Some of my stalwart and respected Twitter mutuals have been administering clinical trial runs of an alternate method to diagnose and treat witchery.
Here it is in a nutshell:
The Name 3 approach looked promising, with reports of early success. But could it a) unmask Death Cult witches attempting to co-opt Christian morality and b) figuratively “retire” witches in Christian skinsuits who failed this new Voight-Kampff?
As it happens, an iron-nerved witch hunter administered a field trial just this morning. Let’s take a look at the results and see if the OT WT has some competition.
A prospective witch appears on the radar with a standard point-and-shriek at two members of the gamer scene. As frequent readers will know, she’s casting Venger and Urbanski as Satan’s imps in her little morality play–bonus Alinsky points for accusing one of her targets of witchcraft. Her aim is to elicit disavowals of the targets from the group, cement her unearned moral authority, and so raise her status in the Cult.
The test hasn’t started yet. Think of this as calibration. But do note that trying to prove your cred within the Death Cult’s moral frame doesn’t work. You simply don/t want to kill as many people as they do, and they can tell.
Here, our man makes two more fruitless attempts at engaging fanatics with dialectic before catching on to their game and administering the experimental test.
Just like it says on the tin, the Name 3 test challenges Death Cult morality playwrights to back up their accusations with evidence. Let’s see what happens …
The test evokes a stream of “Hitler hiding under the bed” Death Cult cant. The subject unmasks her fevered irrationality and the absence of any objective basis for her moralizing. Witch confirmed. Condition A satisfied.
Where we run into problems is Name 3’s handling of condition B. Note that after the test is administered, the witch launches into a mini tweet storm wherein she ascends the pulpit and preaches a sermon further condemning her targets. Instead of taking the wind out of her sails, the invitation to pontificate just emboldened her.
Providentially, another inquisitor was on hand to apply the original Witch Test to the same subject. Compare and contrast the results to those of Name 3.
Instant result: The witch reveals herself and self-detonates the basis of her original accusation. All onlookers immediately see her cynical, self-serving ploy for what it is.
The village goodmen then arrive to chase the witch out of town.
Final analysis: In the context of witchfinding, Name 3 relies too heavily on the dialectical, instead of the moral, level. This deficiency puts the blade runner at risk of succumbing to a stealth replicant’s moral frame. Save it for when anti-Christs of the goony neckbeard variety make objectively falsifiable fact claims, as in Richard’s original case of an atheist claiming the Catholic Church has reversed itself on matters of dogam.
Stick to demanding professions of faith when sniffing out Death Cult morality plays. Confronting Cultists with the Holy Name of Jesus is what makes it a witch test to begin with. We’re in a spiritual war. Don’t leave your most potent weapon sheathed.