When Disagreement Becomes Moral Judgment

A Growing Frustration with Political Elitism

Do American progressives ever tire of looking down their noses at those of us who they deem as either not smart enough or good enough (or both) to grasp the wisdom and goodness of all they advocate? Being on the other side of this, let me be the first to alert them that a lot of us are plenty weary of their smug and all too often empty virtue signaling.

Maybe we will not get to sit at the cool kids’ table, but we retain at least a semblance of intellectual consistency that our benevolent betters demonstrably lack. They make it a matter of poor taste to even question their positions, substituting emotions for facts.

Free Speech—But Only When Convenient

No better place to start than free speech. Say someone espousing progressive political points of view kills, or attempts to kill, individuals (including the President of the United States), how are decent and intelligent people supposed to respond?

Apparently, the best we can do is “while violence should have no place in American politics, we have to understand the legitimate anger and hatred that the right has generated.” Others go much further, praising the courage and bravery of those able to succeed in their attempts to kill and lamenting the lack of success for those failing to achieve their objective (“aim better”).

Take umbrage at those uttering these views, and you are guilty of attempting to curb free speech. As far as I know, nobody is saying these folks should not be allowed to state their obscene views, just that once presented, perhaps there should be adverse consequences.

Campus Culture and Selective Censorship

However, the obligation to support free speech can suddenly vanish when it is progressives who are, or think they would be, offended by allowing the views of someone other than a progressive to be heard.

Year after year, we witness institutions of higher learning canceling invitations for various individuals. Probably just a coincidence, but, almost without failure, the person canceled is a conservative. It takes a fair amount of hubris to object to what someone might say before they even say it. Not a problem for progressives.

They simply make the argument about who should be “platformed,” and say, not that bad person.

Policy Contradictions and Everyday Impact

This attitude permeates almost any topic. How about the bans on plastic grocery bags? In multiple states, you cannot take the multitude of items inside plastic packaging to your car and home in a plastic bag.

You have to resist the temptation to point out how ridiculous this is. After all, if pushed, these environmental warriors would likely move to ban all plastic packaging.

Economic Realities That Can’t Be Ignored

There are a few economic realities that even progressives cannot just pretend are untrue or do not matter. One of these would be that when you tax something, you get less of it, and when you subsidize that something, you will get more of it.

This is the case when it comes to renewable energy, solar in particular. You subsidize its manufacturing, distribution, and purchase, and sure enough, more people will gravitate towards solar energy.

The problem? It is those at the higher end of the economic ladder who actually take advantage of these subsidies. This translates into our protectors against the existential threat of climate change are being subsidized by the lower and middle classes. Oops.

Again, better to remain silent here. Otherwise, we would hear more about how low energy costs are a human right, so everyone deserves government sugar. Affordable Energy for All, darn it. I can already see the T-shirts and bumper stickers.

Crime, Data, and Public Perception

Spikes in crime, especially violent crime? First option, of course, is to cook the books. You flat-out intentionally change the numbers to make things look better than they are. One needs to go no further than Washington, D.C. to witness this happening.

That outright lying is only somewhat less honest than waiving a wand and declaring that what a felony was is now, suddenly, a misdemeanor. Same for altering what meets the definition of being violent.

Most insulting is when empathy and sympathy is extended to the perpetrators of the criminal behavior versus the victims and their families. Once more, it is impolite to ask for focus to be given to the facts of crimes committed by illegal immigrants and/or repeat offenders.

That sort of thing shows you are xenophobic, probably a racist. Mothers and fathers of children killed by illegal immigrants have appeared before Congressional hearings only to be ignored or treated shabbily by progressive Democrats. Shame on you.

Faith, Politics, and Selective Morality

The worst of the worst is using religion as a weapon when it might help advance your political agenda. The Pope saying things you like when it comes to immigration or Donald Trump gets translated into this is how good Christians should view matters.

Never mind when religious leaders, even ones who are liberal, dare to hold views that diverge from progressive dogma. Does Pope still think abortion is wrong and immoral? You simply ignore it.

A Final Thought on Character and Disagreement

I have said it before, but it warrants mentioning again. The God I choose to worship does not belong to a political party or have a particular political ideology. Moreover, the leader of the women’s suffrage movement, Susan B. Anthony, said it best.

“I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.” Amen.

Remember This

Remember this: You may well be right about any number of things where we disagree. That does not mean the difference is essentially which one of us is a good person.

When anyone behaves as though that is the case, they should not be shocked when others reject that premise. Instead of wearing moral superiority on our sleeves, all of us need to try giving some focus to actual facts, not just our feelings. What do you think?