Nick Cave is worried that political correctness is quickly descending into something that closely resembles religious tyranny.

In the olden days, people who had unpopular opinions and deviant beliefs that didn’t quite please the majority were publicly humiliated, stoned to death, or burned at the stake.

Nowadays, they’re cancelled by the woke -- people who believe those who are unlike them do not deserve an opinion.

In the latest edition of his newsletter ‘The Red Hand Files’, the Australian singer-songwriter said political correctness has become, “quite literally, bad religion run amuck.”

Falling From Grace

Still, Cave recognized that political correctness didn’t start out as bad as it is becoming now.

In fact, the roots of what is now known as cancel culture was born out of an honest attempt to transform society into something equally beneficial for everyone. Sadly, and as with many things, radicals turned into something abominable.

“Its once honourable attempt to reimagine our society in a more equitable way now embodies all the worst aspects that religion has to offer (and none of the beauty) - moral certainty and self righteousness shorn even of the capacity for redemption,” explained Cave.

He argued that cancel culture has an ‘asphyxiating effect’ on the very creative soul of society.

“Creativity is an act of love that can knock up against our most foundational beliefs, and in doing so brings forth fresh ways of seeing the world,” he said. “A force that finds its meaning in the cancellation of these difficult ideas hampers the creative spirit of a society and strikes at the complex and diverse nature of its culture.”

Burgeoning Movement

Cave joins a growing group of academics, writers, artists, and activists, who are speaking out against the ills of cancel culture.

A month ago, personalities like J.K. Rowling and Salman Rushide signed an open letter decrying “a vogue for public shaming and ostracism.”

The Independent reports that Ricky Gervais also called out the toxic culture, saying: “You shouldn’t have to go to court for telling a joke.”

As for Cave, the musician clarified that he has nothing against change, but he wonders: when will enough be enough?

“We are a culture in transition, and it may be that we are heading toward a more equal society -- I don’t know -- but what essential values will we forfeit in the process?”