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Earlier, I had defined the concept of Distrephism in summary form. The entire purpose of that was to encapsulate and define a specific religion that emerged out of the modern era. What people call “social justice”, “woke”, or various other terms. All of which are insufficient and do not offer a proper evaluative framework or categorization of this phenomenon. I am currently working on a book that offers a much deeper and more comprehensive review of the religion and worldview of Distrephism.
In the meantime, I want to provide information to help guide readers in understanding what Distrephism is and how to evaluate it. In my foundational article on Distrephism (see article listed above) I gave an overview and described Distrephism as a fusion religion of Neo-paganism and Humanism which has 5 defining traits: antithetical revisionism, intersectional identitarianism, hedonism, extrinsic evil, and victimhood culture. Here we cover antithetical revisionism by providing some examples.
The best way to understand it is as rebellion as a core ideal. While Distrephism incorporates this trait as a pillar of the religion, it exists elsewhere in various forms. It is not unique to Distrephism, though Distrephists have a unique variation of it.
Specifically, I want to cover the article “Six Steps to Abolish the Family” by M.E. O’Brien. There are several reasons for this. One is to show that the common occurrence of conflating Distrephism with Marxism/Cultural Marxism/Communism is a mistake (though they are related), while also showing what this particular trait looks like within Distrephism.
The purpose of this article is pretty clear, given the title. The subtitle explains even more: “The family is a lifeboat for those abandoned by capital, but fails and thwarts far too many. We need other ways to organize care and organize ourselves.” This statement helps capture the essence of antithetical revisionism (AR) very well.
The Distrephist pillar of AR makes Distrephists themselves always frame things as if they are the heroic underdogs. Their religion has some of its strongest roots in the things that they oppose and define themselves against, rather than the ideals they specifically support. AR is the rationale behind Distrephists always presenting a narrative of oppressor versus oppressed. It is why they see themselves as rebels against an evil empire. Even when they are in fact the majority and have majority control over most Western institutions (such as academia and governmental organizations).
Distrephism is best understood as an “anti” Christianity. The Distrephist worldview holds the Christian “Cisheteropatriarchy” and capitalism (effectively the Christian West) as the oppressor from which all, or at least most, evil in the world stems from. This means that structures and concepts derived from Christianity are the “antithesis” upon which Distrephism must oppose and “revise” (hence the name AR).
The revision of the antithesis is an essential goal in Distrephism. If the nuclear family is something that is associated with Christianity, that means it is oppressive. So this requires a revision of the nuclear family and the replacement of it with anything that opposes or warps it beyond recognition. Distrephism approaches society with a view of systematically dismantling and replacing anything that is seen to have roots in the antithesis (Christianity and Western culture).
In the article by O’Brien note that the very nuclear family itself is something to be abolished. But it isn’t just the family unit as a problem that is important. It is the language of rebellion. Here are a few examples:
The best starting point to abolish the family is a massive insurrection.
As the insurgency grows, continue the process of family abolition by deepening shared practices of mutual care.
Those seeking a return to the family as an isolated economic unit are counterrevolutionaries.
If global communizing insurgency doesn’t emerge, do your best with the imperfect options available.
Fight to destroy the white-supremacist states which reinforce the violence of the family.
The first temptation is to describe this language as Marxist, since it echoes Marxist/Communist propaganda of “revolution.” Marxism is certainly an influence, feeding the AR within Distrephism, yet it remains too reductionist and superficial to equate what we are seeing here with Marxism. This is just part of a greater whole and distinct from true Marxism. AR can be said to exist within Marxism, but should not be reduced to Marxism itself. Therefore it is a reductionist mistake to treat Marxism as equivalent to Distrephism.
Just take a few of the concerns voiced here. None of which are compatible with actual Marxism. The author claims that these communes/collectives should “Establish syringe exchanges and other harm reduction practices to welcome active drug users.” Which is not exactly something that Marx, or any of his initial adherents would agree with. That is one particular facet that distinguishes Marxism from Distrephism. Distrephists believe in things that Marx would not actually abide or advocate for.
