Posted on 09/27/2017 1:30:55 PM PDT by Kaslin
The whole idea of a free society is based on a very simple idea that is very hard to live by: People have the right to be wrong.
This idea has ancient roots, but it was always and everywhere a minority opinion, unpopular with both the masses and the rulers, until relatively recently.
In the "modern" era, its status as one of the defining ideas of Western civilization can be traced to the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. After a century of bloody religious wars between Catholics and Protestants -- with Jews often getting caught in the crossfire -- the exhausted rulers of Europe reluctantly agreed to a fragile truce. While every nation would still officially follow the faith of the ruler, it was understood that religious minorities would be afforded some tolerance. Persecuting religious dissenters in one nation might reignite war, as rulers of other countries would feel obliged to defend their coreligionists abroad. (To see how that dynamic works today, just look at how Sunni and Shia governments in the Middle East send aid or troops to defend their brethren in neighboring lands.)
With Westphalia, as historian C.V. Wedgwood put it, the West had begun to understand "the essential futility of putting the beliefs of the mind to the judgment of the sword."
In England, the Puritan despot Oliver Cromwell, who had deposed and executed the king, recognized that he couldn't hold onto power without reassuring Catholics and dissident Protestant denominations that they would be safe, so he introduced new measures of tolerance. He beseeched Parliament to allow some measure of liberty "to all who fear God."
Now, Europe in the 1600s wasn't some libertarian nirvana. True freedom of conscience did not exist in England, France or anywhere else in the world. For instance, Cromwell's Puritan-dominated parliament declared a real "war on Christmas," banning celebration of the holiday. The Colonial city of Boston followed a similar practice, imposing a fine on anyone who celebrated Christmas.
Why revisit this history? For two reasons. First, to underscore how culture wars are nothing new in the West, and as bad as ours are today, they could get much, much worse. Second, to illustrate a point lost on culture warriors of the left and the right. Pluralism and tolerance are not simply nice ideals, like good manners. They are what management gurus call "best practices," learned after millennia of gory trial and error.
Very few people who embraced doctrines of religious and political liberty did so at first because they thought it was the right way to organize society. Cromwell was more of a religious zealot than any Christian right-winger today. If he thought he could get away with it, he would have made mandatory compliance with his faith the law of the land. But Cromwell recognized that he had to compromise with reality if he was going to end the religious conflicts plaguing his country.
Thomas Jefferson had strong views on religion, but his Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom disestablished the Church of England and established religious liberty for Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, even pagans. The statute became the foundation for the First Amendment.
You might think that the current controversy over NFL players refusing to stand for the National Anthem, the vandalizing or removal of statues -- not just of Confederate generals, but of any real or alleged historical villains -- and the P.C. firestorms erupting across American campuses aren't about religion, so this history doesn't have much relevance for today.
But you would be wrong.
The religious conflicts of the past were ultimately about which values, rituals, customs, and ideas should be imposed on everybody. Traditional religion may be receding in many parts of American culture, but politics is taking on a decidedly religious flavor -- and religion is becoming increasingly politicized.
People are growing intolerant of any dissent from their idea of what everyone should believe. Agree with me and you're one of the good guys; disagree with me and you're not just wrong, you're my enemy, a heretic, a traitor, a bigot. Opportunists recognize that exacerbating this polarization redounds to their own benefit because at least for now, doing so helps raise money, ratings, clicks and poll numbers.
We are a long way off from putting beliefs of the mind to the judgment of the sword, but that is the logical destination of the path we are on because we have lost faith in the utility of upholding the right to be wrong.
Racism is not the #1 issue concerning Americans. The MSM is making it one. Are they wrong? The fact that the flag kneeling is even considered is proof that it’s working.
This guy has not got a reason gene in his body.
He has no concept at all of “do it on your own time”.
I would have been fired for this, and I’d imagine over 100 million others would have been as well.
Express yourself as a private citizen, fine. I won’t like it and I won’t support you with the fruits of my earnings. That is still your right.
Do it on the clock, and mixed in with a sport I tuned into watch for relaxation, and incorporate hatred of our nation, our flag, and Whites into it, and simply F U.
Jonah loses touch with reality more every year.
Is he talking about disrespecting the flag?
If so he should come out and say it.
Hard to make a logical argument against something merely implied
Liberals do that to make a strong emotional mob mentality argument that you cannot win. Which gets us where we are.
No. As a society we have not gone beyond allowing people to be wrong. Which is why these people are not under indictment
But they have claimed that they disrespect our foundation. They have claimed that our constitution, our foundation, for which the flag stands, allows for, promotes and encourages racism
But it does not
Tyey have claimed they don’t like this country. As a society we support their right to dislike America but that they should then leave it. That goes for the NFL who are going to find out that they will be gone.
It will be over. Those that stood with these America haters will be on record as America haters
So what does Goldberg mean? We will accept that they are wrong but we don’t have to like them, hire them, want them as neighbors, give them any money or not state that they are wrong.
Being wrong isn’t a problem in the 21st century.
In fact, it is lauded.
It is those standing up for what is right that are the most hated.
“and simply F U.”
Ditto. They are “protesting” something that is not happening. They are protesting racism that is absent from the hearts of white people, except as the “protestors” are instilling it.
Isn't that the truth.
Exactly.
I would have been fired at any job if I shoved my conservative views on the customers.
I have twice had my job threatened just for not agreeing with the aggressive opinions of as leftist customer.
Makes my blood boil...
It's pretty clear "The League" and its collectivist-corporate owners agree with the sentiment being expressed by Mr. Kaepernick.
Given their selective kneeling policy in support of...
The people who think that way are my enemy and they are traitors. It has never been the people who simply disagree with me.
Quite right, and the players and management are smart enough to know that. As such, they are perpetrating a fraud that is serving to high-jack what has traditionally been revered as an all-American sport.
Ergo, they can rightly be viewed by our nation as "useful idiots" who are serving a higher agenda.
Just once. After that, it is time to shape up or ship out.
People are growing intolerant of any dissent from their idea of what everyone should believe.No, people have always been like that, but our political framework is built to avoid having to worry about having someone's boot on our necks. The left wants that framework gone, thus talks about the U.N., international standards, diversity, and other anti-Constitutional lies and nonsense. Thanks Kaslin.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.