What is unfolding before our eyes is a new secular religion. For all its claims of “inclusivity,” this new faith is deeply intolerant. It has roots in the American past that would likely surprise its adherents: the Puritan era of our nation’s earliest religious zealots. Progressives are now engaged in doing theology without God. “ Woke is the new Saved,” in the words of commentator John Zmirak.

Parallels abound. One of Puritan theology’s core tenets is “innate depravity” — the doctrine that humans are inherently wicked as a result of original sin. The woke faith preaches an updated version: America’s original sin is white supremacy.

For white people, “having racist assumptions is inevitable,” according to Robin DiAngelo, author of the bestselling book “White Fragility.” “Straight white men have been involved in a witness protection program” that “absolves them of their crimes,” she declares.