Wise words from my friend Mike Beates:
Okay people, settle down. First, the neo-Nazi cowards in Charlottesville are bad people, cowards, xenophobic racists, and not remotely Christians. Period. But they are also American citizens whose First Amendment rights guarantee their right to speak their ugly, errant, repulsive opinions. Period. Are they wrong? Without doubt. Do they have a right to say it? Yes (see the Supreme Court decision in Skokie, Illinois in 1977 — this is not a new issue people!).
Second, when Antifa and BLM people say they can (indeed must!) use violence to stop voices of people they say are wrong, Antifa and BLM become the fascists they claim to hate. Worse, they challenge and undercut the essence of America — they must learn to answer ugly, cowardly words with better, more coherent, true words and ideas (which, by the way, are not “We are victims, you are guilty, so we can start fights, say ‘F*** the cops,’ and create violent chaos”).
Third, the worst thing BLM and Antifa (and the media) can do is give these neo-Nazi idiots any attention. These racists *want* the attention, they *need* the attention and air time. But wisdom says, “Let the idiots have their little march and go home to their cowardly domiciles.” To answer these fools is to legitimate their message. To fight them is to assist their movement’s growth. To create violent opposition plays right into their clammy little cowardly hands. Wrong idea.
The alt-Right and alt-Left are so far away from most of us that they are closer to each other — their radical stances bend around to meet at the back dark side of culture. Their philosophies are antithetical, but their praxis is identical. The Christian response to both sides is: “You all need the hope of the Gospel; you need to allow Jesus to break down your wall of hostility to bring reconciliation.” Children of God (including my children) cannot identify themselves by victimhood or partner with identity politics. Our value and worth is as children of God made in His image. Period.
So, the linked article: It’s long, but worth reading — written before “Charlottesville” by a liberal professor who speaks about the failing break up of the Left due to victim and identity politics. He claims — correctly — that we are losing our commonality as American citizens.
The Liberal Crackup
Liberals should reject the divisive, zero-sum politics of identity and find their way back to a unifying vision of the common good.