How Do I Get To Qualify for Tolerance from the Left?
The Left has absolutely bent over backwards to make sure we understand that Islamic terrorists are not representative of the Muslim religion or Islam in general. Further, they seem really quick to excuse or at least ignore a lot of really awful illiberal behavior by Islamic nations, including systematic abuse and near-enslavement of women, execution of gays, harassment of any non-Muslims, or even of Muslims from competing sects, etc. We need to be tolerant, dontcha know.
So why is it that all this absolute cascade of bad behavior by various Muslims is not representative of true Islam but a tiny tiny few American males who are violent sex offenders are somehow totally representative of the entire gender, such that all men have to constantly humble ourselves, avoid speaking certain facts, apologize and bear guilt, go to college re-education programs, etc?
J_W_W:
You qualify for tolerance if they perceive you to be "of the left" like them.
Now, extrapolate this into why they don't criticize anything about Islam....
February 10, 2015, 11:47 amfotini901:
#notallmen! Got it.
February 10, 2015, 12:06 pmNimrod:
This is the natural consequence of neo-Marxist conflict theory, which a majority of westerners actually believe in (even if they don't know what it's called). For example my mother believes in policies derived from this (affirmative action), but if I tell her the name for it and describe the evolutionary lineage of it she has no idea what I'm talking about, and doesn't want to read about it to confirm what I'm saying.
Everything in Marxism and neo-marxism is zero-sum including society, and the highest goal is equal outcome (not equal treatment under the law) regardless of what individual actions anyone takes. Therefore if Muslim society is oppressing women, that can be ignored because women overall are (supposedly) "doing better" than Muslims are overall. Instead, handicaps should be put in place (unequal treatment) in order to supposedly help Muslims do better regardless of what their actions are. This is primarily arbitrary limited to groups defined by race, gender, and religion, however people try to extend it to every possible definable group. In doing so, an intractably long hierarchy of victimhood is created, which fuels more conflict as groups fight over their rightful place in the list of special treatment priorities.
The de facto religion of neo-Marxist conflict theory is a self fulfilling prophecy which contains the contradiction of, since the neo-Marxist de facto religion is doing so well then shouldn't it be discriminating against itself?
Also see http://fee.org/freeman/detail/the-welfare-state-as-a-zero-sum-game/
February 10, 2015, 12:50 pmmogden:
It's Kling's Three Axis model of politics. Men are oppressors of women, so the Left is against them. Islam is oppressed by the West, so the Left is for them.
So to gain tolerance from the Left, you'll need to become oppressed by one of the Left's out-groups. Since you're a filthy plutocrat who exploits his part-time workers, that will be difficult to do.
February 10, 2015, 1:16 pmjdgalt:
You only qualify if you can convince the lefty crowd that you belong to a historically oppressed group.
Maybe Elizabeth Warren can teach you how to fake your national origin successfully.
(Rumor has it that the President did the same thing all through college -- which is why he had his records sealed. He really isn't foreign born but did claim that status to get affirmative-action treatment, and it worked.)
February 10, 2015, 1:22 pmSamWah:
Threaten to beat them up, or kill them; works for Islamists! Or denounce them as race traitors, racists, misogynists, and closet conservatives trying to pass.
February 10, 2015, 2:24 pmDuvane:
Maybe if you check your privilege, it would help. :-P
February 10, 2015, 2:51 pmmogden:
The only angle I can think of is if you can somehow contrive Big Oil to want to drill in your campsite, forcing a shutdown.
February 10, 2015, 2:53 pmAugust Hurtel:
Because it isn't really about race. It is really about one small group of white elites hating all the other whites because they know they can't keep their positions in a fair competition. So they rig the game. They don't feel threatened by Muslims because they assume they can control them.
