The Idolatry of ‘Liberalism’

…Seeing the variability in the types and natures of people, it follows that self-idolism, as one exhibition of Liberalism will ultimately create ideologies or ‘isms’ numbering about as many as there are liberalists.

Today’s Liberalism is about having choices. It is about the liberty to live without restrictive directives or theocratic regulation. Liberalism claims to have achieved emancipation from religious conformity and aristocratic privilege that are forced through the powers of government.

Though its founding fathers were staunchly opposed to Atheism, and firm advocates of social order, since the denial of God creates chaos and undermines such order, many of today’s liberals, in its name, have absconded God altogether – resulting in… chaos!

This is because servitude to a force of influence is an inescapable reality. Godly people’s demeanour, thoughts and actions are regulated by God and God, above Whom is none, is their purpose.

On the other hand, while many of today’s liberalists deny God claiming that to be a precursor to freedom, their own demeanour, thoughts and actions cannot escape the realm of being formed or at least influenced by whatever entity they see worthier – which is ‘worship’. If not God, the denial of God cannot deny the presence of a persuasion.

In the futility of evading society’s guiding force, they are inevitably left to choose themselves as their principal source of guidance. Unwittingly, liberalists would have then, not evaded worship, but in fact fallen down to a far lower situation – that of self-worship; otherwise called autolatry, egoism, egotism, narcissism or even ‘idolatry’ – hardly ambitious titles. This means, as some posit, that there is no such thing as an ‘Atheist’ or a ‘non-theist’ since a deity of some sort, even if one’s ego, is that person’s unfortunate deity.

Every whim it suggests is then an idol; be it food, drink, clothing or to the forceful influences of society on how to act, look or the like. Whim can even, in many cases seal off the very faculty of knowledge, intellect and rationale. What use is exercising one’s ‘freedom’ to use stimulants and intoxicants if they bar one from their more fundamental ‘freedom to think’?

Modern Liberalism is but a paradigm shift, still forming ‘slaves’ in practice, but slaves to various objects of worship, making idols of the unworthy instead of providing any real emancipation from the unworthy. Believing one is liberated is about as far as that liberation goes.

As such, and seeing the variability in the types and natures of people, it follows that self-idolism, as one exhibition of Liberalism will ultimately create ideologies or ‘isms’ numbering about as many as there are liberalists.

Who knows what the next self-idolised ‘god’ will make of the values we so dearly hold onto today. After all, who can guide or convince a person drowned in their own ego that he or she is perverted, for instance, if their ego is their truth? In such a case, there becomes as many ‘gods’ as there are ‘whims’, as Allah says:

“Have you seen (O Prophet) those who have taken their own whims as their god? (And so) Allah left them to stray knowingly, sealed their hearing and hearts, and placed a cover on their sight. Who then can guide them after Allah? Will you (all) not then be mindful?”[1]

Even if one manages to liberate themselves from societal forces and believes to be following their own way, a person nonetheless recognises their own limitations far more than others do. As such, self-idolism, though arguably being the furthest Liberalism can take you, is self-abuse as it enslaves one to what is agreeably subordinate and futile.

True emancipation can only thus culminate in subordination to what is far greater than ourselves… and then we will explore later God-willing.

References:

[1] al-Qur’an, 45:23.