I recently sat down with James Lindsay of
for a three-hour deep dive into one of the most important frameworks for understanding our current cultural moment.What we discussed wasn't just academic theory - it was a roadmap for recognizing the spiritual and intellectual battle happening right now in America and the broader West.
The Three Religions Framework
James opened our conversation by laying out what he calls the "three religions of the West." We have the Judeo-Christian tradition representing faith, and we have the reason-based secular tradition that emerged from the Enlightenment. These two have historically worked together - what James calls the "handshake between Jerusalem and Athens" - to build Western civilization.
But there's a third tradition that most people don't recognize: Gnosticism. This isn't just ancient heresy from the first century. It's a living, breathing parasite that has been feeding off both faith and reason for centuries, disguising itself as theology when it infiltrates religious communities and as philosophy when it penetrates academic institutions.
The Great Transformation
What makes this conversation so urgent is James's insight about how Gnosticism evolved during the Enlightenment period. The old mystical traditions that dealt with spirits, alchemy, and magical thinking transformed into what he calls "social Gnosticism." Instead of evil spirits holding people back, now it's social structures, power systems, and oppressive classes.
This is why Marxism feels so religious to its adherents - because it literally is. Marx took Gnostic patterns and applied them to economics and social relations. The same pattern appears in fascism, critical race theory, and even some forms of New Age spirituality. They all promise that enlightened elites who possess secret knowledge can lead humanity to the next level of consciousness or social organization.
The Parasite Among Us
Perhaps the most chilling part of our conversation was James's explanation of how the "Gnostic parasite" operates. It doesn't announce itself. Like any good parasite, it mimics the host organism while slowly draining it of life.
I know this personally because I spent years deep in New Age mysticism before God delivered me from it. The parasite is attaching today through young men’s fear, desperation, and resentment. It tells you that you're special, that you have access to higher knowledge, and that the regular rules don't apply to you because you understand what others don't.
The Woke Right Phenomenon
What caught many people off guard in our conversation was James's analysis of what he calls the "woke right." This isn't about calling all conservatives woke - it's about recognizing that the same Gnostic patterns that captured the left are now making inroads on the right.
The diagnostic is simple: Do you believe you've awakened to a critical consciousness that reveals how "they" are keeping "us" down? Do you think you have special knowledge that justifies breaking normal moral rules? Do you see the world primarily through us-versus-them tribal categories?
If so, you might have been infected by the same parasite that destroyed the left.
The Path Forward
Our conversation wasn't all doom and gloom. James and I both believe in the power of truth to set people free. The antidote to Gnosticism is the same today as it was two thousand years ago: adherence to revealed truth combined with rigorous reasoning.
For Christians, this means taking Scripture seriously as an objective standard that judges us rather than a malleable text we can manipulate to serve our purposes. For Americans, it means returning to our founding principles rather than abandoning them for radical alternatives from either direction.
Why This Matters Now
We're living through what James describes as a "blitzkrieg" attempt to capture American conservatism. The same forces that spent decades taking over institutions on the left are now making a play for the right. If we don't recognize it and resist it, we'll lose everything our ancestors built.
But here's the hope: truth has a way of breaking through deception. When people see the contradictions clearly enough, they can escape the wizard circle. That's why James continues speaking out despite enormous personal cost, and it's why conversations like this matter so much.
The secret religions of the West aren't really secret anymore. Now that we can see them clearly, we have a choice to make about which tradition we'll follow.
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