(Kindly note, in advance, that I use ‘liberal’ here as in the modern parlance of self-described liberals. I am aware there are other — more or less archaic — definitions, and am not interested in disputing those. OK? Thanks.) \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
Both Vin and I grew up as east coast liberals, and thankfully we each outgrew the indoctrination, having eventually recognized it as such. Many decent people with good hearts and smarts just don’t. Not because they’re “totalitarians at heart,” as some say — they’ve simply been immersed in liberal ideology since birth, like the proverbial fish in water. Parents pass their biases and beliefs along to their kids; schools as well as the media reinforce that liberal ideology. With political correctness, they go too far in trying to silence debate and smother criticism — criticism, after all, (especially when it comes to bad ideas) is sometimes warranted, and debate or open discussion is indispensable to a free society.<\/p>\n
Similarly, conservatism has its flaws to the extent it can also manifest as an ideology. Even Libertarianism, if it’s clutched too zealously in a person’s mind, can begin to resemble a religion — the foundation for a pulpit where some feel they possess a sort of higher authority, and feel a self-imposed duty to badger others whose views don’t align completely with their own. (And no, I am NOT referring to any particular individual here — in case that’s what you’re thinking — but a syndrome of sorts, that manifests particularly poisonously where ideologies are concerned.)<\/p>\n
Generally, American people don’t hate Jews, or Christians, or Muslims on account of their religion — or African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans on account of their origin. The very idea is largely anathema to the American mind, as it should be to any thoughtful person. So why hate the east coast liberal, or the right wing conservative, on account of the environment into which they were born, and has shaped their thinking? Hatred of THE OTHER is what gives birth to war, divisiveness, and renders us highly manipulable by forces that exploit it . . . if I can’t remember that the other fellow is first and foremost human, despite our differences, how can I reasonably expect his reciprocal respect?<\/p>\n
‘Hate speech’ is an absurd and dangerous construct. After all, speech is a product of thought (except perhaps in cases of Tourette’s Syndrome or other forms of involuntary speech), and do even the PC people seriously want thought police? Anyone who harbors genuinely ‘hateful’ thoughts should be free to speak their mind — how else is one going to debate them, or otherwise identify their reasoning (or lack thereof), to bring to light their basis for being ‘hateful’? Maybe that person’s anger and resentment IS legitimate — if so, silencing speech simply because you don’t like the message is unjust. Sometimes it’s silence that is hateful — failing to object to injustice done to others, for example. Forcing silence upon people for the sake of ‘Political Correctness’ (PC) is hateful, and socially destructive.<\/p>\n
Maybe I’m weird, but I truly appreciate people who challenge me to re-examine my biases, or to re-think and investigate issues I might be peripherally aware of, especially where I realize I may not fully grasp what’s at stake. Wouldn’t you rather know the truth too, even if it makes you uncomfortable?<\/p>\n
I’ll leave you with two recent examples — my hat is off to these two guys:<\/p>\n
Steven Crowder tackles some Black Lives Matter propaganda<\/a> (video approx. 14 min.)<\/p>\n My comments on this: I LIKE this guy. It takes grit to play Devil’s Advocate on behalf of the cops, as he does here. Not necessarily because he’s a fan of police, but because he’s after the truth, and some of these shooting victims apparently aren’t as blameless and innocuous as the media makes them out to be. And he’s FUNNY. He’s not afraid to tackle controversial subjects, it looks like he does some serious research to support his statements, and as he points out — THE FACTS MATTER. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n Eric Allen Bell: Counter Jihad is About Human Rights<\/a> (video 4 min, 5 sec.)<\/p>\n My comments on this: Personally, as a fellow former disenfranchised liberal, I felt Eric’s message here is so important that — not finding a link to a text version — I took the liberty of transcribing it, to the best of my ability (which I hope is OK, as I mean to fully attribute the message to him and will do so in the links below.) I’m aware that not everyone is as likely to click on a video link as they might be to read text, and people with hearing disabilities might appreciate being able to read it, as there’s considerable background noise in the video.<\/p>\n Here’s the Eric Allen Bell transcript . . . (Skip the transcript if you prefer the video, of course.) Any mistakes in transcription are naturally my own, and apologies in advance if I’ve made any. (I tried to be very careful to avoid errors, but I’m human.) \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n Q: is (unidentified) questioner;<\/strong> EAB: is Eric Allen Bell.