LogFAQs > #890122856

COVxy posted...

you are exactly the type of person that people who are anti-trans are going to point to justify their thoughts. Because you just make it look like a ridiculous movement filled with people deliberately looking for things to be offended about.

@COVxy If you'll permit me, I'd like to momentarily expand the subject in order to make a point.

First: I'm not advocating bludgeoning people over the head for being offensive. Only gently correcting them.

Second: Too many Democrats say the same thing about Black Lives Matter. Instead of standing up for what's right, they imagine it's wiser to pick their battles, like cowards. "We can't speak loudly about identity politics. That could make the Democratic party look like a ridiculous movement filled with people deliberately looking for things to be offended about," they say.

So they give up the fight. Then, what happens? The needle of public perception moves against BLM, because the anti-BLM folks are the only ones speaking loudly. The bystanders, who are the largest group by far, are molded by the anti-BLM mantras they hear repeated over and over again. The cause of civil rights is set back. The world becomes a darker place.

The same goes for discussions on Muslims and refugees. How many threads have you been in where there are a dozen anti-Muslim posters making horrible, dehumanizing comments about Muslims -- and there's almost nobody on the other side arguing against prejudice? I can't tell you how many times I've participated in such a topic and heard silence from most of the so-called liberal posters who frequent this board. Why? Because they've determined it isn't a popular thing to talk about. It's only going to alienate people by "making us look like a ridiculous movement." The needle moves further in the wrong direction.

My point is this. Every time you engage in this kind of thinking over tactics, what we should be talking about and what we shouldn't, you're costing us the fight.

In your post, you said not a single thing to challenge any of the concrete arguments I made about the psychology of word choice. Instead you made a tenuous argument about how it makes us "look" to talk about unpopular subjects. But what if instead of flinching, 100% of the liberals on this forum made a conscious choice to embrace unpopular arguments? Then the arguments wouldn't be unpopular anymore, and the needle would start moving in the right direction again. What if 100% of the liberals on this forum decided not to be afraid of being called "social justice warriors" anymore and decided to reclaim the word and embrace it as a badge of pride? Then the SJW insult would lose all potency, and bystanders would no longer be swayed by it.

Have courage and stand up for things, even if they aren't popular. It's the only way the world has ever been made a better place.