Trendy revolt among ‘Woke Right’: Rejection of individualism

There’s a trendy revolt brewing among some on the so-called “Woke Right”— young, combative men playing a fun little game called “let’s pretend liberal democracy and individualism are the real villains.” These voices, often rising from obscure podcasts and social media echo chambers, insist that individualism is a false god and that liberal democracy must be toppled if we’re to restore a so-called Christian nation.

“Individualism is this nation’s greatest god and democracy their greatest virtue. These gods must fall and topple on their face in order for us to restore a traditional American Christendom,” said ‘Christian Nationalist’ Marcus Schroeder on X.  

The irony, of course, is rich.

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It’s precisely because they live under a liberal democratic system (and when I say ‘liberal’ I do not mean ‘leftist’) — with protections like the Bill of Rights — that they’re free to rant into a microphone without facing the gulag. Their podcasts and X accounts only exist because of the very system they condemn. A bit of gratitude might be in order? 

But beyond the irony lies something more serious — a dangerous rejection of individual dignity in favor of collectivism. And that’s a problem. Not just a philosophical one, but a deeply moral, theological, and civic problem. Because collectivism is not just a bad idea — it is profoundly anti-Christian, anti-American, and anti-human.

Let’s begin with Scripture

Collectivism teaches that the needs of the group outweigh the rights of the individual — it’s a form of moral relativism. You are valuable only insofar as you serve the collective — whether that’s a tribe, a race, a class, or the State. That’s the ethic of Marx, Mao, and Stalin. But it is not the ethic of Christ.

The Bible teaches that every human being is made in the image of God (Imago Dei) — endowed with inherent dignity and moral agency. Jesus did not die for an abstract collective. He died for individuals.

“He died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less”  — C.S. Lewis

“The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father … The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself” — Ezekiel 18:20

This principle — that God deals with us as individuals, not merely as members of a group — is seen throughout the parables of Christ. The lost sheep. The prodigal son. The Good Samaritan. In each case, the individual matters above an ominous group. The Gospel isn’t a collectivist system; it’s a rescue mission, one soul at a time.

Even in the communal setting of the early church, the point wasn’t the exaltation of the group, but the care for individuals within the group. Acts 2 doesn’t celebrate uniformity, social collectivism (socialism), or forced redistribution based on group status (or lack thereof). It celebrates voluntary, self-sacrificial, Spirit-led generosity — people meeting each other’s personal and individual needs.

Collectivism vs. Christian love

Collectivist philosophies, including Marxism and its modern variants (including the Woke Right), thrive on depersonalization. You are not you — you are a white (or Jewish) oppressor, a black victim, a cisgender patriarch, a member of the proletariat. Your guilt or innocence, your worth or worthlessness, is measured by your group identity.

This is the opposite of biblical justice. The prophets rail against collective sin, yes, but judgment always lands on individuals.

“Each of us will give an account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12).

“We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ… each one may receive what is due”  — 2 Corinthians 5:10

Christ does not say, “Well done, good and faithful ethnic group.” He says, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” insinuating the individual nature by which we are both judged and rewarded. 

Collectivist love is cheap. It loves the idea of “humanity,” but not humans. It champions “the children” in theory, but won’t sacrifice to care for a child. It protests for “the marginalized,” but won’t show up for a neighbor in need. As C.S. Lewis warned:

“It is easier to be enthusiastic about Humanity with a capital ‘H’ than it is to love individual men and women … Loving everybody in general may be an excuse for loving nobody in particular.”

Genuine Christian love is not abstract. It’s personal. It sees faces, not categories. It demands sacrifice, not slogans. Collectivist love is nothing more than a virtue signal, often at the detriment of our neighbor. 

The American experiment and the sanctity of the individual

The American political tradition — grounded in natural law and shaped by Christian assumptions — recognizes the individual as the fundamental unit of society. The Constitution doesn’t promise rights to collectives. It guarantees them to persons.

This is what makes America unique.

The Declaration of Independence doesn’t say “all social classes are created equal.” It says “all men are created equal,” and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.

In contrast, collectivist systems do not believe rights are given by God. They believe rights are given — or revoked — by the State. And that’s how you get 100 million dead in the 20th century alone:

• 20 million in the Soviet Union.
• 45–70 million in Mao’s China.
• 2 million in Pol Pot’s Cambodia.
• 6 million Jews in Nazi Germany.

Each one slaughtered in the name of some greater good. Each one deemed expendable for the benefit of the collective. That’scollectivism.

And it’s not a glitch. It’s the logical conclusion of a worldview that denies the individual and enthrones the group.

A note on abortion and the lie of leftist “individualism”

Some argue that individualism leads to moral decay — that the “me-first” culture of abortion is its fruit. But — with some elements of truth — that’s often a misdiagnosis.

Abortion is not the product of individual liberty — after all, liberty’s guiding principle is the freedom to do what’s right — it is the result of collectivist utilitarianism. It strips unborn children of personhood, classifying them not as bearers of God-given rights, but as “burdens” on the social order. It places the needs of “society” or “the mother” above the rights of the smallest individual among us.

True individualism — as envisioned in both Scripture and the American founding — recognizes that the child in the womb is a person, and therefore worthy of protection, regardless of any “inconvenience” he may cause to the group. 

The only true resistance

The Gospel does not require the destruction of liberal democracy or the rejection of individualism. It requires — like any system — the redemption of individuals within it. The call of Christ is not to tear down the Republic in pursuit of some faux-theocratic fantasy — it’s to love your neighbor, one soul at a time.

Individualism, rightly understood, is not selfishness, but selflessness. It is the recognition that each person matters. That every man, woman, and child has infinite value — not because of what group they belong to, but because of whose image they bear.

So, the next time someone tells you that collectivism is the future — or that liberal democracy is the enemy — ask them this:  Would they rather live in a country where rights are God-given and legally protected for all, or a system where they are defined and redistributed by the State?

Because history, Scripture, and reason all agree: when the group becomes god, the individual becomes the sacrifice.

And there is only one sacrifice that saves. And He died for you — not your group.