My friends constantly tell me how different I am, how I am too serious, or too opinionated, or whatever. They also think I’m funny, so who knows?
I think there is an impulse in almost everyone to believe that the world’s problems would be over if only everyone would adopt their philosophy, or world view. It’s most prominent in college students, and seems to ebb over time.
:::flip:::
I know I suffered from that presumption as a college student, and I have to fight the impulse even today. Because I know it’s wrong.
To demonstrate my point I’ll use pacifists. I am not a pacifist. Sometimes I think pacifists are right, and sometimes I think they are wrong. But if everyone agreed with me, there would be no pacifists.
When a war is wrong and needs to be prevented, or ended, we need pacifists. We need pacifists to strongly question the validity of any proposed use of force, even when that use of force is necessary.
We need people who oppose violence as a matter of principle because without them there would be no counter weight to people that think all problems can be handled with force and coercion.
The same is true for a number of other issues. For example, defenders of the first amendment can occasionally go too far. But we need passionate defenders of the sanctity of free speech, exercise of religion, and assembly. Without a rigorous defense of these liberties, those liberties will be weakened.
I see the value in some right-wing absolutists too. Libertarian arguments against taxation and coercion help to keep the government from becoming an all-encompassing behemoth that violates our liberties.
People that oppose abortion AND the death penalty, keep a spotlight on the value of each life, real or potential.
When I feel assaulted by right-wing absolutists, I try to console myself by remembering that we need passionate people to defend us and our freedoms, even though they may be wrong as often as right.
As John Prine said, “It’s a Big Old Goofy World”. We are actually stronger because so many people are wrong about so many things. But I still cannot see the virtues of the Tony Perkins, James Dobson crew. Try as I might, they just strike me as a menace.
