Odd Brand of Tolerance
Wow. This should perk your ears up. Chris Hedges, senior fellow at the Nation Institute, writes:
This is the awful paradox of tolerance. There arise moments when those who would destroy the tolerance that makes an open society possible should no longer be tolerated. They must be held accountable by institutions that maintain the free exchange of ideas and liberty.
The radical Christian Right must be forced to include other points of view to counter their hate talk in their own broadcasts, watched by tens of millions of Americans. They must be denied the right to demonize whole segments of American society, saying they are manipulated by Satan and worthy only of conversion or eradication. They must be made to treat their opponents with respect and acknowledge the right of a fair hearing even as they exercise their own freedom to disagree with their opponents.
Passivity in the face of the rise of the Christian Right threatens the democratic state. And the movement has targeted the last remaining obstacles to its systems of indoctrination, mounting a fierce campaign to defeat hate-crime legislation, fearing the courts could apply it to them as they spew hate talk over the radio, television and Internet.
Does your brand of tolerance include completely mischaracterizing a huge segment of American society? Apparently, it does. This garbage can be translated into: "I don't agree with their beliefs, therefore they must be silenced." What about the radical heathen left? Should they be silenced too? You want to see pure hatred? Go to a leftwing kook web site, such as Daily Kos or Democratic Underground. You'll get all you can stand. But...since you no doubt agree with them, it'll be okay with you. Right, Mr. Tolerance?
JASmius adds: Heh. At first I thought Hedges was referring to Islamic Fundamentalists, but I suppose I should have known better. Funny how he conflates their actual hatred, intolerance, and violent, imperialistic fanaticism with the motivations and doctrines of the Christian faith. Particularly the "worthy only of conversion or eradication" crack. I could have sworn that the LORD Jesus Christ Himself said, "Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet." I don't see anything in that passage about "off with their heads," "blow the bleeping infidels up," or "wipe them off the face of the Earth."
Of course we don't have to guess at how Mr. Hedges and people like him view the struggle against genuine theocrats, do we? Which leads to the conclusion that such intolerant heathen are only willing to openly "crusade" against "people of faith" that won't shoot real bullets back at them.
We know you hate us, Mr. Hedges, and we also know why. It would be nice if you could save some of that enmity for those who think you're just as "Christian" as we are, and want to kill us all for it. At least then your bigotry would be unleavened by the hypocrisy that turns it more bitter than the proverbial wormwood.
This is the awful paradox of tolerance. There arise moments when those who would destroy the tolerance that makes an open society possible should no longer be tolerated. They must be held accountable by institutions that maintain the free exchange of ideas and liberty.
The radical Christian Right must be forced to include other points of view to counter their hate talk in their own broadcasts, watched by tens of millions of Americans. They must be denied the right to demonize whole segments of American society, saying they are manipulated by Satan and worthy only of conversion or eradication. They must be made to treat their opponents with respect and acknowledge the right of a fair hearing even as they exercise their own freedom to disagree with their opponents.
Passivity in the face of the rise of the Christian Right threatens the democratic state. And the movement has targeted the last remaining obstacles to its systems of indoctrination, mounting a fierce campaign to defeat hate-crime legislation, fearing the courts could apply it to them as they spew hate talk over the radio, television and Internet.
Does your brand of tolerance include completely mischaracterizing a huge segment of American society? Apparently, it does. This garbage can be translated into: "I don't agree with their beliefs, therefore they must be silenced." What about the radical heathen left? Should they be silenced too? You want to see pure hatred? Go to a leftwing kook web site, such as Daily Kos or Democratic Underground. You'll get all you can stand. But...since you no doubt agree with them, it'll be okay with you. Right, Mr. Tolerance?
JASmius adds: Heh. At first I thought Hedges was referring to Islamic Fundamentalists, but I suppose I should have known better. Funny how he conflates their actual hatred, intolerance, and violent, imperialistic fanaticism with the motivations and doctrines of the Christian faith. Particularly the "worthy only of conversion or eradication" crack. I could have sworn that the LORD Jesus Christ Himself said, "Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet." I don't see anything in that passage about "off with their heads," "blow the bleeping infidels up," or "wipe them off the face of the Earth."
Of course we don't have to guess at how Mr. Hedges and people like him view the struggle against genuine theocrats, do we? Which leads to the conclusion that such intolerant heathen are only willing to openly "crusade" against "people of faith" that won't shoot real bullets back at them.
We know you hate us, Mr. Hedges, and we also know why. It would be nice if you could save some of that enmity for those who think you're just as "Christian" as we are, and want to kill us all for it. At least then your bigotry would be unleavened by the hypocrisy that turns it more bitter than the proverbial wormwood.
posted by Jennifer at 12:40 AM
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