Often times, liberals are associated with following the sort of namby-pamby consideration for "feelings" that creates the shift from using the word "cow" to using the term "Bovine-American." We're not just supposed to be the guys who think socialism is awesome, but we also think the laws should outlaw the use of insulting language like "Chinese" in place of "Asian"... as if that isn't technically disregarding the differentiation between multiple distinct cultures... oh, well. Strangely, liberal as I may lean, I'm not one of them.
Now I'm not about to say that we should forgo foul language, but that there's a line to be drawn. There's a difference between using the N-word when referring to black people, and saying that creationism is idiotic. A key difference here is that in one case, you're talking about people, and in another, you're talking about an idea. Ideas don't have feelings to be hurt in the first place, and like all liberals, I do care about fairness. The thing is that a lot of people presume that fair treatment of all ideas means they all get equal "time" and an equal "voice" in discourse... hence why creationist fountainheads like the so-called Discovery Institute can work in lobbying for "academic freedom" bollocks. Well, it doesn't quite work that way. First of all, we can't just take ideas willy-nilly. We need to be able to differentiate between fact and opinion, at the very least. More importantly, treating ideas fairly doesn't mean open season for all ideas -- it means putting all ideas under equal scrutiny and upheld to the same intellectual standards.
Well, the fact that people who hold ideas on faith tend to hold them emotionally and without serious thought means it creates an avenue for people to say their feelings are hurt... as if that puts the scrutiny off limits. People who do this define "fairness" as whatever-works-out-in-my-own-benefit. "We can be intolerant of gays, but it's unfair for people to rebuke our intolerance... How dare you be so cruel to speak ill of our ignorant asshattery!" I don't buy into this kind of crap. Bad ideas deserve to be rebuked because they're bad ideas. If it hurts your feelings because you hold bad ideas dearly on personal faith... well, tough luck. You held a bad idea. Deal with it.
Now I'm not about to say that we should forgo foul language, but that there's a line to be drawn. There's a difference between using the N-word when referring to black people, and saying that creationism is idiotic. A key difference here is that in one case, you're talking about people, and in another, you're talking about an idea. Ideas don't have feelings to be hurt in the first place, and like all liberals, I do care about fairness. The thing is that a lot of people presume that fair treatment of all ideas means they all get equal "time" and an equal "voice" in discourse... hence why creationist fountainheads like the so-called Discovery Institute can work in lobbying for "academic freedom" bollocks. Well, it doesn't quite work that way. First of all, we can't just take ideas willy-nilly. We need to be able to differentiate between fact and opinion, at the very least. More importantly, treating ideas fairly doesn't mean open season for all ideas -- it means putting all ideas under equal scrutiny and upheld to the same intellectual standards.
Well, the fact that people who hold ideas on faith tend to hold them emotionally and without serious thought means it creates an avenue for people to say their feelings are hurt... as if that puts the scrutiny off limits. People who do this define "fairness" as whatever-works-out-in-my-own-benefit. "We can be intolerant of gays, but it's unfair for people to rebuke our intolerance... How dare you be so cruel to speak ill of our ignorant asshattery!" I don't buy into this kind of crap. Bad ideas deserve to be rebuked because they're bad ideas. If it hurts your feelings because you hold bad ideas dearly on personal faith... well, tough luck. You held a bad idea. Deal with it.
