Woke liberals so often virtue-signal over the “marginalized” and “unheard” that one might easily overlook the most relevant question.
In short, what do those liberals actually think about the allegedly downtrodden souls whose interests liberals purport to defend?
According to the U.K.’s Independent, the Church of England provided an answer when, as part of a project designed to amplify the voices of “marginalised communities” and “the unheard,” it allowed the temporary, graffiti-style defacement of ancient Canterbury Cathedral, founded in 579 AD by St. Augustine.
“I think it’s sacrilegious,” one visitor said, while another compared it to “an underground car park in Peckham.”
In the interest of charity, let us begin by focusing on the positive.
For instance, the colorful graffiti poses what a spokesperson called “everyday theological questions.” These include “Are you there?” and “God, what happens when we die?”
In other words, presented properly, such questions could have echoed the raw anguish of The Psalms.
As it stands, however, the exhibition merely reflects woke liberals’ attitudes toward the “marginalized” and “unheard.”
“It is weird to me that these people don’t see the irony of honoring ‘marginalized communities’ by making a beautiful historical building really ugly,” Vice President J.D. Vance wrote on the social media platform X.
It is weird to me that these people don’t see the irony of honoring “marginalized communities” by making a beautiful historical building really ugly. https://t.co/j7GEtCFsMY
— JD Vance (@JDVance) October 10, 2025
Another X user called it “cultural vandalism” that insults all parties involved.
“This isn’t ‘representing voices’; it’s cultural vandalism masquerading as social justice,” the user wrote. “Defacing a sacred, historic landmark to be ‘inclusive’ is an insult to both history and the very communities you claim to honor.”
This isn’t ‘representing voices’; it’s cultural vandalism masquerading as social justice.
Defacing a sacred, historic landmark to be ‘inclusive’ is an insult to both history and the very communities you claim to honor.
— Thomas Antony (@ItsThomAnt) October 10, 2025
The critical insights here by Vance and others led to an interesting question. Namely, how might conservatives best explain what we see and hear when woke liberals’ attempts to pose as defenders of the “marginalized” and “unheard” invariably result in ugliness or even catastrophe?
A scene from the classic 1989 film “Glory,” starring Matthew Broderick as Col. Robert Gould Shaw, commander of the historic, all-black 54th Massachusetts regiment, may help illustrate.
Throughout the film, the young and quiet Shaw takes a demanding approach to training his volunteer troops, many of them former slaves. At one point, he even chastises a white officer for not teaching the men properly.
In other words, he treats his black troops like men. As a result, the 54th Massachusetts develops into a formidable fighting force.
During a foraging mission to the town of Darien, Georgia, in 1863, however, Shaw encounters a different kind of officer. Col. James Montgomery, played by actor Cliff De Young, also commands black troops.
In contrast to Shaw’s disciplined regiment, Montgomery encourages his black troops to plunder the town, which, to Shaw’s dismay, they do.
“Look around you. Look at ’em,” Montgomery says to Shaw as the undisciplined troops commit plunder. “You really think anybody’s gonna put these boys into some real combat? Do you? I mean, they’re little children, for God’s sake. They’re little monkey children. You just gotta know how to control ’em.”
Readers may view the entire scene in the YouTube video below.
Woke liberals, particularly those in authority positions, have the qualities of Col. James Montgomery.
From their elitist viewpoint, one should expect chaos and ugliness from “marginalized communities.” Hence, the people of those communities need woke liberals, just as the black “children” needed Col. Montgomery to control them.
Reduce wokeness to its essence, and it means little more than this.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.