Forgive Me, Lord, for I Have Virtue-Signaled

"The urge to play along is irresistible."

American Spectator  "Ever since virtue signaling became a thing, and a sin, on both sides of the Atlantic, I’ve been determined never to indulge. Why? Because it’s the preserve of the needy and weak, and those who are more concerned with talking about their virtue than having any. How could I ever sink that low? I’ve valued my self-respect too much.
"For those who are yet to come across this nauseating vice, virtue signaling is officially “the action of publicly expressing opinions intended to demonstrate one’s moral correctness.” To put it another way, it’s the practice of gratuitously showing-off left-leaning, liberal, progressive viewpoints in order to make people admire you, and to position yourself in the mainstream of prevailing thought.
"You see, to be a virtue signaler, it’s not enough just to have progressive opinions; you must volunteer them — face-to-face, at work, with friends and especially through social media.
"So, for example, voting Remain here in the UK is virtuous, and ripe for signaling; voting Leave is your guilty secret. Pro-choice is good (tell as many people as you like), pro-life is bad (keep it to yourself at all costs). Believing in gay marriage is to be applauded (take a bow); believing only in a union between man and woman is backward (you’d better leave now, please). And so on.

"Alright, to some extent, virtue-signaling has been around for decades. But in recent years, with the rise of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and their echo chambers, it has become more and more evident, so that it now threatens not just freedom of speech but independence of thought. After all, if only certain opinions are virtuous then the opposite views, by definition, must be morally suspect, if not downright evil. Forget about encouraging people to think for themselves, and to work things out. All they need do is follow the path of goodness and virtue, as defined by Twitter, and everything will be fine.

"It’s hideous and insidious, no doubt about it. But there’s an added problem. It’s catching. Even for people like me whose revulsion is so well-honed that we could be accused of the very thing that we rail against.

"I admit it, I’ve caught the bug." .

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