The Political Left Needs to Start Judging More Wisely

I saw this Rogan interview with Krystal and Saagar. I've watched a lot of Joe Rogan for the past two years. He leans far left on most issues he discusses, but that's not good enough for most people and news media on the political left, who seek to purification, not nuanced discussion. Many of them have no idea what to do with people like Rogan, who hold heterodox opinions. They reject the idea of human complexity and they are increasibly thinking in cartoons. That is the subject of Krystal Ball's 7-minute commentary. It was spot on. I've seen this rejection of the "impure" on FB over and over. IMO, this is ruining the political left and sending many voters over to the political right, which is morally bankrupt.

My advice to people on the political left: Quit demonizing people who are not aligned with your views. Quit writing off everyone who voted differently than you. Engage openly and respectfully with your family, neighbors and friends who think differently than you. I'm an atheist, but Jesus had it right when he gave the Sermon on the Mount: "Love your enemies." I give thanks today that we don't all think alike. And I give thanks for the wisdom of John Stuart Mill. And I give thanks for the courage and soaring inspirational thoughts of Martin Luther King: Hate cannot drive out hate and we should judge each other only by the content of our character. Let's start judging each other more wisely starting today.

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Why and How to have Conversations With the People Who Disagree with Us

Here, Scott Barry Kaufman tells us why we need to have conversations with people who think differently than us:

Here is a long list of many of the things we have in common, a list compiled by Donald Brown in a book called Human Universals. I commented on this long list in a previous post.

And here is a good recipe for having those conversations, the HxA Way of Heterodox Academy.

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J.K. Rowling Responds to Trans Rights Activists who Doxxed Her

J.K. Rowling is more brave than even Harry or Hermione. Those who doxxed Rowling cannot win on their ideas. That's why they resort to bully and threats, including threats to kill Rowling.

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Bullying Tactics and the Gender Critical Position

Naomi Cunningham's article is titled "Why did lawyers try to cancel me over trans rights?" She ends her article on a hopeful note: bullying tactics by trans rights activists seem to be less effective of late.

Over the last couple of years, I’ve been writing regularly on the seething controversies around biological sex and gender identity. I’m a barrister, specialising in discrimination and employment law and chair of the new human rights organisation Sex Matters, so I take a professional as well as a personal interest in the subject. My stance is broadly ‘gender critical’. I believe that biological sex is real, and that sometimes has consequences that matter; that there are exactly two sexes; and that although human beings are free to embrace the gendered behaviour associated with the opposite sex, and even to modify their bodies so that they look more like a member of the opposite sex, they cannot literally change sex.

These facts are obviously true, and the vast majority of people believe them. And yet they are now also bitterly contested. Many of those writing and campaigning in this area have suffered bullying, no-platforming, threats to their livelihoods, and even threats of death or rape. The attacks are disgraceful, but I became concerned that they were creating a chilling effect wider than was justified by the real risks in speaking up. So last month, I wrote my own story in a short blog, entitled 'Not Cancelled: I have suffered no serious adverse consequences from my gender-critical writing. The end.’

That’s still true – but in the last few days I have faced quite a serious attempt to cancel me from an event at which I was to speak.

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