Leftists Implemented Their Leftist Persecution

My heart always sinks a little when I see terms like “leftist” in my comments. See also; “alt-right,” “fascist,” and increasingly, “woke.”

These terms are almost always used by people whose brains have been captured by partisanship. People whose views on pretty much any topic can be predicted based on their generalisation of choice. People who see everybody who thinks differently as “the enemy™.”

In my article, Calling A Ceasefire In The Culture Wars, I wrote about how destructive this way of “thinking” can be. I pointed out that treating every disagreement as a zero-sum game makes progress impossible. I suggested that maybe, just maybe, a truce was possible.

Taminad thought a ceasefire sounded great! Just as long as the other side surrendered unconditionally.

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Taminad:

A ceasefire in the culture war should mean that people stop trying to get people they disagree with fired, and stop suing them, and stop having the government fine them into bankruptcy for merely refusing to bake a wedding cake.

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Steve QJ:

“stop having the government fine them into bankruptcy for merely refusing to bake a wedding cake”

They didn't get fined did they? They certainly weren't forced into bankruptcy. I’m with you on all the other points except this. Because discrimination is itself a key cultural issue.

I don't think anybody should be fired for their opinion except in cases where those opinions impact on their ability to do their job. But yeah, anti discrimination laws exist for good reason, wouldn't you say?

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Taminad:

Wait, are you questioning that leftists are having governments fine and bankrupt conservative Christians merely for refusing to bake a gay wedding cake? What do you think of leftists forcing the Mozilla CEO to resign because he donated to Proposition 8 in California?

You may think of these as rare examples, but they have created a climate of fear and coercion; leftists implemented their leftist persecution to make examples out of those specific florists and bakers.

Anti-Discrimination Laws are very important: In the 1960s, lunchcounters were refusing to serve African Americans period, 0%. To me, on the other hand, Christian bakers and florists who are willing to sell LGBT everything they have, but are not willing to use their artistic discretion to create wedding things in particular, are supplying LGBT with 99% of their services and are not discriminating.

For leftists to compare these Christian florists and bakers to 1960s Southern white lunchcounters is absurd because those Southerners were refusing 100% of their service, while the Christian florists/bakers are still willing to provide 99% of their services.

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Steve QJ:

“Wait, are you questioning that leftists are having governments fine and bankrupt conservative Christians merely for refusing to bake a gay wedding cake?”

Ah, I hadn't heard about this case, I thought you were taking about Masterpiece vs Colorado.

Yeah, this one isn't black and white for me because, as I said, discrimination is itself a key cultural issue. In fact, it's a legal issue. There are laws against discrimination for good reason. So the idea that there's a "climate of fear" around discriminating against people for who they are, doesn't strike me as the worst thing in the world.

Curious why you think the comparison to lunch counters is ridiculous. It’s okay to be bigoted if the population size being discriminated against is smaller?

A climate of fear is obviously not the way to go. I’d much rather people accepted others because they opened their minds. But, of course, legislation wouldn’t be necessary if more people were willing to attempt that.

This is the problem that I'm talking about in the article. Everybody is able to see how "the other side" are screwing up. And they usually have a point. But far fewer are willing to turn that lens on themselves and realise they're also contributing to the problem.