Shame and Guilt are tools of the Weak

Those who hold extreme views are fewer in number than those in the middle and are therefore physically weaker. This weakness, however, is counterbalanced by greater focus and motivation for the most part. This is not to say that there are not individuals in the middle who have focus and motivation but there are many who do not. Nevertheless, the middle is larger and therefore ultimately stronger when unified.

Because those on the extreme are weaker, they cannot typically use physical force to coopt those in the middle, and when they do, they can rouse the middle to push back. Or, they can rouse the middle to side with the other extreme to push back against its estranged twin. An example of this can be seen in the recent jury award of $26 million in damages against the Unite the Right rally participants.

Typically however, the weak extremes must resort to using shame and guilt against a stronger target. That is, those with extreme views must convince those in the middle that they are wrong in their beliefs and therefore should feel ashamed or guilty because of their beliefs in order to convince them to adopt the more extreme views. The woke do this with the charge of racism (for example) and the extreme right do this with eternal damnation (for example). Perhaps the endgame is to convince enough people to feel ashamed and guilty for their views and join their extreme camp in order to become strong enough to ultimately enforce their views against those remaining in the middle with physical force.

But it must be remembered that shame and guilt are the tools of the weak. They cannot use physical force because they are weak and thus resort to shame and guilt as a means of turning their stronger opponent against himself. Therefore, when a person attempts to use shame and guilt against you, this should be a signal that they are weaker. This knowledge should further embolden you not adopt shame and guilt and not to give up your belief so easily.

There is no one up there judging me

There is no one up there judging me. That is, there is no one up there
keeping track of everything I have ever thought, said, and done in order to
determine whether I have pleased him. At some point in our lives, many of us
were convinced that this was true. The spirit animating this idea seems to be a
form of manipulation. It is designed to get me to not trust myself and my
instincts and from this place of self-mistrust to abdicate the sovereignty of my
consciousness.

I do not make this assertion atheistically. In fact, this realization has
brought me closer to God and has allowed me to see that God does not judge me
but is in fact rooting for me. There is, however, someone down here judging me,
and that person is me. Other people might judge me but they only have the power to judge me if I give them the power. That is, if I abdicate the sovereignty of my consciousness.

In addition to other people, there are forces in this world that seek to
confine consciousness to narrow paths. The spirits of these forces can be found
in many organized religions, politics, workplace culture, the culture at large,
the news, and in many other sources. Recently, our culture has seen the rise of very powerful forces emerge on both the left and the right. I believe most people fall somewhere in the middle and both sides are vying to get those of us in the middle to abdicate the sovereignty of our consciousness and to adopt their views. They do this by trying to convince us that we should feel shame and
guilt for the beliefs we hold (e.g., by labeling us racists on the left or unbelievers on the right). They also threaten punishment for not adopting their beliefs (e.g., cancel culture on the left and eternal damnation on the right). It makes sense that they would have to employ threats of punishment to
convince a person to believe what they are not naturally inclined to believe. That
is, a person need not be punished to coerce them to believe something they already held to be true.

Interestingly, both the extreme right and the extreme left claim to be the responsible parties. Both sides also claim to be the victim of their opposite pole. But a victim cannot be responsible. In fact, to be a victim is an abdication of conscious sovereignty. Such is the psychological dynamic of a person immersed in shame. That is, the psychology of shame teaches a person that they cannot trust themselves. They have to adopt the judgement of a higher, external force to guide their moral decisions. Moreover, to justify this decision they must convince others to adopt the same belief.

It is telling that both extremes are vying for control of the middle. The fact
that the message coming from both extremes differs in content but not in
technique is a clue that they are mirror images of the same corrupting and
manipulative force. But true morality does not come about through manipulation. How could it be moral to adopt a belief under threat of punishment? How could it be moral to make a choice because someone up there is watching and will condemn me  if I choose wrongly. No. True morality comes from the heart and is a sovereign decision of consciousness.