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Acceptance Versus Tolerance
I won’t be wronged. I won’t be insulted. I won’t be laid a-hand on. I don’t do these things to other people, and I require the same from them. — From the movie, The Shootist.
In this present day you could probably rewrite the quote; “I will be insulting. You deserve to have a hand laid on you. I will do these things to other people.”
It is no longer enough to tolerate different views of politics, or any other aspect of life. Acceptance is demanded, and if not freely given then it will be legislated, or physically coerced.
Holding a different point of view than another person should not be considered an insult. The problem is in the presentation of the argument, and then the rebuttal. There is a quote attributed to St. Thomas Aquinas; “Very few men are swayed by a logical argument, far fewer men can construct one.”
The presentation of a premise and conclusion is rather minimalist today. Very little logic, and a lot of emotion. It’s not unlike going to an expensive restaurant. There is one scallop in the center of a plate, artfully decorated with some sauce drizzled around the plate, and a small piece of some plant that has been placed somewhere on the plate. A minimal amount of food that comes with a large price. It’s all about the presentation.
We live in a society that has produced a very comfortable lifestyle. Unfortunately that is not enough for some people. It is not just actors and athletes that have their every need and want satisfied, and so they look for other things to occupy them. There are also those that have enough time in this country to Tweet, or spend hours on the internet making sure they are heard. There is just enough isolation that they begin to believe everyone finds them wise, and more importantly caring. There is not enough isolation to prevent them from finding out not everyone agrees with them. Their most devastating discovery is that they cannot defend their ideas. Rage is their answer to impose their ideas, which is all they want to do anyway.
The greatest danger in a comfortable society is producing people whose lives are so empty the only pleasure they have left in life is to interfere in the lives of others.
Published in General
This x 10.
Well said. I especially like the last sentence. Sort of reminds me of “idle hands”.
Unfortunately, Doug, as you indicate, there are no consequences. There is no way to communicate that their behavior is disgusting, and I doubt that they care what we think. Artfulness, thoughtfulness, reason and empathy will soon disappear from the Leftist lexicon–if they haven’t already.
Yes, and then the left will self destruct; they are self destructing already. What we are seeing right now is the left having a total melt down because they lost an election, and this is bad for us, why?
*There are consequences. Trump is a consequence. The fact that many on the left don’t understand that Trump is a consequence doesn’t change the fact that he is one.
I hope you’re right, @judithanncampbell. My only concern is that violence will not be too far off. And they aren’t the only ones who will be hurt.
As we have seen with terrorism, a very small number of people can hurt many, so yes, that is a concern, but I don’t think we need to fear that these cry babies will take over our entire society. They are losers: terrorists are always losers.
Well said.
I see no option left, other than for the Right to use the tactics of the Left against them as well. The Left will never stop, and the supporters of the Left will never call out the brownshirts.
Every leftist establishment should be made to suffer as much as right establishments are.
The second Civil War is being fought, we are just in the Kansas phase.
Doug,
Wisdom.
Regards,
Jim
Indeed. And any pushback will actually reinforce the behavior.
Alas, this is true, even in a nonpolitical context. At church today, I was reminded that you cannot like or respect someone with whom you disagree about liturgy. At least, that is what I gather from a few, vocal, fellow parishioners.
Lord, I’m weary of all the contentiousness.
Acceptance is not sufficient; that implies reservations which you may keep to yourself, but indicate biases, prejudices, phobias, and the rest of the panoply of deadly sins. Endorsement is the new standard.
“Celebrate me, or I call the police.”
So well written. And so true.
I’m reminded of the Thomas Sowell quote: “The problem isn’t that Johnny can’t read. The problem isn’t even that Johnny can’t think. The problem is that Johnny doesn’t know what thinking is; he confuses it with feeling.”
I see 1848 all over again, with the left playing the role of the Hungarians.
Endorsement is only one more pit stop. Participation is the only acceptable outcome.
No, I don’t think they’ll require that; they’ll be happy with a subsidy.