When Ideological ‘Purity Tests’ Turn Toxic — And Deadly

I have a confession to make: the title of this essay is a bit of a trick. I don’t mean it is mere ‘clickbait,’ or any such nonsense. Rather, my title tricks the reader into thinking that some ideological ‘purity tests’ are OK, while others cross an invisible red line and become toxic or even deadly.

But the truth is far uglier and more dangerous. The real truth, as far as I can tell, is that social, religious, educational, and political ‘purity tests’ are ALL toxic to some degree. The strictest, most egregious and destructive ones can easily turn deadly — that is, heavily punitive, sadistic, even murderous.

This essay will explore the underlying essence and psychology of ‘purity tests’ and identify why they are so poisonous and destructive.

As ideological madness spreads, ‘purity tests’ intensify

The reason I chose this topic is simple: various forms of ideological madness, with all their accompanying ‘purity tests,’ are spreading through our societies at light speed. Over the past century, the modern world has seen the rise of numerous political ideologies including fascism, socialism, authoritarianism, and communism. But while some ideologies, such as communism, have fallen into disfavor, many others, like Trump’s MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement, QAnon, the ‘anti-vaxx’ movement, and America’s ‘ultra-progressives,’ have risen to prominence.

The big difference, however, between fifty years ago and today is that the vast majority of today’s popular ideologies are both right-wing and heavily oppressive. Some, like QAnon, are downright bizarre and paranoid. And while American progressives can sometimes be overbearing and push their own ‘purity tests’ — like those related to so-called ‘identity politics’ and proper pronouns— the worst and most overbearing ‘purity tests’ are emerging from current right-wing ideologies.

A glaring example of this trend is the ostracism and rejection of old-school Republicans that accelerated as Trump successfully dominated the GOP. Politicians who were considered strong, faithful Republicans a decade ago have now been relegated to a tiny minority, especially if they express any reservations about Trump’s autocratic style or MAGA. Traditional GOP stances about free trade, states’ rights, and the rule of law have often been challenged and upended — to the point that, increasingly, old-style Republicans are tarred with the scornful label RINOs (Republicans in Name Only).

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Scarily, today’s GOP is chock-full of nasty ‘purity tests’ — and the results of failing these tests are both rapid and brutal. In fact, Trump and his MAGA followers will hound, insult, threaten, and even ostracize any ‘offenders.’ The threats can even turn into death threats. This horrific trend has become commonplace over the past decade. (How sick and crazy is that?)

The latest example, amazingly, is the furor around Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was always one of Trump’s staunchest supporters. Yet, because she challenged his ideas and ‘rulings’ on key issues like the Epstein files, trade, and international politics, he attacked her mercilessly, called her a “traitor,” and insisted she ‘went BAD.’ Condemnation and death threats from MAGA quickly followed, and late last week MTG announced she will retire from Congress in January ’26.

Pure vs. impure, us vs. them

As all this bizarre craziness continues to unfold, I have a simple question: What is really going on here? What is the true purpose of rampant ‘purity tests’ on both the left and right? Though it may seem obvious, at first glance, it’s crucial to see past the immediate crisis du jour and grasp what’s happening at a deeper level.

Here’s what I’ve observed: it’s all about creating and expanding a vile, hate-filled ‘us vs. them’ narrative — with ‘us’ always being pure and above reproach, while ‘they/them’ are deluded, sick, untrustworthy, and grossly impure. Throughout history, such dark ‘us vs. them’ narratives have fueled the very worst kinds of human behavior — lynchings, pogroms, massacres, Inquisitions, ethnic cleansing, even mass murder and genocide.

It is deeply alarming — no, terrifying — that such social patterns are now widespread in the US and around the world… again. It seems we never learn — or, if we do, as Germany did for decades after WW II and the defeat of Nazism, it doesn’t last. Today, the far right is again rising in Germany, and many Nazi ‘ideals’ are again being promoted and increasingly accepted.

Thus, it’s painfully clear now that human progress, democracy, and modern civilization all depend on ‘eternal vigilance,’ simply because our baseline human nature tends toward tribalism, groupthink, and dark ‘us vs. them’ narratives. Sadly, these beliefs and narratives provide an easy ‘glide path’ for power-hungry demagogues who always, always seek to exploit people’s fears and resentments.

Whenever such narrow-minded beliefs and hateful public narratives arise, we can be sure that increasingly vicious ‘purity tests’ and (anti)social violence will follow, just as night follows day.

Reversion, devolution… and growing oppression

Sadly, and scarily, we see widespread ‘purity tests’ being applied in areas as diverse as education, medicine, science, media, ‘Christian’ religion, public assistance programs, and, of course, politics. Colleges and universities are being forced to toe the MAGA line or lose federal funding; professors are being fired and media companies are being sued for being ‘too woke’; the CDC, which used to be the world’s pre-eminent health agency, has been gutted and forced to withdraw its support for vaccines; and MAGA and ‘Christian’ ideologues are busy suppressing liberal speech and ‘woke’ ideas, banning books, and seizing control of public education.

Then, of course, there are the endless right-wing attacks on their favorite whipping boy, DEI. Any public support for racial diversity, social equity, or inclusive, tolerant policies is now verboten on the right — and any ‘impure’ fool or RINO supporting such measures will be ruthlessly attacked and ostracized. Being anti-DEI is now an unquestioned requirement for success in today’s MAGA-fied GOP.

. . .

There are countless other examples of such ruthless ‘grab-control-at-any-cost’ behaviors — but my purpose here is not to list endless examples of ideological ‘purity tests’ and open public oppression. I am trying to show the scope of what we’re all up against, now, in the US and around the world.

We’re in the midst of a full-scale societal reversion to earlier, more primitive attitudes and belief systems. These attitudes truly are more primitive, since they encourage and support hate, division, and social discord and disruption… while actively undermining social cohesion, sharing, compassion, and peaceful coexistence.

Battling the dark forces of hate, intolerance, and ‘purity’

Put differently, modern extremist ideologies, especially those on the right, promote and work to create the exact social conflicts and problems that modern societies have tried hard to eliminate or minimize! They are in deep conflict with the basic, necessary principles of civilization.

Thus, it must be said: such primitive ideologies, and their accompanying ‘purity tests,’ are at bottom unloving, judgmental, hate-inducing, and even anti-civilization. They are both intolerant and deeply antagonistic.

In perhaps the ultimate irony, these systems and their ‘purity tests’, which their adherents believe prove how civilized and socially-oriented they are, actually prove the exact opposite. They show, beyond any doubt, that such ideological systems are fundamentally antisocial, anti-progress, anti-learning, anti-openness, and utterly inhumane.

Even further, they reveal the dark, hateful agenda and cruelty that often masquerade as ‘social responsibility’ and ‘civilization.’ Whenever intensifying ‘purity tests’ start rearing their ugly heads, we can be sure that hatred, repressive measures, and open oppression of demonized outcasts (anyone not toeing the ‘party line’) will soon follow.

If our semi-democracy is to survive in any viable form, we’ve got to be ‘eternally vigilant.’ And our vigilance will always warn us: distrust all ‘purity tests’ and avoid them like the plague. And when they DO arise and start intensifying, it’s time to double our vigilance and prepare to battle dark, destructive forces — if we want to preserve some semblance of civilization.

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This post was previously published on Bouncin’ and Behavin’ Blogs.

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