February 10, 2015, 3:19 pmNimrod:
You forgot Juan Williams who, while being screwed over by the whole "you only get special or even fair treatment if you're a neo-Marxist who follows the approved conflict theory strategy", is still clinging to the political left for some bizarre reason. My guess is that it's because he'll get called a "race traitor" by a black metaphorical lynch mob if he disavows the left based on their acceptance of conflict theory tactics. After all, these tactics are *supposed* to help black people, even though some historical evidence suggests that certain "helpful" policies were designed specifically to exterminate them: http://fee.org/freeman/detail/the-eugenics-plot-of-the-minimum-wage
Note that orthodox Islam follows a similar strategy to the neo-marxist one: race isn't supposed to subject you to unfair treatment as long as you convert to orthodox Islam and don't commit heresy.
February 10, 2015, 5:51 pmGil G:
Why? Why do the majority have to show they're not representative of the minority? Looking at much of what "those" Muslim countries so look little different from a traditionalist Western Christian country.
February 10, 2015, 7:19 pmchembot:
I think the strategy here is to claim some sort of partial minority status in the style of Elizabeth Warren. An enterprising soul with a sense of wit may go with being 50% female due to the X chromosome, or maybe claim to be 1/84 Homo habilis.
Failing that, having a healthy sense of self loathing about being white and being vocal about it seems to carry some of the same immunities. Of course, that means living in the closet. May not be worth it.
February 10, 2015, 8:58 pmirandom419:
Remember Ted Kennedy fought for women's rights.
February 10, 2015, 9:18 pmScott from Ohio:
It's pure politics. Obama got 85% of the Muslim vote but only 46% of the male vote. That's all.
February 10, 2015, 11:21 pmsean2829:
The left is not tolerant of the left either. We are comming to the 50th anniversary of Daniel Patrick Moynahans prediction that welfare programs that punished families with fathers at home would decimate the African American family. http://www.wsj.com/articles/jason-l-riley-still-right-on-the-black-family-after-all-these-years-1423613625 He was roundly criticized for his views but history proved his insight on the government's perverse incentives.
February 11, 2015, 5:04 amRob McMillin:
... [T]he Liberals... pretend — and often quite honestly believe — that
they are hot for liberty. They never really are. Deep down in their
hearts they know, as good democrats, that liberty would be fatal to
democracy — that a government based upon shifting and irrational opinion
must keep it within bounds or run a constant risk of disaster. They
themselves, as a practical matter, advocate only certain narrow kinds of
liberty — liberty, that is, for the persons they happen to favor. The
rights of other persons do not seem to interest them. If a law were
passed tomorrow taking away the property of a large group of presumably
well-to-do persons — say, bondholders of the railroads — without
compensation and without even colorable reason, they would not oppose
it; they would be in favor of it. The liberty to have and hold property
is not one they recognize. They believe only in the liberty to envy,
hate and loot the man who has it.
-- H.L. Mencken
February 11, 2015, 8:07 amNehemiah:
Neutered males don't have this problem Warren.
February 11, 2015, 8:15 amNehemiah:
What do you mean?
February 11, 2015, 8:22 amNehemiah:
Have you considered getting neutered?
February 11, 2015, 8:28 amjimc5499:
You could also toss in there that anybody who owns and carries a gun is automatically considered a deranged killer.
February 11, 2015, 10:56 amjimbeaux:
I defy you to name any traditional Western country where a large segment of Christians have committed acts of terroristic murder in the name of God or Jesus within the last, say, fifty years. Crazy Christians killing abortion doctors doesn't count, as they were isolated incidents by individuals, not by groups, and their behavior was never accepted or tolerated by any legitimate church. Groups like the KKK that happen to have Christians in them don't count, as they are not recognized as being legitimate Christian groups.
Yes, Christianity was at one time violent. Christian theology has matured since then and the historical behavior during the Crusades, for example, is spoken of in shame, not in pride. Muslims believe their terrorists are heroes; Christians believe anyone who claims to follow God or Jesus, and kills in their names, is deluded, misguided, and wrong on every count.
February 11, 2015, 11:19 am