Watching this Frontline doco is like watching a priest cry over spilled communion wine—except the wine is a Senate confirmation hearing or some obscure bureaucratic rule.
They speak of “democratic norms” the way I talk about Torah.
If you took a drink every time they say “norms,” you’d be dead before they got to Watergate.
“Our democracy almost died…” No, your brunch plans died. Democracy was never invited.
I’m Orthodox. I know what sacred looks like.
It’s divine fire, sexual boundaries, and not tweeting on Shabbos.
You wanna make Congress sacred? Start with mikveh for lobbyists.
2. Hero Systems in America
A “hero system” is Ernest Becker’s way of saying: This is how people prove their lives matter in the face of death.
We all want to be heroes in some story. The trouble in America? We’ve got at least 12 competing sagas—and no shared mythos.
Here’s a lineup of major American Hero Systems, and how they sacralize life:
A. Woke Heroism
Sacred object: Identity and inclusion
Sin: Microaggressions
Ritual: DEI training, pronoun updates, land acknowledgments
Martyrdom: Getting canceled for a cause
Joke: “I identify as exhausted.”
B. MAGA Heroism
Sacred object: The Constitution (selectively), the Flag, Trucks
Sin: Globalism, coastal elites, almond milk
Ritual: Boat parades, flag capes, fighting the deep state on Facebook
Martyrdom: Getting banned on Twitter
Joke: “They stormed the Capitol like it was Walmart on Black Friday. But with more camo.”
C. Careerist Heroism
Sacred object: The LinkedIn page
Sin: Wasting potential
Ritual: 6 a.m. Peloton, 10 p.m. Slack messages, reading Atomic Habits quarterly
Martyrdom: Dying at 39 with three promotions and no friends
Joke: “She died doing what she loved—grinding.”
D. Wellness/Spiritual Heroism
Sacred object: Organic food, mindfulness, morning routines
Sin: Gluten
Ritual: Yoga in national parks, intermittent fasting, posting your trauma story
Martyrdom: Getting heavy metals out of your liver chakra
Joke: “She didn’t need religion. She had adaptogens.”
E. Orthodox Religious Heroism (my people)
Sacred object: Torah, community, continuity
Sin: Chillul Hashem (desecrating God’s name)
Ritual: Shabbos meals, daf yomi, feeling guilty
Martyrdom: Sending your kids to $30k/year Jewish day school
Joke: “I’m not scared of death—I’m scared of Pesach prep.”
F. Techno-Utopian Heroism
Sacred object: Innovation, data, progress
Sin: Bureaucracy, inefficiency, fossil fuels
Ritual: Burning cash, hiring PMs, launching beta
Martyrdom: Dying from self-driving car on principle
Joke: “They disrupted taxis, hotels, and human connection.”
G. Social Justice Heroism
Sacred object: Liberation
Sin: Oppression (as defined by most recent discourse)
Ritual: Marches, GoFundMe links, unfriending
Martyrdom: Going viral for getting arrested at a protest
Joke: “She was intersectional until she inherited a house.”
H. National Security Heroism
Sacred object: The Republic
Sin: Leaks
Ritual: Briefings, surveillance, solemn oaths
Martyrdom: Testifying before Congress in uniform
Joke: “He took a bullet for the Constitution. Then the NSA flagged his browser history.”
3. Why the Conflicts Happen
You can’t have brunch with someone who thinks brunch is a decadent symbol of late-stage liberalism.
You can’t share a nation if your sacred cow is their barbecue.
One man’s hero is another man’s heretic.
One woman’s DEI consultant is another’s Babylonian exile.
It’s not just culture war. It’s ritual combat between rival faiths.
I’m not saying we need to agree on everything. I’m just saying that the more we have in common, the better.
You can’t make brunch holy, democracy infallible, and your trauma a sacrament. That’s not a society. That’s a cult buffet.
And I didn’t survive all of my own self-destruction to eat from that salad bar.
Sacralization—whether of Torah or “the rule of law”—tends to shut down scrutiny. The Frontline documentary reflects a liberal hero system where institutions (especially legal-bureaucratic ones) are treated as sacred and any challenge to them becomes a moral offense.
It’s particularly easy to do this when your side, the left, dominates these institutions.
Ernest Becker argued that all cultures create “hero systems”—frameworks that give individuals symbolic immortality by aligning them with a sacred cause, story, or identity. In secular societies, these systems substitute for traditional religion.
Here are the dominant hero systems in America today:
1. The Progressive Clerisy
Sacred objects: Civil rights, equality, DEI, climate justice, LGBTQ+ affirmation, “our democracy.”
Sacred texts: The 14th Amendment (reinterpreted), Supreme Court rulings, NYT op-eds, academic consensus.
Priesthood: Journalists, academics, bureaucrats, nonprofit lawyers, HR departments.
Afterlife promise: You are on the “right side of history.”
Conflicts: Views dissent as heresy. Labels populist or traditionalist resistance as hate, ignorance, or disinformation.
2. MAGA Populism
Sacred objects: The Constitution (as imagined by originalists), the flag, family, nation, border.
Sacred texts: Founding documents, the Bible (especially in evangelical contexts), Trump’s speeches.
Priesthood: Trump, Bannon, right-wing influencers, “ordinary Americans.”
Afterlife promise: Restoration of lost greatness; vindication of “real Americans.”
Conflicts: Views the liberal state as corrupt and illegitimate. Distrusts media, academia, and courts.
3. Technocratic Meritocracy
Sacred objects: Science, data, rational planning, expertise.
Sacred texts: Peer-reviewed studies, public health guidelines, Silicon Valley manifestos.
Priesthood: Tech founders, scientists, think tank wonks.
Afterlife promise: Optimization, progress, transcendence (via AI, biotech, etc.).
Conflicts: Often allied with the progressive clerisy but impatient with its moralism; despises populist irrationality.
4. Market Libertarianism
Sacred objects: Individual liberty, private property, the market.
Sacred texts: Hayek, Friedman, Ayn Rand.
Priesthood: VC bros, hedge funders, Cato/Reason types.
Afterlife promise: Personal autonomy, wealth, escaping the nanny state.
Conflicts: Hates regulation from the left and authoritarianism from the right.
5. Identity-Based Moral Orders
Each major identity group now often operates its own hero system:
Black identity politics: Civil rights martyrs, systemic racism as original sin, redemption through activism.
Queer heroism: Coming out = ritual initiation; allyship = sacrament.
Feminist mythology: Smashing the patriarchy = spiritual warfare.
Trans activism: Gender affirmation = salvation; misgendering = blasphemy.
These systems overlap with the progressive clerisy but operate with their own rituals, taboos, and saints (e.g. George Floyd, Marsha P. Johnson).
Result: Conflicting Sacred Orders
Modern America is fractured because people live inside incompatible hero systems. To one group, Trump is a tyrant desecrating sacred norms; to another, he’s a messianic figure reclaiming a desecrated nation.
Consequences:
Political conflict becomes moral war—disagreement is treated as evil, not error.
Dialogue is impossible—because questioning someone’s sacred object is blasphemy.
Institutions can’t mediate—they’re now battlegrounds for rival faiths (see: SCOTUS, the FBI, school boards).
Law becomes theology—with constitutional interpretation serving as scripture wars.
