We’re told the Left is secular—a party of reason, free thought, and evidence. No gods, no dogma, no rigid rules. Just progress. Right? That may have been closer to the truth of the old Left (e.g. the Clinton-era liberalism that still believed in debate, persuasion, and tolerance).

But today’s radical Left is something entirely different. It has moved from political philosophy to religious faith. Radical Progressivism (i.e. Leftism) is a religion. It has a faith it proclaims, sacred doctrines it holds, idols it worships, heretics it condemns, and a priestly class of elitists that enforces its absolute orthodoxy. Question or challenge it at your own peril.

The Marks of Leftist Religion

If you’re unsure whether radical Leftism is a religion, consider its practice of indoctrination, the doctrines it preaches, and the excommunication of gleefully carries out for those who dissent from within her ranks.

Leftist Indoctrination

Progressives see education as a tool to teach people what to think, not how to think.

I was public-school educated from K–12. I’ve met hundreds of students through teaching high school and college professionally for ten years and serving in youth ministry for twenty. This is exactly my experience: Leftist education practices indoctrination. The Left doesn’t want students to reason their way to belief—it commands them what to believe. Anyone who questions the sacred teachings triggers anger or disdain from their teachers.

Unlike Christianity, which calls for reasonable faith supported by evidence and argument, Leftism demands blind faith. Accept the dogmas without question—critical race theory, macro-evolution, gender ideology, climate alarmism. Challenge them, and students are accused of every phobia, judged moral failures, treated as heretics, or socially excommunicated from the ranks of the faithful.

Leftist Doctrines

In addition to the teaching method of indoctrination they, Leftism has a few sacred doctrines, void of any philosophical or scientific reasoning, demand total adherence to. Here are a few of the biggies.

Abortion: The Left preaches all women have a fundamental right to “terminate their pregnancy” (i.e. kill the unborn human inside of her) if they so choose. Anyone who questions this doctrine faces public shaming, vitriolic accusations of being a misogynist who’s callous to the plight of women, and social exile.

Gender: Reality bends to one’s own personal belief for feelings. Biological sex is irrelevant. Anyone insisting otherwise (like athletes defending women’s sports) faces attacks, firings, or boycotts.

Critical Theory: All must see the world through the lens of systemic oppression. There are only two kinds of people: the oppressors and the oppressed. One is judged not by the conduct of their character, but the color of their skin or how high they score in the intersectionality olympics. Question the narrative, advocate colorblind policies, and you’re labeled a racist/(insert-marginalized-group-of-choice) phobic heretic.

Redistribution of Wealth (i.e. Theft): Taxation and wealth redistribution are holy mandates. The poor are entitled to the extra-abundant riches of the wealthy. The government is Robin Hood and must take from the rich to give to the poor. Criticize this questionable economic principle and you’ll be deemed greedy and unloving the those in need.

Violence: Recent polls and current events show that those on the Left are increasingly OK with political violence as long as its “in service of justice” or against those pesky “Nazis, Secret Police, or Gestapo”. Riots, assassinations, and online harassment are framed or even celebrated as righteous acts against evil.

What once claimed to be reasoned politics has become a rigid orthodoxy where dissent is sin and submission is salvation.

Leftist Excommunication

As mentioned above, the Religion of the Left is not shy about its doctrines and will happily excommunicate if any transgress the Sacred Doctrines. Consider J.K. Rowling, the celebrated author of Harry Potter, once a darling of the Left, now lives with the Scarlet Letter of “T” (for Transphobe) upon her back for the crime of denying that a man can become a woman. Joe Rogan has faced similar trials for platforming forbidden ideas and allowing forbidden people from sharing their ideas in civil dialogue. Depart from Leftist orthodoxy and the masked faithful crowd will cry (or type in all caps), “Crucify them!”

The New Religious Fundamentalists

Maybe you can see it now? Modern Leftists are more fundamentalist than the boogeyman Bible-thumpers of the South we’ve heard so much about. They’re dogmatic about their dogmas. More authoritarian in their demand for utter uniformity in faith and practice. More aggressive in policing anyone who strays even a hair from the sacred line. The political beliefs and the enthusiasm with which they’re proclaimed and defending by Progressives are so hardcore, they make Bob Jones look like a kitten.

Progressivism isn’t secular. It’s creed requires no evidence or allows no dissent, just blind faith. Its rituals (e.g. social shaming, canceling, ideological indoctrination) are employed with religious fervor. We ignore this reality to our peril.

Recognizing Leftism as a religion helps explain why Christians should care about today’s political landscape and why pastors should speak on it. Leftism is a false religion disguised as mere politics. Pastors are called to expose false religions and warn people against contrary gospels (Matt 7:15; Rom 16:17–18; 1 Tim 4:16; Titus 1:9). It’s not that pastors are becoming more political (though some may be) but that politics is becoming more religious. Condemning pastors for addressing Leftism may reveal that we don’t see the wolf beneath the sheep’s clothing.

A Better Gospel

Modern Leftism is not just a political movement. It’s a religion, a really bad one at that. It has creeds and rituals, but no gospel. Samuel James pointed this out a few years ago:

“The modern campus culture is a religious culture, but it’s a religion without God, and consequently it is a religion without grace… Evangelical Christians have an understanding that secular, culture-policing social-justice activists can only mimic—an understanding that the world is a guilty place and that truth, goodness, and beauty must be striven for instead of assumed. The gospel of Christianity offers new life through repentance and spiritual rebirth. There is no such gospel in the worldviews of secular students; the best that can be strived for in them is tribal purity.”

Christians must wake up to the reality that modern Leftism is a false religion masquerading as neutral politics. Our task is not only to expose it for what it is, but to evangelize those trapped within it. Leftism offers only bad news: a message of guilt without grace, purity without pardon. But we’ve been entrusted to guard and herald the good news: the gospel of Jesus Christ, which alone brings forgiveness, freedom, and new life. We must expose the wolf of Leftism and be ready to proclaim the saving gospel of Christ to those caught in its jaws