It's just another opinion.

[sabotabby]

Over the last few days, the "is the magic in the Harry Potter books real?" debate I referred to awhile ago has picked up again on the Mailing List of Doom. There's still a resounding lack of people standing up and e-shouting: "It's fiction. It's make-believe! Get over it!" It seems that liberal tolerance includes tolerance for complete stupidity -- believing that a child can make a broomstick fly with the power of his thoughts is, apparently, an opinion that I'm supposed to respect. Because this is Canada. We are supposed to respect everyone's opinions.

Bollocks.

Now, I've been accused of being an intolerant person in the past. I'm kind of proud of it. I like my inner fascist; she has good fashion sense. I refuse to, for example, accept neo-Nazi ideology as "just another opinion" that somehow deserves to be heard because of some fuzzy-headed liberal notion of free speech*.

Meanwhile, American schools are happily teaching Creationism in science classes. Now, I'm all for this, because I think that the shoddy, religious-based education that American schoolchildren will receive will quickly lead to a decline in America's ability to compete as an economic superpower within a generation or two. And America's certainly been an irresponsible economic superpower. It's only fair to let the Flat Earth Society send the US to hell and let a handful of more intelligent populaces have a chance to call the shots. But what I do resent is a cultural tolerance for stupidity.

The rebranding of Creationism as Intelligent Design is at once funny and sad. Imagine history classes where students discuss how Prometheus contributed to the Industrial Revolution or economics classes where we speculate on how the coming rise of Cthulhu will affect the New York Stock Exchange, and you'll see why The Shrub and Co. are making me giggle so much lately. But it's disturbing in that we are being told that we have to accept everyone's opinion, no matter how demonstrably false or outlandish, as potential fact. (Unless said person is gay or Muslim or a socialist, of course.)

That's different than respect. I respect religious people and their beliefs, just as I enjoy reading fantasy novels with magic spells in them. There's obviously a place for studying religion in school -- most schools have comparative religion courses, and that's something we should all encourage. I wish there'd been a class like that in my high school. And people are free to do all the spells they want outside of the public sphere, whether they want to summon Jesus or Hecate. But are we expected to discuss, in the middle of an environmental science class, whether lightning comes from atmospheric electricity or from Zeus?

As uberbitsch points out, one shouldn't be so open-minded that one's brain falls out.

*Free speech, of course, being another myth in Western capitalist societies, based on the assumption that everyone has a right to free speech. Obviously, someone with the money to erect a gigantic billboard has more of a right to free speech than someone who puts up a photocopied political poster. And we can get into the whole libel chill/blogchill thing too, where your official freedom of speech is limited by the right of those who have power over you to make your life a living hell for publicly speaking your mind.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and I'm following a new theology now.

Comments

[mcsokrates.livejournal.com]

Well, being somewhat of a relativist in matters of metaphysics (and a universalist in matters of religion) I tend to want to destroy both sides of the argument. Relativism is really only a viable system in areas where empirical evidence fails. But applying it to areas where empirical evidence provides us with a very good theory (empiricism, of course, can't ascertain truth, only a reasonable approximation of it. Which is quite alright, as truth is a pretty tricky thing) is absolute crap. Relativism also fails in ideology, because it tends not to differentiate between validity and worth. Nazism and violent Salafism may be equally valid with other world views, but they are not equally worthwhile for a society.

Ok, off pedestal.

[sabotabby]

It's a good pedestal. And a good point.

[bike4fish.livejournal.com]

I always figure that everyone is entitled to their own models of reality that help them cope with the world. The problems happen when they let those models out of their pointy little heads.

I accept that everyone has opinions, and is entitled to hold them, but if their opinion-based actions affect others, or they insist on voicing their opinions, then they are fair game for action/verbal criticism by others.

[sabotabby]

I suppose, though, that it calls into question the definition of "affecting others." We had this debate over Daniel Pipes -- whether his talks should be protested or whether we should attempt to shut them down altogether. We didn't reach consensus on that, of course, but at least a few of us drew a distinction between the Netanyahu talk in Montreal (we felt it was justifiable to try to shut it down because he was a war criminal) and Pipes (who is just an asshole with an opinion). So the severity of criticism/action becomes proportionate to not only how ludicrous and/or offensive the opinion, but who the speaker is and what sort of influence he has on the lives of others.

I also think that people are entitled to do all the drugs they want. I wouldn't want someone on crack to teach my kids, though. If that makes any sense. I'm really tired.

[bike4fish.livejournal.com]

By the way, I just suggested that crazykittylady should make your acquaintance.

[sabotabby]

How is it that there are still people in Hogtown that I don't know?

[yuki-yarrow.livejournal.com]

There are just some people that I just don't get. Their thinking patterns, their brain waves, and what they're trying to convince you of! it's just STUPID. Ughhhh!!!

And the Creationist thing, I think I was taught the Evolution thing, but my mom told my teacher off because apparently I'm "christian" and "we don't believe that theory". Me, I could care less how it all got started.

[sabotabby]

Well, yeah, I don't care about the origins of the universe, beyond a passing, "Oh, that's interesting." I do care about reason and logic, and I think the battle over evolution (what is this, 1928?) is symptomatic of a far greater abandonment of those things.

[sphinctourist.livejournal.com]

looks like i'm going to have to convert... like NOW!

[sabotabby]

I know...tell me about it!