A Quick Word About The Lukewarm Left
I am not religious. As a matter of fact I am agnostic as I lack the gift of faith but I do have respect for the figure of Jesus and his teachings and I'm familiar with the scripture. So it is not surprising to me that when I saw some people trying to somehow legitimize the claims of white supremacists as reactionaries to the left I thought of Rev 3:15-16.
"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth."
There's something to be learned from this. There is value to being rational, tempered and objective. There is value to listening to the other side and not letting emotions get the best of us and I like to think of myself as such a person even though I allow myself to feel raw and uncensored. I do this because it is equally important to be human and I don't want to lose that instinct and the capacity to be outraged by vile disgusting behaviour. I'm afraid that in their well intentioned efforts to find common ground some people lose themselves. They become so compromised towards neutrality as a default position that they start to think that neutrality is always the correct position. They become afraid to move and take a side without giving in to the other. They become afraid to condemn evil without at the same time offering some sort of emotional balm either in the form of praising some other attribute or condemning the other side. They become so trapped by this neutrality that they will equally condemn those who rally for nazi ideals and those who rally against them. I get it. I'm highly empathic to a fault and I usually try to reach out to those I differ with in good faith to try to understand them but there are things that can't be negotiated and there is power that shouldn't be surrendered. It is your choice where and when to use that power.
The government guarantees that everyone can express themselves and I support that right but in the name of all that's good and green we as citizens do not have to hold our tongues and wring our hands. We have a moral obligation to do what the government and the law can't do. We must absolutely reject this speech of hate and condemn it without sympathy. We must not allow these promoters of hate to think for one second that they're the victims. These people who think of themselves as superior to other races must be held to the high standard they proclaim. Nobody forces you to be an ethno-nationalist. BLM didn't force you. The left didn't force you. Antifa didn't force you. It's your choice. To everybody else I say be compassionate, be rational but for God's sake do not be afraid to hurt some feelings when there are lives at stake.
"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth."
There's something to be learned from this. There is value to being rational, tempered and objective. There is value to listening to the other side and not letting emotions get the best of us and I like to think of myself as such a person even though I allow myself to feel raw and uncensored. I do this because it is equally important to be human and I don't want to lose that instinct and the capacity to be outraged by vile disgusting behaviour. I'm afraid that in their well intentioned efforts to find common ground some people lose themselves. They become so compromised towards neutrality as a default position that they start to think that neutrality is always the correct position. They become afraid to move and take a side without giving in to the other. They become afraid to condemn evil without at the same time offering some sort of emotional balm either in the form of praising some other attribute or condemning the other side. They become so trapped by this neutrality that they will equally condemn those who rally for nazi ideals and those who rally against them. I get it. I'm highly empathic to a fault and I usually try to reach out to those I differ with in good faith to try to understand them but there are things that can't be negotiated and there is power that shouldn't be surrendered. It is your choice where and when to use that power.
The government guarantees that everyone can express themselves and I support that right but in the name of all that's good and green we as citizens do not have to hold our tongues and wring our hands. We have a moral obligation to do what the government and the law can't do. We must absolutely reject this speech of hate and condemn it without sympathy. We must not allow these promoters of hate to think for one second that they're the victims. These people who think of themselves as superior to other races must be held to the high standard they proclaim. Nobody forces you to be an ethno-nationalist. BLM didn't force you. The left didn't force you. Antifa didn't force you. It's your choice. To everybody else I say be compassionate, be rational but for God's sake do not be afraid to hurt some feelings when there are lives at stake.
Comments
Post a Comment