The Tawdriness of Emotional Politics
As of late, I have come to encounter more Social Justice Warrior politicking - an inevitable occurrence if you are at all involved with social media. It is not news to me, nor do these people's campaigns ever really seem to be worth consideration; let alone impress me. They remind me of the type of schoolmates who always opposed the social consensus (in their own paltry and sniveling way), thwarting their comrades ambitions to either be allowed to watch a movie in class or have the lesson outside. You know the kind; the finks and stool-pigeons who ratted out everyone's desires to drop their textbooks simultaneously at 11:11 a.m, and to make sheepish grins and snicker at the teacher's agitated response. Immature and harmless offences that brightened our days, and allowed us to establish more credibility and solidarity with our fellow young primates. After all, one could argue that social integration and familiarity is one of the most important skills that a school can teach us, maybe even superseding the academic.
I hope that little anecdote sparked a memory and incensed you as much as it did me. To be on the nose, I prefer the acronym SJV (Social Justice Virus) - simply because their efforts are undermining multicultural democracies, and their poisonous afflictions warrant a title that appropriately resembles a venereal disease. Don't let the plague infect you. If you ever find yourself in a deep or heated discussion about controversial contemporary topics, check yourself for these symptoms: demagogy, fear of confrontation, and consistent use of emotional verbiage. If you succeed in doing so, you may be able to salvage not only your reputation and the integrity of your relationships with others, but even prevent the epidemic from spreading to your compatriots.
I am not trying to embellish when I analogize pseudo-leftist apologetics to pernicious human diseases. To my mind, repeated appeals to pathos in rhetoric is truly nauseating and gives me flu-like symptoms. It has been proven to do so not only when I engage members of this accursed party, but when I begin to reminisce and review some of my former sympathies. I remember vividly bickering with a cousin at a family get together, barking somewhat self-righteously and ignorantly that women should be allowed to wear the burka everywhere in the U.K, because they have a right to their beliefs and you cannot deprive them of it. A position with which former disgraceful Arch Bishop of Canterbury Rowen Williams entirely sympathized. That was hard to type. I think, no - I assert, that this type of thinking and arguing is wicked and should occupy a higher priority on people's whining list; somewhere between Trump's presidency and unanswered sext-messages. It would be an improvement, I dare say.
To provide some actual insight and logos, (seeing as my ethos is in the safe-keeping of my audience - I hope that wasn't too smarmy) here is a relevant little tid-bit of information. It is illegal in countries such as Turkey and Lebanon (Muslim majority countries for Christ's sake; sorry I don't want to be blasphemous, Allah's sake) to sport such garb in public establishments due to the legal implications. For some reason, which I think may be attributable to excessive coddling during childhood and a willingness to believe absolutely anything that tugs on one's heartstrings, a large portion of Western youth still petition to the contrary. Not convinced? I'll try another, in a similar vein.
As I scoured the Instagram search page, I came across an image that depicted two scarfed women locked in a romantic embrace, and read "Who said Muslim girls can't be gay?!". I assure you, my first quarrel is with the grammar of that question, not with the sentiment behind it. The interrogative pronoun is misleading. It is not who, but what. If there were less of an emphasis on how the personal can become the political, and more on the texts from which the prohibition came, we might be able to shed some light on an otherwise Stygian issue. The Quran and equally respected Hadith specifically forbid homosexual activity; as long as these screeds are in circulation and are treated with any political influence (understatement of the year award), you madam, can't be gay. That is not remotely a reflection of my position on these matters, but rather another reason for my contempt. Know your enemy, and you can save not only precious time, but energy and ammunition.
To sum up, stop being so damn emo!
Yours truly, a guy with a need for screed
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