This abolition of the family is also supposed to help allow for “most of life [to take] place in [a] shared collective space” in which “humanity can collectively address climate change.” If you try to find a concern for climate change in Marx’s work, you are going to be disappointed. Especially when we consider just how much this abolishing of the family is supposed to help protect “poor people and people of color who have long relied on shared networks of community support and resistance to survive” and “queer and trans people excluded from traditional families.” The goal is for “new forms of gender freedom and human flourishing” which is accomplished through forced destruction of the nuclear family, forced collectivism (i.e. the removal of private property and the expansion of government control) which will help “to expand and transform non-market housing, welfare benefits, universal medical care, and free education.”
So what is Distrephism advocating for here? The first thing is the destruction of the family in favor of a collectivist vision of childcare by people who are not the biological parents of each child. Which effectively means the removal of parental “rights” because those who actually try to maintain family units will be seen as “counterrevolutionaries.” The second is the active opposition of private property and management of resources in favor of forced collective control (government control). Then of course there is the forced promotion of policies to prevent “climate change”, supposed white supremacy, and sexual libertinism through transgenderism, homosexuality, and “gender freedom.”
In short, Distrephism seeks to dismantle anything that exists within the Christian religion and Western society (being a byproduct of Christianity). Distrephists oppose the family, oppose sexual monogamy and marriage between one man and one woman, oppose sexual distinctions themselves between men and women, demand partiality through racialist preferences, and advocate for an extreme statist system of control.
You can see this center of opposition even more clearly when you consider the seemingly nonsensical “queers for Palestine” movement. A lot of Christians and conservatives point out how absurd this is, given Islam’s treatment of homosexuality and Western hedonism. This is missing the point, though. Because the unifying factor here isn’t a shared religion between Palestinian Islamists and Ivory Tower LGBTQ+ activists. The unifying factor is the opposition to Christianity and the West. This is AR in action. That is why those advocating for “freed queer love and feminist care to create a basis for human flourishing” can simultaneously proclaim to be on the side of Palestinians in the Middle East. They share an opposition to Western culture (perceived Western culture at least), like the state of Israel, and Christianity. Think of how closely associated American Evangelicalism is with Israel.
We know that there is an extreme divergence between actual Palestinian culture and Distrephism. Palestinians are not actually supportive of homosexuality, pretty much at all! In fact, they are very hostile to “LGBTQ+” culture as you would find it within the West. According to the UCLA Williams Institute and their Social Acceptance of LGBTI People report, Palestine (as they define it) has one of the lowest rankings of 175 countries and locations they have ranked (Palestine is 130 out of 175). The country of Uganda actually ranks higher than Palestine. Uganda is the country that homosexual activists have long lamented about passing the 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act. This country, the one that passed a law literally called the “Anti-Homosexuality Act,” actually scored higher in “LGBTI” acceptance than Palestine did. Yet we still have “Queers for Palestine” despite Israel scoring much higher (44 out of 175 versus 130 out of 175). This is because AR is an essential part of Distrephism. That they oppose Christianity and the West is far more important to them than the differences between Islamic Palestinian culture and the beliefs in the religion of Distrephism.
Distrephism has positive beliefs, but most of them are framed around opposition in some way. Specifically, opposition to Christianity and Western culture. You will, more often than not, hear them describe what they believe as liberation, opposition to oppression, revolutionary, or as contrarian in nature. They define their identities in this way and constantly use language of opposition and rebellion. They perceive themselves as a “rebel alliance” against the evil empire. Even when they are actually the ones in power and the ones dominating institutions. Antithetical revisionism is why you will always see Distrephists push narratives of oppressor versus oppressed, revolution, subversion, and resistance. They are adherents of a religion that is the very antithesis of Christianity.