When a human individual is worshipped, criticism is blasphemy

I have previously written about how individuals can take on godlike qualities in the minds of their followers. Donald Trump as president could do no wrong in the eyes of his acolytes and believers. As he himself quipped, he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and lose no votes.

Another persona courting the public via social media has recently taken on a similar role. But instead of simply using social media, this person owns some of it.

I have written a host of articles and created thousands of hours of YouTube content discussing the Ukraine-Russia War. It has been hard to get through a week without mentioning Elon Musk, such is the extent of his power and the role he plays in global geopolitics. This individual is arguably one of the most powerful and influential people in the world. Not only is he incredibly rich, but he also commands an insanely loyal following. With his ownership of Starlink and (erroneous) opinions on the conflict that stretch around the globe and reach many millions, as a single individual, he alone has held more keys to the success of the Ukrainians than anyone else.

You either love him or hate him. Whenever I discuss Elon Musk, commenters are polarized. What I find most interesting, as a philosopher of religion, is that any criticism of the man is treated by so many as blasphemy.

blasphemy

/ˈblasfəmi,ˈblɑːsfəmi/

nounthe action or offense of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things; profane talk.

Whether as a god or a sacred thing, Elon Musk has achieved some kind of divine status. It doesn't matter what insane decision he has made about Xitter, or what insidiously damaging disinformation he spreads about Ukraine and Russia, it simply doesn't register with those who love him. They either make themselves agree with these decisions or outbursts, or bury their heads in the sand, or are so far into the cult that they love every aspect of these Muskian misdemeanors.

Cognitive dissonance reduction raises its ugly head.

Musk can do no wrong. He is seen as all-knowing and all-powerful, though whether he is all-loving seems of little interest to his followers. The dead at Jonestown and Waco illustrate the absence of that attribute in human gods.

Unquestioning support isn't a basis for critical thinking. As soon as you put a single human being on such a lofty pedestal, you forgive them everything. Donald Trump had it exactly right: There is nothing that such people can do that would dissuade their most ardent followers.

The concept of blasphemy is the ultimate inoculation for religion, giving divine sanction to the prohibition of criticism.

This is made all the worse by the notion that people merge the identity of their heroes with their own sense of self. Somehow, the personas of Trump and Musk, Taylor Swift and Michael Jackson, merge with the identity of their followers. To criticize Musk is to criticize the Muskovite.

This makes the pushback all the more visceral.

And because these modern earthly acolytes invoke accusations of blasphemy in all but name, followers of humans who have been raised to this godly status will never really interact with criticisms of their object of adulation. Attempts to tarnish Donald Trump or Elon Musk will bounce off the armor of these soldiers of their god. Instead, they will direct their ire at such blasphemous heathens in vindictive Twitter pile-ons.

I have found myself sucked into the vortex of a Musk thread or two and have been shocked at the quasi-religious nature of his followers as they demand critics be burnt at the stake.

The simple lesson to be learned is that one should never raise other human beings to the point of divine status because it permits all sorts of ills. The ramifications of such worship can be varied. Certain people wield more political power than others, and such hero worship can have greater detrimental effect in these cases. Putting Taylor Swift on the same divine footing as Donald Trump will probably not be as problematic. Michael Jackson, on the other hand, was evidently able to get away with some pretty nefarious behavior.

But the Elon Musks and Donald Trumps of this world are in positions of great political (and even military) power. And when these people are willing to eschew their responsibilities, their followers facilitate any number of harmful deeds and certainly don't hold their heroes to account.

Beware the hero worship, for you are never in the best position to know whether you are venerating a villain.