Resumption of Regular Programming
I’ve been blighted by maddening computer problems over the past couple of weeks and have been almost entirely without Internet access (meaning no email, no news [I don't watch television], and no blogging). The problems seem to be solved, so there shouldn’t be any more radio silence. (She says naively.)
To get back into the swing of things, I’d like to refer you to an interesting post over at Daniel in Brookline‘s that addresses the curious cognitive dissonance of right-on American homosexuals who reflexively support Palestine, where open homosexuality is an invitation to discrimination, abuse, violence and possibly death, against Israel, which has a thriving gay scene in which both Jewish and Arab homosexuals are free to be what they are and express themselves honestly without fear of state-sanctioned reprisal. Aside from anything else, it’s the sheer dopey predictability of such a mindless political position — a position that’s utterly divorced from the reality on the ground — that makes me throw up my hands in exasperation.
Rather than work myself into a state explaining the inanity of such a position, I’ll leave it to Paul Varnell at the Independent Gay Forum (cited by Daniel), who makes the point clearly and well. I’ll just add the postscript that this business falls in with my oft-repeated observation that chunks of the far left appear curiously without imagination. I’d hazard a guess that these demonstrators, for example, have never seriously imagined a world other than their own, in which political opinions no matter how indefensible can be expressed with blithe abandon and same-sex sexual preference can be displayed without fear. I doubt the placard-waving woman in the “Dykes From Hell” T-shirt has spent much time contemplating what would happen to her if she woke up one day as a Muslim woman in Ramallah.
One might suppose that any reasonably thoughtful person would be capable of imagining the reality of being snatched from your home, humiliated, physically and psychologically tortured, and forced into exile on pain of death, with the full approval of the state and no defense or help from any quarter. One might further suppose that people who would themselves be subjected to this treatment because of, say, their eye color, or their mother’s religion, or their height, or their sexual preference would be unlikely to blanketly defend the offending regime. One would be wrong.
Thanks for the link, Gloria!
I think you’re absolutely right — too many Americans now take their hard-won freedoms for granted, and cannot imagine a world in which they are not free to say whatever they want, whenever they want. They cannot imagine what it’s like to be afraid of being tortured, or killed, because of a controversial comment whispered in a moment of weakness.
Like it or not, that not only represents much of the world we live in today. It’s also the way human beings have lived for the vast majority of our history. The freedom of speech that Americans — yes, and Israelis — enjoy today is not a universal rule, by any means; it’s a rare historical aberration, and it’s a lot more fragile than many people realize.
I wish these noble flatheads well… and I hope they are never foolish enough to venture into the “Palestine” they support so strongly, and learn, to their horror, just how wrong they are.
respectfully,
Daniel in Brookline
Hi Gloria.
Maybe these idiots would learn something if they *were* snatched from their homes, humiliated, physically and psychologically tortured, and forced into exile on pain of death…by Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
Welcome back, Gloria.
While I’m sure your observation that “chunks of the far left appear curiously without imagination” it’s also an observable fact that chunks of it also appear to have a curiously active imagination. I refer to that segment of the left that believes that the CIA or the Mossad or even George Bush himself were responsible for the events of 9/11.
I’m guessing all such notions are arrived at by taking a very selective and narrow path to what is already a pre-determined destination. Contrary evidence doesn’t matter, so rational analysis is not even possible. For a certain segment of the population the worth of an idea is measured only by how well it fits a pre-existing framework.
So, I guess I’ve argued myself back to your original point. These idiots have no imagination; they engage their minds not in thought but in ignorant imaginings.