A well written piece Roger!
I think, however, that you’re exploring a piece of a much bigger pie. The Civil Rights movement began as a good cause, but it became a dogmatic, unchangeable position. MLK’s dream was an inspiration, until it became a mantra, repeated without thought. Crowley once said that every answer(!) should be followed by the next question(?). Anytime we didn’t see the next question, it wasn’t because we’d discovered the full truth, only that we’d missed the next question.
In my opinion, this appears as the main problem among both of our major political parties today (and some of the minor ones). It seems that the Party takes a position and no one who wants be be considered part of the party can question it. Your examples with OJ and affirmative action prove the point well for Libs. On the conservative side there are many similar examples.
It’s the same flaw that develops in religions… protecting the validity of the tribe/group/society/party becomes more important than questioning the tenants of that party which might need tweaked. Until one can be a Liberal and still question Affirmative Action, until one can be a Conservative and still question the War… then we will likely continue down a path where OJ’s verdict will appear as sane as anything else.
