These comments very much address how I feel about the Elizabeth Moon controversy and unfair treatment and villianizing of her by other parties. And in general, they also address how the Left browbeats anyone who doesn’t agree with them in the name of intolerance, showing their own intolerance as they do so. Both sides are guilty of this, but the Left in particular has gotten way out of hand. If Moon had said the same things she said about Muslims about Christians, no one would have objected. Which is just as wrong as saying it about anyone else. The difference? Christians are acceptable villians to the Left.
I did not make these comments, and I am lifting them without permission from a Listnet, so I will neither take credit nor offer it but I agree 100%. I do not 100% agree with Elizabeth Moon, however, she does demonstrate how many Americans stereotype Muslims. The way to address that is not with vitriol but reasonable discussion to reveal the falseness of the stereotypes and assumptions being made. Her one point I do agree with is that groups often want special treatment they won’t extend to others.
Here are the comments I endorse:
1. Moon’s comments make explicitly clear that she is not talking about an
entire group of people.
2. It is true that the Convention has the right to do what they did, but
likewise those of us who do not agree with their actions have the right to
criticize them for political correctness (which is exactly what this is).
3. The comments weren’t made on the convention’s “dime,” and there is not
reason to expect that she would make political comments at the convention,
so the “not on my dime” rationale doesn’t hold up.
It is unfortunate that in today’s America, the left/progressive side of U.S.
politics is the bastion of a new McCarthyism, where you can’t say something
that is not-PC, or hold a view that is not an approved viewpoint. It is
particularly unfortunate to me, because I’m very progressive/
social issues, and when I was younger and first became politically active, I
bought into the idea that the left/progressive side was the side of
tolerance, free-flow of ideas, etc. It is anything but that. Both sides have
their villains in this regard, but the left is far worse than the right,
which strikes me as ironic.
Lastly, when I read stories they stand on their own merit (or fall on it),
and I really couldn’t care less about the person views of the author. So
an author is against homosexuality – that’s may be somewhat expected given his
religious views. The fact that I am in favor of gay rights and gay
marriage, etc. doesn’t prevent me enjoying one of his stories, if it is a
good story. Same for Elizabeth Moon. But this goes back to the sort of
McCarthyism I was talking about above, where it isn’t just enough to
criticize or disagree politically with one’s opponents, but where instead
they have to be vilified personally to the point that you can’t even
separate the person’s political views from a piece of science fiction.
Unfortunate.
