I find alphabet ideology in all its forms to be dangerous and offensive.
My readers have picked up on that.
So, after yet another encounter with a store clerk wearing pronoun pins, I thought I would share my way of dealing with my encounters with the alternatively pronouned.
I treat the pronouned just exactly like I treat everybody else, with as much respect as they give me and, if possible, just a little more.
I am a man of strong opinions, but unless there is some reason, I don’t share them with others in the normal course of life, and I am annoyed when others do. If an alphabet ideologist tries to impose some onerous requirement on me, I will object, but a person wearing a pronoun pin imposes no requirement on me at all under most circumstances. They are doing the equivalent of wearing a political T-shirt or hat, and frankly, I am not so fond of that either and avoid doing so.
Unless there is a reason for conflict, I avoid it. If demands are made of me, mine, or society at large, I have a right to object, and in cases where the demands are made obnoxiously, I don’t particularly feel obligated to be greatly restrained in my responses.
But in day-to-day interactions? I try to be as friendly and courteous with the pronouned or gender nonconforming as with any Democrat, Republican, or hippie. You do you, until you do unto others.
This, it seems to me, is a basic requirement of living in a free society built on social trust, however frayed it is becoming. I see the alphabet mafia and the alphabet ideology as truly demonic, but I see no need for conflict with its members in the ordinary course of life. Moreover, I see people who seek out conflict when it is not necessary or appropriate as being dangerous to the well-being of society.
That is how I feel about the protesters who block people in the streets when they are going to work–they are picking a fight and a fight they should get. But if those same protesters were sharing their opinions–even vile and dangerous ones–calmly and respectfully, I would treat them calmly and respectfully, even if I seethe inside.
My main objection–outside the content of their views–of the current pro-Hamas demonstrations is their aggression toward others. If they were sharing opinions–engaged in actual speech–I would shake my head, argue against them, but defend their right to be wrong, even badly wrong.
It is when speech turns into action that my tolerance drops to zero. If the clerk I was dealing with made me bow down to her ideology, I would refuse. But she smiled and was polite, and I, in turn, smiled and was polite and untroubled.
What is so objectionable about alphabet ideology is the recruitment, the demand to reshape society, and the invasion of others’ spaces; it is not that somebody has an alternative lifestyle. At least for me, it isn’t.
I actually believe that diversity–respectful diversity in which we tolerate each other and treat each other with respect due all in a Liberal society–has enriched our society immensely. Immigration–at a reasonable pace and with integration into the larger society–brings new ideas, cuisines, entrepreneurship, and cultural growth.
And, contra the “White supremacy” claims about our society–integration hasn’t meant forcing others into a prescribed mold, but blending in which everybody learns from each other.
I opposed gay marriage, and when a friend got married, I declined to attend due to my Catholic faith. But he remained my friend, and I treated him and his with respect, and he respected my decision not to attend.
We can all live together when it isn’t a fight to the death. Unfortunately, it has become one. What is happening in schools, in workplaces, in the media, and in culture is an attempt to ram an ideology down our throats and to make us submit to evil. “Sanctuary states,” keeping secrets from parents, propagandizing children, the destruction of our medical knowledge and institutions–it is a threat to our society’s very existence and the safety of our children.
But somebody choosing to dress weirdly and play pretend? None of my business unless you make it my business.
What do you do in these situations?