As the Only Person Here with a Right to an Opinion, I Hereby Decree...
We all know…reasonable people know that identity politics is the bane of civil debate. Well, unreasonable people know that also. Maybe it’s why they engage in it, so they don’t have to play by the outdated rules.
Much has been and continues to be said about the identity politics coming from the left, so I’ll spare some 1’s and 0’s. The internet has to be filling up at this point, no? I would point out that the folks who specialize in it know exactly what they are doing. They aren’t “libtards” or any other offensive pejorative you can catapult over their fortress walls. They are smart. How do I know they are? Well, for one, they continuously tell everyone how smart they are. They wouldn’t do that if it weren’t true, right?
Second, they know it’s the path of least resistance. As humans, we are created for work. Being made in God’s image, we are meant for work, and the satisfied rest that follows the task accomplished. But laziness and comfort is our default setting. We often tell ourselves we don’t have work to do. It’s a lie. Fun is fleeting. Work is ongoing. And that’s a good thing. Work is much more rewarding than fun, and fun has to be in relegated to its proper place. If we were all hedonists or bohemians, tall buildings and delicious chicken teriyaki subs would never get made. Or when we don’t feel like working, we sink into laziness and what we view as comfortable. Meant for work but default setting is lazy. It’s a puzzling dichotomy, being this creature called man.
What are the identity politics all-stars (new band name, I called it) doing but defaulting to laziness and the path of least resistance? Lincoln and Douglas had it all wrong. You don’t vigorously debate to win the argument. You shut it down from the get-go. Show’s over folks. Nothing to see. Oh you were expecting entertainment? Got your nose! Got your nose! Now beat it, and while you’re beating it, scram! Gives the all-star more time to shop for freezer bags so he can store his sense of moral superiority without it spoiling.
How lazy is identity politics, rhetorically speaking? See that? I asked a rhetorical question about rhetoric. Ah-ha-ahhhh, I got nothing. Remember Sam Elliot’s character, The Stranger, from The Big Lebowski? He describes The Dude as possibly the laziest man in all of Los Angeles county, which would put him in the running for laziest in the world. That’s how lazy the Brooklyn Identity Politics All Stars are. They’ve been picked up by an east coast city. Big surprise, I know. They are sure to dominate in the Hipster Hair Bun League. So, instead of seeing a buffoon like the Dude entertainingly bumble his way into solving a kidnapping mystery, you’ll watch some fools pontificate on how you don’t have the right to an opinion…for about five minutes, then you’ll excuse yourself to the concession stand and ask for extremely hot melted butter to be mercifully thrown into your eyes. I’m getting way off track here.
People who care about the details, like civil debate, honest discourse, mature exchanging of ideas, and that little ol’ cutesy thing we call the 1st Amendment verstehen that identity politics is…I’m going to use it but I don’t want to…ooooh this is painful……..toxic. Actually scratch that. It’s cancerous. Much better. Problem is, we are falling prey to it. Here’s where my title comes into play, six paragraphs in. Self-centered vamping much, blogger dearest?
How are we falling prey to this linguistic cancer? By starting counterarguments with “As a __________”. That simple. When we begin sentences with that little preposition and indefinite article, we are being sucked into the game. Granted, a game being played against gluten-intolerant vegans it would be laughably humiliating to lose to, but a game all the same. I’ve done it, I must confess. I’ve said in comment threads “As a teacher, I can attest to the ills of the public school system.” What was I thinking? I don’t need to be a teacher to know there are some serious problems in the schools. I’ve said “As a father, I can tell you…” I’ve seen others say “As a black woman…” , “As a Christian/atheist…”, “As the only scientist on this thread…”, “As a gun-toting midget Klansman…” (saw that one on Jerry Springer). For real. Take a minute to Google it. You get the point, hopefully.
We don’t need to show our insider position in a group to have a valid, maybe even quality, opinion. If you have something to say that, by its very content shows your’e a thoughtful person who’s considered this carefully, then you have the right to say it. You don’t have to earn it with a degree, certification, lifestyle choice, orientation, or racial identity. Just one of the many beautiful things about this country. I refrain from stating an opinion when the subject at hand is so specific, esoteric, or I’m so limited in knowledge, that my weighing in would remove all doubt as to being considered a fool. I won’t get on a debate about brain tumor surgery and give the surgeon my opinion. Same goes with the terrifying creatures of the deep, the mathematical calculations it takes to send a man to the moon, what it is women really want, or any number of topics we will never really figure out.
I’m even cautious with the climate change debate. That’s because biased scientists can only agree that things change. Other than that, I’ll weigh in on any topic that contains a moral/ethical proposition, and from now on, not use “As a…”. It is exclusionary in nature and doesn’t value the credible opinions of those not in that specified group. I don’t need to be part of Westboro Baptist Church to believe those hillbillies do great evil while simultaneously besmirching the good name of Baptists all over who bring glory to God with their lives. I don’t need to be a football player to consider Tom Brady the greatest. I don’t need to be a movie star to believe that Spielberg is the best director ever. I don’t need to be a woman to consider abortion murder. Ouch. That last one there is going to stick in someone’s craw. Can you hear the steam coming from their ears as they read this? A man daring to take a moral stand against the left’s most sacred cow? Why it’s a scandal big enough to fill a month of Sundays with gossip, I do declare.
Those other topics aren’t all that controversial. Quite innocuous really. That’s how it goes with the Brooklyn Identity Politics All Stars. They have a set number of topics that are off-limits to the outsiders but will set you and your sophomoric thinking straight about right-leaning topics. You don’t need their special group status topics listed here as I’m sure you can rattle them off in your head. If excluding you from the debate doesn’t work, then calling you fascist, racist, purveyor of hate speech, bigot, etc. will. Irony is less amusing irony when it’s lost on the person who’s experiencing the irony. But when leftists violently shut down debate with insults, shouting, and threats, it’s so very much extremely maximum ironic they sometimes choose to call others fascist. Problem is, the overwhelming majority of people don’t let societal whims determine what is moral and immoral. They look to transcendent authority for that, so what is moral and immoral doesn’t really change. It’s just that leftists have found a new way to argue morality by metaphorically stuffing their ears with cotton and going LA LA LA LA. You don’t need to be told it’s childish. You also shouldn’t debate on their terms.
Look lefties, I totally get that there are some folks who claim conservatism as their worldview and (even more damaging-ly) claim Christ as their savior who make a very bad show of things when they spew hatred after declaring something immoral. That is not Christ-like. Christ commands us to hate sin but love the sinner. Many of us fail on that, I will admit. He also commands us to hate abhor the sins in our own selves, something we fail miserably when we point out the sin of others like it’s going out of style. I myself hate the sin I struggle with in my own life but when taken to task my answer will always be “my morality springs from biblical doctrine”. The caveat to that is “my love for you as a fellow image-bearer of God also springs from biblical doctrine”. I subject leftists to a good number of teasing words, I will admit, but I love them and I am saddened to see them so close-minded to any opinion they’ve labeled as invalid or hateful. It’s un-American, but is quickly becoming quite American. Great sadness will ensue if this is what goes for debate in the future.
