When homosexual bully Dan Savage unleashed a foul-mouthed tirade against the religious beliefs of a group of teenagers at the National High School Journalism Convention in Seattle last month, he exposed the lie behind the Left’s idea of tolerance. Savage used obscenities to describe passages in the Bible he disliked and displayed either ignorance or dishonesty in talking about the role of Christianity in advancing the cause of freedom. Then, with what would be creepy bad manners in any adult talking to young people, he called students “pansy-assed” for walking out on him. The so-called anti-bullying activist’s use of such sexually loaded language, and his frequent accusations that his opponents are secretly gay, bespeaks a deep level of self-hatred (why else would he think calling someone gay is an insult?); and the fact that he venomously attacks Christians and is never seen standing up in front of Muslims to curse out the Koran suggests that, like most bullies, he’s a coward as well.
And yet, as Ben Shapiro expertly illustrated at Breitbart.com, the Left’s mainstream media mouthpieces quickly went to work recasting Savage’s disgusting and childish performance as somehow justifiable while making those who protested against it seem thin-skinned.
Why? In what world — in what cause — is it even vaguely acceptable for a grown man to bully teenagers for their spiritual beliefs in that manner? We need only imagine Rush Limbaugh making his points in such terms and in such a place to know the reaction from the Left would have been much different.
Qui es muy pansy assed?
Because the philosophy underlying the American founding is a tolerant one — because, that is, it grows out of a Christian worldview — America tends to expand its zones of tolerance over time. That’s how underlying philosophies work: they slowly challenge a society to live out the meaning of its creed.
So, in the 1950s, after fighting a war against racist, Nazi monsters, Americans brought fresh vigor to their examination of their own racism and began to purge themselves of racist attitudes and policies that had poisoned our history. Likewise, in the ’70s and ’80s, when birth control and other technology made it easier for women to step beyond the bounds of their traditional roles, Americans began to accept the idea of women in the workforce and in positions of power. Today, the AIDS crisis has given us new sympathy for gays, and science is in the process of giving us a better understanding of the origins of sexual preference. In consequence, we are wrestling with questions of how to broaden our definitions of love and relationship without damaging the social fabric that has brought us so far.
So it is and so, in my opinion, it should be. But it does not in any way follow that we should therefore accept the worst, lowest and most despicable and anti-social behaviors from people simply because they belong to a group that may sometimes feel restricted or excluded.
The Left tells me it’s wrong to be suspicious when a black punk wearing a hood and loose pants slouches into my neighborhood? The Left tells me to listen with respect to the destructive deceptions of con-men like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton? The Left tells me not to fight back when some shrill, man-hating feminist virago goes on the rampage? They tell me not to be judgmental when I witness a young woman getting herself drunk enough to accept being used like a piece of meat by any young man without the virility to escort her safely home? And now the Left tells me I should not look askance at some gay weasel who abuses the privilege of speaking to young people by unleashing a foul-mouthed display of hatred, prejudice and rage?
Well, thanks, but no. The Left has consistently used the good of expanded American tolerance to protect and promote the worst behaviors in those it sees as victims of prejudice. This suggests to me that the purpose of leftist tolerance is not tolerance at all. The Left’s purpose is rather to use our tolerance as an excuse to attack those institutions that have protected our liberties from their statist controls. Power is what they want — and “tolerance” is only the hammer they use to get it.
Myself, I welcome people of all sorts into the full benefits of life in this still-great nation. But I accept thuggery from no one.
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