Virtue Signaling

Just this week, I came across two different articles that mentioned virtue signaling. I must confess I was relatively ignorant of the concept until this week. Both articles presented virtue signaling as something negative; a conclusion in which I completely agree.

A basic definition of virtue signaling is “the action or practice of publicly expressing opinions or sentiments intended to demonstrate one's good character or the moral (political) correctness of one's position on a particular issue.”

Virtue signaling has become such a disturbing practice in our society that even secularists are starting to take note of this very damaging inconsistency. Jay Hart, a writer for Yahoo! Sports recently criticized (and rightly so) the Boston Marathon organizers and also the All England Club (Wimbledon) for their inconsistency in virtue signaling. Both the Boston Marathon organizers and the All England Club recently banned Russians and Belarusians from participating in their athletic events for this year. But as Jay Hart points out, “If organizers were being honest, they’d acknowledge it’s really about virtue signaling. And not just any virtue signaling, but the virtue signaling of the day.”

Hart goes on in the article to expose this inconsistency using the example of China. Neither of the sporting events mentioned above have banned Chinese participants, even though the moral crimes being carried out by that country continue to this very day and have a long and storied history.

What is significant about virtue signaling is that it only seems to operate regarding the hot topics of the day. What’s happening in Ukraine is sad, tragic and unjust. But on the scale of bad things, it isn't more "unjustified" than what's happening to the Uyghurs in China? Virtue signaling picks and chooses issues with no mechanism for consistency other than what issue is particularly popular at the moment. In a glaring act of inconsistency and greed, one primary sponsor of the Boston Marathon was Wanda Sports Group… based in Beijing!

Virtue signaling also has a type of pressure built into it that far too many unthinking people don’t seem to realize — a pressure to get all others to virtue signal in step with what “everyone else is doing”. It is the classic example of negative peer pressure. Not giving into peer pressure was something I had drilled into my head years ago even as a secular public school student. But now, our culture can’t seem to make the connection between peer pressure and its first cousin — political correctness. This is because moral courage is becoming increasingly more rare, sadly even among those who name the name of Christ. Just look at the number of alleged Christians who are totally given over to virtue signaling via the mask (see below).

For example, it is now extremely popular to virtue signal by putting the Ukrainian flag on your social media profile. But this will all die out in a short period of time as soon as something else grabs the attention of a world with no moral compass for consistency, no matter how long the Ukrainian problem continues.

I reference Jay Hart again…

“This has become an all-too-common tactic, demanding allegiance or else. It’s led to the politicization of everything, including marathons and tennis tournaments. To manage public perception — and by extension thwart any potential backlash — the likes of the Boston Athletic Association and the All England Club signal their virtue by joining the trending movement of the moment.”

If a secular sports writer like Jay Hart can see this inconsistency, what does it say about Christians who cannot discern these things?

Jay Hart closes his article with this refreshing exposure of virtue signaling…

“Nope, this is all about playing to the news cycle, and once it moves on — and it will; it always does — so will their ‘responsibility ... to limit Russia's global influence’ ... even though the Ukrainian people will still be in need of support, just like the Uyghurs are now, just like the Bosnians were in the 90's, a few years after the cameras left there, just as countless others have been only to be back-burnered when a ‘more important’ issue of the day captures the media's attention. Don’t kid yourself. This is a public relations move. Nothing more.”

Thankfully and refreshingly, this past week the Federal mask mandate for public transportation was finally lifted. This means primarily for me that I can now get on airplane without having to struggle to breathe for the duration of the flight (a problem that was common to many people). While this move was nauseatingly long overdue, it at least reveals that finally even the government is getting bored with virtue signaling regarding a face covering. It is losing its popularity as a news and political story – it has for the most part served its purpose for virtue signalers and they need to move on to the next big thing.

A friend of mine posted a short article to his Facebook page this week that was my second virtue signaling reminder of the week. This of course had to do with masks and Covid. It was written by a man named Jordan Schachtel.

Schachtel writes…

“The mask is many things. It is a political virtue signal, a sign of obedience, a tool for enhanced compliance, a shaming mechanism, a sign of a superiority/inferiority complex, and a constant reminder of the inhumanity of our ruling class. It had nothing to do with science.”

Schachtel nailed it when he wrote that masks had become a “political virtue signal”. That’s why yesterday when I went to Home Depot I was appalled, and indeed depressed, to still see people wearing masks.

Schachtel astutely realized that…

“The True Believers of the mask cult will continue to mask (virtue) signal until finally, they quietly accept the stupidity of continually wearing a soiled piece of cloth on your face, and labeling it a scientific, sanitary endeavor. The destruction of the mask cult was undoubtedly expedited by the handful of fearless scientists, reporters, and activists who persevered despite being targeted by the COVID Mania mob.”

Virtue signaling has nothing to do with reason or consistency. In fact, it is now becoming the indicator for thinking people of what is unreasonable and inconsistent. You can almost mark it down that whatever the latest craze news story is that pops up in the culture, it will not be handled reasonably and scientifically by those in high places. But will instead be maximized to the nth degree by the corrupt and deceived virtue signaling culture.

The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Reason Together Podcast.