We went out to eat last night. We didn’t mean to, but my wife works late and
I was wrapped up in a project at home and suddenly it was almost 7:00, dark,
and neither of us had thought about supper.
We agreed to meet at one of our favorite restaurants where the crowd
tends to be younger, hipper, noisier and more “country” than we are. Big screens around the bar have a variety of
sporting events broadcasting, and the bar is well stocked with a variety of
cold brews. We are comfortable here, and
on a Thursday night there were few other patrons vying for booths with peanuts,
though the noise level always seems the same.
I arrived first and settled in a booth when a cute, perky brunette plopped
in the bench across from me, introduced herself as Courtney (not her real name),
and asked what I’d have to drink. She
bounced out of the chair to fetch my St. Arnold’s Lawnmower. Three sips down, my wife arrived and engaged
in that shorthand small talk I assume all couples of long-standing use to
summarize our days for each other.
Our summary may be somewhat different from most. As a teacher she talked of kids, peers, and
administration both local and central, and a general sense of panic that seems
inexorably linked to school this season.
Too much to do, too little time, decisions made on behalf of others but
motivated by self-aggrandizement. I
empathized, and sipped more beer. My
summary began with a quick rundown of the day’s events gleaned from reading
CNN, MSNBC, Fox, and Yahoo news summaries on line. It is my task as the retired person to keep
us connected to current events. Is was
in the midst of bemoaning Trump’s latest solution for terrorism when Courtney
arrived to solicit solid food orders, the liquid already at hand. She surprised me, approaching innocently from
my blind side. I did not see her until
my Trump stump was near complete. I
turned to her to find a look of real surprise on her face.
We dutifully recited our orders not once looking at the
menus. After scribbling on her pad she
turned to me and said, “I take it you do not like Donald Trump.”
“It scares me to death that such an un-American person is
running for the Presidency.” I
said. Shock replaced surprise.
“Well, I do not keep up with politics. My roommate works for a conservative
Republican and I just thought that is how everyone around here thinks. But I like Trump and hate Obama and Hillary.”
“Courtney, my dear girl, is this the first time you have
ever actually talked with a liberal?” I asked.
“Yes, I guess it is.
I don’t know any.”
And that is the scariest thing I have heard all year. There may be a book in me describing my
liberal beliefs. I shall resist
here. I will say that accepting and even
promoting diversity is a core tenant. If
Courtney had never heard conservative perspectives I would be equally
upset. Issues are issues because there
are at least two sides, and unless we know both sides we are unlikely to
resolve the issue with any hope of satisfaction. Therefore, the best hope for our future is
the education of everyone on every side of every issue. Especially in a nation where we say “everyone”
rules.
But that so sadly is not the case. Courtney’s hatred of national figures was the
result of a contagious attitude that seems to become fact when no opposing
thoughts are offered. If Fox news hates
Obama and says so 3 times an hour, then it must not only be true, but justified
to convey such hate. I heard a fellow
church goer lament that as his kids went to college they became more liberal, and
for that reason he opposes higher education.
I have heard parents storm the school board because they perceived the “other
side,” a.k.a., liberal, was identified and discussed in class. I have actually heard school board members
state they were elected to support community values, clearly implying they
oppose any values other than their own narrowly defined values, and values that
in no way reflect the entire community. I
have seen politicians with no less stature than our own Lt. Governor wage war
on a curriculum that might introduce new ways of thinking about events in ways
other than those around which his mind has been firmly closed. I have seen textbook critics argue that some
topics simply should not be taught, especially if they are based on science,
not faith. I have heard a GOP
front runner declare that all people of a certain religious belief should be
barred from entering our country. I am
horrified. I am scared. 1984 has arrived and there is an official “right
think” with the accompanying punishment for those who think otherwise.
Since when as a nation did we become so fearful of dialog, so
fearful of fact, so fearful of knowledge?
When did we decide that diversity is not a strength but a communicable
disease that must be eradicated? Since
when as a people did we decide there was only the conservative way and any other
way is blasphemous? Why are we so afraid
and so angry that we see the solutions to problems as arming more citizens and
stomping out all other ways of thought?
Have we gone crazy? Have we
forgotten, no matter who authored the quotation, “"I do not agree with
what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"?
It appears to me that we have entered an era of
anti-intellectualism the likes of which I have never seen in my lifetime. Despite ever increasing data to the contrary,
people still fervently believe that giving more guns to citizens with virtually
no restrictions is really OK; that foregoing a college degree is really OK;
that burning fossil fuels is really OK; that discrimination by gender, race,
ethnicity, sexual orientation, religious belief, etc., is really OK; that
allowing a small percentage of people to control most of the wealth while many
are poor and hungry is OK; that hating our neighbors is really OK; that
censoring conflicting ideas and thoughts is really OK. One cannot honestly look at data and
scientific research and support these beliefs.
Worse, if a person does not support these facts, they feel free to not
only block the immigration of others, they feel free to block the voices who
raise the questions. It is as though they
want to lynch the young boy who pointed out that the emperor is naked.
Liberals will likely always lose debates because we believe
in the debate. My conservative friends
are very uncomfortable with the fact that other views not only exist, some of
them are likely correct. Liberals will
defend alternative views and fight censorship.
Conservatives will not. Liberals
will act as good Samaritans, not good Nazis. Liberals will celebrate and promote diversity,
not initiate witch hunts. Liberals recognize
that our Constitution is a secular document, not a sacred religious text.
And I look up into Courtney’s eyes, a twenty-something year-old
young woman attending a major university, and at first my jaw drops. Somehow she has never met a liberal. She has never heard the other side. She looks at me as though I am an alien. I do not know where to begin, sitting in this
building of happy noise and free flowing alcohol, boots, country music and testosterone. So I put on my wane mask of acceptance and
weep at the risk to our democracy and the risk to our learning if we continue
in these ways. And I simply say,
“You have met one now.
I am not evil. I am not
stupid. I read, write, think and care
very much for America. Perhaps you should
seek to find others of my ilk.”
That said, I tipped heavily and sauntered out to my pick-up
truck hoping she would search for knowledge for a change, though such
knowledge, such thinking, may change her life.
If not, then knowledge has been trumped by fear and closed minds, never
a good thing in a democracy. Always a
good thing in an oligarchy or other totalitarian forms of government. No one who chooses to censor people by belief,
attribute, or thought can possibly promote democracy. That’s right, I think Hobby Lobby, Chic Fil-A,
Citizens United, Ted Cruz, Ben Carson and Donald Trump are un-American, not
models to emulate. Surely we will regain
our senses and recognize that truth before it is too late. Education is the cure for ignorance. Let’s stamp out ignorance, not education.
