Peeking Over the Fence

For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?

Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

-Jesus of Nazareth (Mt 5:46)

I have been making an effort to understand some of the arguments from the other side. The urge to allow my blood to boil over that latest outrage is strong, but counterproductive, and ultimately not well with my soul.  I have sought out sources of what I think might be reasonable dialogue, mostly by reading things on this wondrous font of information.  There are blogs and journalism aplenty, much of which I can read for free, which means without directly supporting any sort of agenda other than by giving them traffic through their website.  I avoid idealogues of various stripes, and I have been working on a systematic way of identifying such (still very much an inexact science).
The more I look for markers of ideological rigidity, the more I find myself sensitive to it in places I thought I could trust, which is proof to me that this exercise is producing growth.  One of the areas that I have found myself agreeing with my "enemies," is in the critique of liberal intolerance in the name of "political correctness."  Universities and colleges (Evergreen, Berkley, Duke) seem to be the epicenters of this phenomenon, although I am forced to agree that it is a much wider problem.
I have had to do a great deal of sorting in my reading about this issue, because a lot of the critique of political correctness comes from people who are simply rude and bigoted people who do not wish to have to think too carefully about what they say and to whom they say it.  These people generally drop key indicators of their orientation by using jargon that has become derogatory within their milieu.  Examples are "snowflake," which, as a friend of mine pointed out on Facebook, is actually a reference to something voiced by Tyler Durden in the Chuck Paluhniak novel Fight Club. The basic premise is that Durden is breaking down a group of modern men whom he believes have lost their sense of self because of the blight of modernity.  They recover their selves by fighting and acts of mayhem.  Durden is heard to tell the recruits: "you are not a precious snowflake."  The Fight Club critique of modernity and it's ability to rob individuals of their dignity is pretty insightful, but one needs to remember that (Spoiler Alert): Tyler Durden is a psychotic alter ego of the narrator, he is a symptom of a profound mental illness and on top of that a fictional character in a book, and thus most of what comes out of his mouth should be viewed with some suspicion.  I wonder what Paluhniak thinks when he hears people use that phrase in public discourse as an attack word?
Another flag is the use of the acronym SJW (social justice warrior), which at first glance I thought was at least a little funny.  I mean, it was funny because I have known these people, I went to college and even seminary with a lot of them.  They can appear very much like the walking stereotypes that the use of a derogatory acronym implies.  They've always got some cause and they're usually ready to "call out" people who step outside the lines of political correctness.  White males are particularly vulnerable to being at the pointy end of an SJW, because of our privileged position in society.  Okay, I admit, we often deserve the "call out" for our blithe use of racist and sexist language or our tacit acceptance of systemic injustice (usually because it benefits us).  However, the "call out" is not a terribly effective tool against those who it is most often directed towards.  If you call a "privilege check" on someone who does not feel particularly privileged (even if they are), or if you simply assign a label someone who is already hostile to your position, you are going nowhere fast.
At some point protest and activism passes an apex of effectiveness and begins losing the battle against the cultural immune system and the status quo.  Situations where certain dissenting voices are drummed off campus, or professors are censured or fired for their divergent opinions are fever moments where the fight for progress becomes critical.  It's like I heard someone describe tonsilitis at one point: normally the tonsils help your body fight off infections, but if they get over-run and infected, they essentially start fighting for the other team.
Martin Luther King Jr. understood this as an important axiom in working for change, and it was near the center of his insistence on non-violence.  If we want academia and the worlds of education and ideas to help lead us forward they are going to have to play the game by a higher standard.  If King had launched into a "call out" every time he heard someone use the N-word, he would have been written off as simply over-sensitive and "uppity." It has taken decades before we could get to a point where Ice Cube can go on Bill Maher and articulate exactly and rationally why that word is not acceptable, even in a joke.  He said, "It's our word now, you can't have it back."
It may take even longer for certain other ideas to change, and a certain amount of push-back from the "old guard" is inevitable.  The troubling thing is that, in our world of "bubbles," and increasing polarization, too many people see criticism as a personal attack, and are super ready to take offense.  I was taught the virtues of tolerance and respectful disagreement by old-school liberals, the fact that Ann Coulter or Milo whatshisface can't keep a speaking engagement at Berkley disrespects the ideals of the movement as much as any repugnant idea they might spew out.
I wonder if agreement is too much to ask.  Maybe we just need to learn to disagree better.