And on it goes, from one absurdity to the next. As long as this moral fever lasts, there will be more targets. There is no slaking the hunt for words and practices to vilify and erase — no amount of purity will ever be enough to protect the community, and the hunt itself has its deep satisfactions.

None of this has to do with ­police reform, which involves specific and concrete proposals that can be debated using facts and reason and might — if thoughtfully done — improve policing and the lives of our citizens. No, mere changes in police practices can’t compare to a deeper, quasi-relgious project.

The woke shamans are defining and enforcing a new symbology. They insist that their spiritual sense is better attuned than anyone else’s and will try to excommunicate anyone who says otherwise. Their work may seem shockingly new, but it is really a throwback to ages past — ones that no advanced society should want to revisit.