<\/p>\n (Begin transcript)<\/p>\n Q: When liberals hear about jihad in America, counter jihad, they instantly knee jerk react that it’s racism.<\/strong><\/p>\n EAB: That’s right.<\/p>\n Q: What have you learned, as coming from the liberal left of center, what have you learned about jihad that’s different from what the Huffington Post thinks?<\/strong><\/p>\n EAB: Uh, the tendency I think even of your most well meaning moderate liberal is to look at the world through a collectivist lens. So when I say Islam, they hear Muslim. If I say I’m against Islam, they hear, ‘You’re against Muslims.’ The tendency then is to, um, identify with, protect, sympathize with whoever you perceive to be the minority, or the victim. So if I say I’m against the belief system of Islam, a collectivist is hearing that I’m against an individual. And so they say, ‘You must be a hate monger, a bigot, an Islamophobe,’ and why not throw in right winger. So what we have is a perceptive disability, If we’re to succeed in the counter jihad movement, instead of saying they should think differently, we need to speak their language. And we need to explain, that counter jihad is about human rights. If you’re a real liberal, you’re against Islam. If you’re a real liberal and you care about women’s rights, and gay rights and free speech and religious freedom, you must be against Islam. If you’re against xenophobia, nothing is more xenophobic than Islam. So to truly be a liberal, you have to be counter jihad. Or you’re just a complete phony.<\/p>\n Q: But what’s the distinction between counter jihad, and counter Islam?<\/strong><\/p>\n EAB: There is no distinction, at all, because Islam and jihad are inseparable. There’s no such thing as radical Islam, it’s a complete myth. Thank God the majority of the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims are not devout. Thank God. Because the devout ones are the terrorists.<\/p>\n Q: (Hard to make out precise wording, the questioner asks if Islam has not been hijacked.)<\/strong><\/p>\n EAB: No, Islam has not been hijacked by radicals; the ideal man in Islam, the highest moral example, is Muhammad. He married a six year old girl, had foreplay with her for three years and then had sex with her when she was nine. He beheaded poets who offended him. He killed an entire Jewish tribe. He was a slave owner. He was a bloodthirsty tyrant — and this is the ideal man, who all Muslims are supposed to emulate. Now, how do you find a moderate Islam in there? It doesn’t exist.<\/p>\n Q: Is there some liberal postulate that criticizing another religion immediately makes you illiberal?<\/strong><\/p>\n EAB: No, unfortunately liberalism is, uh, you know, connected at the hip with multiculturalism. So, you know, you have to believe that there’s no such thing as superior or inferior, not races, but belief systems or cultures. And it’s a lie. And, you know, we have one or two generations who have been educated and indoctrinated into that lie through our public education system and our culture and our media. So that’s a problem. Also, you know, to so many liberals, to think to yourself that the minority group could possibly be in the wrong, I can’t even have that thought. No one is more victimized by Islam than Muslims. Hundreds of millions of Muslim women live under Islamic gender apartheid. So when we talk about human rights, first and foremost, the people who are victimized by Islam are Muslims. And we’re standing for their humanity, and for their rights, and for their dignity in\u00a0 counter jihad.<\/p>\n (End of interview.) Then the following text appears on the screen:<\/p>\n Liberty and Islam cannot coexist.<\/p>\n Free speech and Islam cannot coexist.<\/p>\n Women’s rights and Islam cannot coexist.<\/p>\n Human rights and Islam cannot coexist.<\/p>\n Critical thinking and Islam cannot coexist.<\/p>\n Weapons of mass destruction and Islam cannot coexist.<\/p>\n The future and Islam cannot coexist.<\/p>\n www.EricAllenBell.com<\/a> (site redirects to his facebook page, here: https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EricAllenBell<\/a><\/p>\n * * * * *<\/p>\n With that, I’ll conclude by wishing everyone a safe weekend. Events of the coming days are likely to prove historic, for better or worse. It feels odd to be posting this on a so-called “Day of Rage” with so many bizarre currents swirling around us. Please be cautious, once again, and prayer probably can’t hurt if you’re so inclined. I’m not religious, per se<\/em>, but I expect I’ll be praying anyway . . . \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n Love to all!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (Kindly note, in advance, that I use ‘liberal’ here as in the modern parlance of self-described liberals. I am aware there are other — more or less archaic — definitions, and am not interested in disputing those. OK? 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