When people stop believing in God, the British author GK Chesterton argues, the problem is, ‘They don’t believe in nothing; they believe in anything…’ Lacking spirituality and a belief in the divine means there is nothing fulfilling and morally grounding to hold on to.

As a result, people searching for meaning and purpose in an ever-increasing difficult and soulless world are tempted to give themselves up to whatever earthly ideology is an alternative. Human nature is such there is always the need for something larger and more enthralling.

During the French Revolution, after banning religion, confiscating church property, and imprisoning the clergy, the people turned to ‘liberty, equality, and fraternity’ leading to Madame Guillotine and the reign of terror.

In Germany during the depression and a time of high unemployment, many turned to Adolf Hitler and National Socialism. Lenin’s Russia also cancelled religion and in its place established a dictator who argued, ‘Morality is whatever brings about the success of the proletarian revolution.’

While nowhere near as dangerous as Hitler and Lenin, the fact so many young people no longer believe in religion also explains the popularity of Woke ideological causes including climate change, LGBTIQA+ ideology, Europhobia, and pro-Palestine antisemitism.

Younger generations are so committed to a smorgasbord of Woke causes a new word has been created to describe how different and often conflicting campaigns and protests are rolled into one unifying sense of repudiation.

The American writer Robert Thompson writes:

‘In the kaleidoscopic landscape of contemporary protest movements, we bear witness to a remarkable convergence – a fusion of causes that transcends traditional boundaries and coalesces into an ever-expanding omnicause.’

Those committed to omnicause are also dedicated to intersectionality. Instead of being victimised because one factor, say race, there are now myriad ways of being oppressed.

A transwomen of colour who is horizontally challenged and chemically inconvenienced suffers from transphobia, racism, ableism, and being labelled a drug addict. Intersectionality is yet another example of how Western societies like Australia are structurally inequitable.

Given the power of omnicause its understandable why so many young people are ever-present agitators. One week it’s campaigning against man-made global warming, the next week its pro-Palestine demonstrations on campus and the next it’s a rally against transphobia.

Such is the power of omnicause, even when championing causes that are contradictory adherents are happy to protest. The slogan ‘Queers for free Palestine’ ignores Islamic fundamentalists detest LGBTIQA+ people, imprisoning and torturing them.

Students attending the School Strike 4 Climate rallies are happy to be driven to school in their parents’ carbon emitting SUVs and fly to Bali for a holiday cannot have it both ways. If really concerned about saving the planet walking to school and holidaying at home is the way to go.

While religion and Woke omnicause ideology are inherently different there are similarities. Replacing the Torah, the Bible, the Koran, and the Vedas are Das Kapital, the Communist Manifesto, and Foucault’s The History of Sexuality.

Instead of Jesus or Allah, Woke ideologues pray to Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, and Kate Millet and worship secular saints and martyrs including Che Guevara, Ho Chi Minh, Greta Thunberg, and George Floyd.

Woke activists also believe they are morally superior as what they preach holds the key to a more just and equitable world where all are equal and live by the rule from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.

Any who disagree and fail to conform to climate change alarmism, transgender ideology, and the belief Western Civilisation is guilty of classism and white supremacism are guilty of heresy, condemned as sinners and cast out.

Even those considered left-of-centre are not safe as there are more and more examples of Woke ideologues eating their own. In Sydney, Melbourne, and Hobart centre-left lesbian feminists are criticised for refusing to allow transwomen to attend their meetings.

Similar to fundamentalist religious sects, Woke activists espouse a doctrinaire belief system where what they believe is absolute denying any room for compromise. The nuclear option is cancelled as the only road to a green utopia is with wind turbines and solar panels.

Activists believe sex and gender are definitely fluid and dynamic social constructs instead of a biological reality and God-given. Societies like Australia are structurally racist, sexist and heteronormative and any who doubt or disagree are silenced.

Unlike Christianity that preaches free will, one of the most dangerous characteristics of omnicause is the way group think and language control are enforced. Much like George Orwell’s 1984 individuals are subsumed by the collective where the Thought Police enforce compliance.

Dr Kevin Donnelly is a senior fellow at the Australian Catholic University and author of Wake Up To Woke: It’s Time, Australia – available at kevindonnelly.com.au