So, this is an idea that has come up in multiple places today, and it's something I felt was worth discussing. Apparently some on the left want LGBTQ+ people to show solidarity with Palestine due to all of the postmodernist gobbledy gook that the left pushes these days.
But...this is one situation where the identity based lens kind of breaks down. And a lot of LGBTQ+ wonder why they should support Palestine given how anti LGBTQ+ a lot of muslims in the middle east are.
And you know what? I tend to agree with them, THEY SHOULDN'T. Look, this is why the left needs to move past this weird postmodernist phase it's been in in the past few years and go back to just being "liberals". Because liberals support a framework of rights for everyone, while also being protective of others infringing on those rights.
Radical islam, and heck, most radical versions of religion, are very illiberal and authoritarian. They basically base their views on divine command theory, and radicals tend to put their religion and its moral codes before everything else. hell, this is the problem with the religious right in the US, and why Mike Johnson is coming under so much controversy lately in saying that his Bible comes over the constitution. Yes, this is LITERALLY a problem that religious fundamentalists have, and it's something that can have very problematic implications for society, as these guys will literally try to legislate their religion. The problem with the modern Christian right is that they do want to do away with abortion rights, and gay rights, womens' rights. They want to turn back the clock and erase most of the progress made over the past century on these rights, imposing their morality on people. And you know what? Radical muslims are WORSE.
And hamas is as radical as radical can get. They have an outright desire to massacre all of the jews living in the land of israel/palestine. And you know what? Radical muslims are also known to execute homosexuals. So why would any gay person living in the west support palestine? it seems like a death wish to me.
In my ideology, this is clear. My views are based on secular humanism and a clear rejection of religion as a way to govern society. I do not respect moral codes that are allegedly given via moral edicts from above. I believe all publicly enforced morality should be rational, ie, have legitimate reasons for its existence, and have demonstrably positive results in being implemented.
There is no rational reason to ban homosexuality. It is an unnecessary infringement on freedom, and one that is inherently unjust. And while I would argue that homophobes, under the principle of liberalism and freedom of speech and thought, have a right to hold bigoted views, the second they try to put those views into action is where problems come in.
This is a staunch difference from postmodernists as well. Postmodernists have this weird paradox of intolerance where they have to punish any form of hate. As a liberal humanist, I believe that people have a right to freedom of thought, and freedom of religion. I believe postmodernists pushing their paradox of intolerance is inherently illiberal as it encroaches on peoples' rights to speech and thought. However, what an illiberal authoritarian does not have a right to is acting on their beliefs if they harm others and violate the minimalistic common morality that i support. If you would harm another person, or deny them their rights and freedoms based on your subjective morality, that is where the line is to truly be drawn.
And this is also how I would reject being called hateful toward religion with my secular humanist views. I dont like religion, and religious authoritarianism. I despise it. As an ex fundamentalist christian myself, I think fundamentalist religion is one of the greatest threats to a secular liberal society. But...fundamentalists have a right to be fundamentalist, and they have a right to be "hateful." As I see it, muslims have rights too. And their rights are protected under our constitition just like anyone else. And as far as foreign muslims go, I believe they should be treated as humanely as the current conditions of war allow. I dont support genocide or killing them more than necessary to complete whatever objective israel has. And I do feel for the civilians.
But postmodernists don't seem to be pro palestine just because israel goes too far. They are pro palestine, because they believe that israel are colonial oppressors or whatever and deserve to be driven off of the land. And that actually does present a quandry, because postmodernists seem to have a double standard on fundamentalist religion. As far as christianity goes, and people like mike johnson, well, it's okay to criticize them because they're white and privileged. But muslims are often brown and underprivileged and deserve to be treated with kid gloves. Even if their ideological worldview is mike johnson on steroids. And even if, if given power over the land of israel/palestine, they would LITERALLY commit genocide against israelis, and presumably execute gay people too.
It really is hilarious when postmodernist ideology falls in on itself as the intersectionality thing just implodes sometimes. SOmetimes you got weirdo TERFs who hate trans people for completely irrational reasons, and sometimes you got postmodernists who think women and LGBTQ+ people should get along with radical muslims because intersectionality or something.
No. I'm just drawing the line here. While I, once again, don't support any more deaths in the land of palestine than absolutely necessary for israel to wage their war, I'm not going to otherwise be pro palestine at all. because from a purely ideological and worldview driven perspective, I just see a bunch of illiberal religious extremists who if given power would have no western basis of rights in their worldview and would given people as if it were the dark ages. And that includes a lot of barbarity like genocides and executions.
Ya know? I mean, I know i dont like leaning into the concept of the paradox of intolerance given postmodernists to use it illiberally to punish people for thought crimes, but at some point, yes, we have to stop murderous psychopaths from being murderous psychopaths. And maybe we shouldnt support murderous psychopaths over relatively progressive israelis. Just saying.
Im pro israel for this simple reason. if palestine won, they would create a humanitarian crisis on a scale MUCH larger than whatever we can accuse israel of doing. This is not to say israel is above criticism. I have criticized israel before. And I do think they need to rein their war in a bit to minimize civilian casualties. But yeah. I see no reason why an LGBTQ+ person would support palestine. Or women in general. Or even secularists like me. These guys like to execute people who dont follow their extreme religion, and they are very theocratic in how they govern. The concept of tolerance doesnt cross their minds at all. And when people of that nature are engaging in open warfare with a more enlightened western country, maybe it's not a good idea to back those guys up regardless of how crappy that other country is being in their own right. Just saying.
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