It may not have been from a place of charity when the evocative phrase, "Republican Rite Catholic" was first deployed, but it's often apt. Just today, I was invited to choose between the transcendentals (goodness, truth, and beauty) and diversity, inclusion, and tolerance.
Why not both?
Let's say what this is really about, shall we? Those people over there want to lecture me about racism, and they can't even recognize a baby. Believe me, I've been here; I know what this feels like. You might even be able to say that a particular hierarchy of values is misaligned. It is an act of love, and deep respect, to submit yourself, even theoretically, to another person for correction. We're not seeing a whole lot of deep respect across politics these days. One cannot do much honest reflection when the only goal of politics is winning. Maybe Ian Barrs is right: There's no winning this culture war, in the arena of politics. It's going to be a longer game, and frankly, we might have to change more than we thought we would.
Yet this truth remains: If we ignore a moral problem long enough, we become desensitized to it. We may repeat like a mantra that racism is less grave than the murder of a baby in the womb, but that calculation does not render the damage of racism to zero. There could be 5000 Jussie Smollett stories a day, and it would not relieve me from the obligation to consider my participation in racism, and to take steps to correct it. It may even be true, for example, that the vast majority of police do a wonderful job in trying circumstances. Truth, however, does not allow me to disregard those who do not do a wonderful job. The popular culture even invites us to be reactionary about this. Almost every cop show I've ever seen treats Internal Affairs officers (who investigate other police) like betrayers to the brotherhood of cops.
I think it's rather silly to assert, in another vein, that having children as such is harmful to the environment. This doesn't mean that anyone who raises the question has nothing good to say. It doesn't mean that climate change is a hoax, or that it is imprudent (at best) to consider large-scale changes to the use and production of energy. Those who raise alarms may have their own reductionisms to contend with; my first obligation is to my own reductionism, as a matter of intellectual honesty.
Prudential disagreement involves choosing different means to the same ends. It does not mean ignoring whatever problems it does not suit me to consider.
Why not both?
Let's say what this is really about, shall we? Those people over there want to lecture me about racism, and they can't even recognize a baby. Believe me, I've been here; I know what this feels like. You might even be able to say that a particular hierarchy of values is misaligned. It is an act of love, and deep respect, to submit yourself, even theoretically, to another person for correction. We're not seeing a whole lot of deep respect across politics these days. One cannot do much honest reflection when the only goal of politics is winning. Maybe Ian Barrs is right: There's no winning this culture war, in the arena of politics. It's going to be a longer game, and frankly, we might have to change more than we thought we would.
Yet this truth remains: If we ignore a moral problem long enough, we become desensitized to it. We may repeat like a mantra that racism is less grave than the murder of a baby in the womb, but that calculation does not render the damage of racism to zero. There could be 5000 Jussie Smollett stories a day, and it would not relieve me from the obligation to consider my participation in racism, and to take steps to correct it. It may even be true, for example, that the vast majority of police do a wonderful job in trying circumstances. Truth, however, does not allow me to disregard those who do not do a wonderful job. The popular culture even invites us to be reactionary about this. Almost every cop show I've ever seen treats Internal Affairs officers (who investigate other police) like betrayers to the brotherhood of cops.
I think it's rather silly to assert, in another vein, that having children as such is harmful to the environment. This doesn't mean that anyone who raises the question has nothing good to say. It doesn't mean that climate change is a hoax, or that it is imprudent (at best) to consider large-scale changes to the use and production of energy. Those who raise alarms may have their own reductionisms to contend with; my first obligation is to my own reductionism, as a matter of intellectual honesty.
Prudential disagreement involves choosing different means to the same ends. It does not mean ignoring whatever problems it does not suit me to consider.
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