Prejudice is of little concern to me. In the grand scheme of things, how someone feels about a certain movie is as inconsequential as how they feel about a certain race. If a white racist assaults a minority, I am concerned with the assault, not his opinion. Most racists, white, black, or otherwise never take things that far, and their opinion remains their prerogative, however goofy or wrong it may be. In fact, I know die-hard racists who are otherwise decent people. Bad opinions don’t necessarily equal bad character.
Likewise, I know liberals who are wrong about virtually everything, who subscribe to a number of vicious stereotypes, yet remain the salt of the earth. One of the strongest prejudices commonly expressed by liberals and various cosmopolitan elites is the scorn shown towards Christians who reject the theory of evolution and believe in “creationism.” This anti-Christian prejudice, as it relates to creationism, can be as harsh as any racism and is often as illogical. I remember a woman who called in to WTMA during the presidential primaries who claimed she liked former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, but could not vote for him because he rejected evolution and put “religion above science.”
But we vote for leaders who place faith above facts all the time. What creationism is to fundamentalist Christianity, the belief in the strength of “diversity” is to fundamentalist liberalism. Common sense tells us the earth probably wasn’t created in seven days and is older than a few thousand years. Common sense also tells us that racial, ethnic, religious, and cultural diversity creates friction everywhere it exists.
One Comment
I agree with almost all your points. I agree that there are many ultra liberals whose faith in their ideology is just as extreme and closed-minded as many evangelical Christians’. I also fully agree that many of these liberals have an “anti-Christian prejudice, [especially] as it relates to creationism, [and which] can be as harsh as any racism and is often as illogical.”
However, although an important tenet of their faith, I would not say that strength of diversity is the fundamentalist liberal equivalent of creationism to the fundamentalist Christian. And, more importantly, while I do believe that diversity has and can often create problems, difficulty, and conflict– and that it’s naive to think otherwise– I believe it is equally extreme and simplistic to say that “Common sense… tells us that racial, ethnic, religious, and cultural diversity creates friction everywhere it exists.”
I also personally believe (and I am no ultra leftist) that if a nation or other group can overcome and work through the difficulty and conflict of its diversity, while still maintaining its diversity, it is absolutely better for the wear. I have seen examples of this many times.
-Still a huge and grateful fan.