“They burned their
own corn to set fire to the church; they smashed their own tools to smash it;
any stick was good enough to beat it with, though it were the last stick of
their own dismembered furniture. We do not admire, we hardly excuse, the
fanatic who wrecks this world for love of the other. But what are we to say of
the fanatic who wrecks this world out of hatred of the other?
And yet the thing
hangs in the heavens unhurt. Its opponents only succeed in destroying all that
they themselves justly hold dear. They do not destroy orthodoxy; they only destroy
political and common sense.”
- G.K.
Chesterton, Chapter VIII of “Orthodoxy”
Chesterton
is speaking here about the lengths some people will go to in order to attack
the belief system of the traditional church, specifically Catholicism. There
are individuals who begin by attacking the church (“orthodoxy”) for the sake of
liberty or justice or some other ideal, but who eventually end up denying
justice and liberty in order to attack the church. Their obsessive hatred leads
them to sacrifice even their own ideals in order that they might destroy the
object of their wrath.
I’ve noticed
a parallel with this recently, but the object of wrath in this instance was not
the Roman Catholic Church. Rather it was political conservatism.
Over the last
couple of weeks I’ve seen posts and pictures defending the “right” of Muslim
women in western nations to wear Burkas (veils). In each case these were put
forward by individuals who, as far as I can tell, were fairly left-leaning
politically. Now, one should find this surprising. People of leftist persuasion
usually champion themselves as defenders of women’s rights, against the
“conservative” and “old-fashioned” values of traditional western culture. Women
should be fully independent of any sort of patriarchal system that would put
limits on their personal/sexual/reproductive freedom, they argue.
Yet, in
spite of this, they defend a cultural practice that is linked to the extreme
denigration of women. There is perhaps no major religious/cultural force in the
world that holds women in contempt more than that of Islam. How in the world
can these people defend a woman’s “right” to be treated as a shameful object, a
mere piece of property? I’ll tell you how. Because it’s a way to further oppose
the political conservatism they hold in utter contempt. For the last couple of
years Stephen Harper (cue the theme song for the Galactic Empire) and other
conservative leaders and intellectuals have openly opposed some of the cultural
practices of Islam. They have attempted to take steps to limit some of these
practices. And of course, they’ve met opposition from individuals who, if
anyone other than an evil conservative had put forward these motions, would
back them fully in the name of women’s rights and freedoms.
It seems
they are willing to sacrifice even their most cherished ideals, if only they
might continue to oppose the greatest threat they see to humanity – political conservatism.
At this point one begins to wonder, do they have any positive vision to offer the
world? Is there no place that the two can meet and agree? Has the debate
devolved into “whatever they stand
for, I stand for the opposite?”…“Multiculturalism
and women’s rights have clashed into one another and been found incompatible, now
what do we do? We see what “side” the enemy takes, then oppose them because
they are bad and wrong all the time. That’s what we do.” That’s the easy way to
feel like a crusader for justice without having to do the hard work of figuring
out just what justice really is.
Of course,
I’m not ragging on all lefties. I am more right-leaning myself, but many
individuals of the opposite political persuasion are genuinely nice,
well-meaning people (though I still hold that they are mistaken about some of
their views). The people I am intending to beat on, however, are the loudmouths
with oppositional defiance disorder. That type of attitude destroys rational
debate and leads to the dumbing down of public discourse.
I guess the
lesson is that one should be careful not to fall into the same trap! The wise
man must remind himself daily that he is never, ever above any particular fault
– especially one in which he is emotionally invested (perhaps emotionally compromised is a better
phrase). Don’t let your righteous anger become an unrighteous prejudice.
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