieSpofforth

COP 27 FOOD MENU - Where they will decide you must eat less meat. Here’s the VIP food menu for today. Very erm… meaty with a dash of dairy obvs! 🤡

One can also safely assume that the same individuals will be enjoying a toasty warm home and taking a flight to a posh skiing resort this winter.

  The other huge expensive spectacle about to unfold is that of the Qatar World Cup. There have been few more satisfying television moments than that in which self righteous, ‘take the knee’ Gary Neville was filleted like a fish by Ian Hislop on the BBC’s Have I Got News For You over the issue of him taking a handsome salary to commentate on Qatari TV. https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/20331185/gary-neville-qatar-have-i-got-news-for-you-world-cup/ Indeed all Neville could manage was to flap around like a fish out of water, as though he couldn’t understand what was happening. The Woke are not used to having their hypocrisy exposed.    

   However woke warped thinking must also be exposed regarding the bigger crisis than climate change that is the unchecked immigration daily crossing the channel. When Suella Braverman dared to call a spade a spade by calling an invasion an invasion the Woke lost their minds. References to ‘hate speech’, the rise of the ‘far right’, ‘facsicm’ and Nazi Germany flooded Twitter and the hand wringing left wing media.https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/nov/06/suella-braverman-was-warned-hate-speech-could-inspire-far-rightCampaigner for asylum seeker rights Robina Quereshi declared, ‘We’re watching fascism unfolding before our eyes. It is a matter of time before they shoot people in the English Channel.’ https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/23097602.manston-suella-braverman-has-assumed-jackbooted-form-national-front----campaigner/?ref=yahoo  Offensive idiocy aside there is also stark multifaceted hypocrisy on this issue. Firstly when the unvaccinated were being demonised and discriminated against there were no cries of ‘hate speech’ from the Woke. Comparisons to the othering and attack on bodily autonomy in 1930s Germany were sharply criticised by woke vaccine zealots. Secondly it is clear that those happy to welcome endless streams of migrants into our already overburdened communities are not the ones reliant on the crumbling public services they will cause to collapse. They also don’t have to sleep with sledge hammers under their beds, as some in coastal towns now do, because they can afford to move to areas without facilities hosting undocumented migrants, some of whom could well have nefarious intent. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/desperate-new-arrivals-drive-dover-into-taking-up-arms-53j5dzh3s The Woke love to label anyone doubting the genuine nature of asylum claims, (from that ‘war torn hell hole’ France), as hateful or racist. However by conflating those like myself with a family background of legal immigration with those entering the UK illegally, often as part of a criminal network, they themselves show hints of racism. My parents, a dark brown Peruvian Dad and a white German mother who came here legally in the 1970s, have absolutely nothing in common with those crossing the channel. Legal integrated immigrants and their families are just as much part of British society as those with Anglo Saxon roots. Yet perversely the Woke repeatedly reveal that they do not see it that way. The homogenisation of all immigrants is both ridiculous and vile because it others and strips away individuality. When the child of a immigrant like Suella Braverman talks tough on immigration she suffers the worst type of abuse because she isn’t sticking to the script the Woke allow her. We are regarded as distinct, unified group, different from the rest of society who must adhere to woke doctrines. Therefore the ostentatious woke comparison for immigrants actually hides a nasty othering of those they claim to care about.

  Of course this view of immigrants chimes with that fundamental part of Woke doctrine - critical race theory. This world view asks us to take on the opposite attitude to Martin Luther King and assess a person near exclusively in terms of their skin colour and race. Therefore the anti racists become the racists, making it the ultimate dangerous hypocrisy. In the same way you can be guaranteed many of the nastiest people on social media will have #bekind, a rainbow, a Ukraine flag, pronouns and an NHS blue heart on their profiles.

  The Pharisees show us that hypocrisy and shallow virtue signalling that conceals a lack of virtue is as old as time. Jesus called it out, even though it meant attacking those who claimed moral authority, and so must we. Perhaps this festive season we can reflect on that fiery Christ when we look the images of the baby Jesus and the doll in the school nativity manger . . . If the Woke hypocrites haven’t showed their ‘love and tolerance’ by cancelling nativities this year!