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"The world is a fine place
and worth fighting for."
--Ernest Hemingway
Welcome to "The Noisy Lion", blog-auxiliary of The Berkeley Beacon, Emerson College's school newspaper. A regularly updated source for wide-ranging cultural and political commentary, it serves to augment print content and foster discussion of relevant topics. Both original articles and abbreviated observation will be featured here.
Interested in contributing?
beaconopinionblog-AT-gmail.com
Philip Primeau ('10), Editor
Douglas P. Case ('11), Asst. Editor
and worth fighting for."
--Ernest Hemingway
Welcome to "The Noisy Lion", blog-auxiliary of The Berkeley Beacon, Emerson College's school newspaper. A regularly updated source for wide-ranging cultural and political commentary, it serves to augment print content and foster discussion of relevant topics. Both original articles and abbreviated observation will be featured here.
Interested in contributing?
beaconopinionblog-AT-gmail.com
Philip Primeau ('10), Editor
Douglas P. Case ('11), Asst. Editor
Blog Archive
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2007
(74)
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April
(18)
- Out with the old, in with the new at the Beacon Op...
- Congress Takes a Crucial Step for DC Representation
- UK Press Union Boycotts Israeli Goods
- Tragedy in Virginia
- The Presidents' Cash Out
- Fox News's love of Tony Snow
- Bringing the Sudan conflict one click closer
- RIP Vonnegut
- The possibility of progress
- Absolutely Unacceptable
- Dumb and dumber
- Harris versus Warren
- Uh-oh, Rudy
- The opinion section's 2008 picks
- Under the bridge downtown
- Hyperbole Alert
- Hold the phone
- MC Rove
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April
(18)
Required Reading
- American Prospect
- Andrew Sullivan
- Atlantic Monthly
- Berkeley Beacon
- Boston Globe Op-Ed
- Campus Pundit
- Christian Science Monitor
- Chronicles Magazine
- Daniel Larison
- Drudge Report
- Huffington Post
- Matthew Yglesias
- National Review
- New York Times Op-Ed
- Rod Dreher
- Salon
- Slate
- The 1880
- The Nation
- The New Yorker
- The Onion
- The Progressive
- Vanity Fair
- Wall Street Journal Op-Ed
- Weekly Standard
5 comments:
Hudacek. I agree here. I think gay rights -- including marriage, which I realize our friend Phil thinks does not apply -- is one of the great no-brainers of our time. Treat people equally. Its one of those things two generations from now we will look back at with great embarrassment, and disgust as we do now about segregation, racism, slavery, witch trials etc ...
To me this is like torture. We our engaged in a "serious debate" over an issue, that we will someday begin to view as absurd.We had "serious debates" over whether or not it was OK for a black to eat on the same lunch counter as a white person, only 50 years ago.
The good news: I can assure you this effort to disriminate against gays which as we know is mostly spearheaded by the Jesus Camp/ Pat Robertson types is a losing one. Societal progress almost always takes shape in the form of liberalism and acceptance.
And young people -- Generation Next as described by PEW (people born between 81-88) are by far the most tolerant generation ever when it comes to gay rights, secularism, immigrants, interracial relationships, and even recreational drug use.
This is especially true of gay rights, I think. Consider how we have grown up -- with gay students in every class, as class presidents etc ... -- compared to with our parents did: with homosexuality viewed as a complete social taboo, and punishable by an eternity spent in hell.
So thats the good news. By the time we are 50-60, and our generation makes up the countries power brokers, gay marriage will likely be accepted in most states, and attempts to legislate discrimination into law, will be met with contempt not currently seen. I urge you to check out the PEW poll.
Just search "Pew" and "Generation Next." Blogger has a glich where trying to post URL's in the comment sectin does not work.
"This is especially true of gay rights, I think. Consider how we have grown up -- with gay students in every class, as class presidents etc ... -- compared to with our parents did: with homosexuality viewed as a complete social taboo, and punishable by an eternity spent in hell."
Hold on there, cowboy. That's really parochial of you. Sure you haven't been at Emerson too long? I'll tell you what: in my hometown there were/are two openly gay kids. Maybe three. And they were given a lot of shit -- and often. And that's in deep blue, socially moderate (maybe even progressive) Rhode Island.
I don't trust polls which try to gauge social behavior, let alone predict it. What people write on paper and how they actually function are two entirely different things. I think you're being way too optimistic. Optimistic to the point of being naive, even.
"Jesus Camp/ Pat Robertson types is a losing one"
Uh, really? Because as far as I know, the Jesus Camp crowd is, like, 80 million strong and growing fast in the United States. And they've got craziness on their side. Craziness and a lot of get-up-and-go as a result of their dedication to evangelism.
Again, you're being way too confident.
"Societal progress almost always takes shape in the form of liberalism and acceptance."
See, I don't buy into that sort of social teleology. Case in point: Homosexuality was more acceptable -- or at least permissible -- two thousand years ago than they are today.
"segregation, racism, slavery, witch trials etc ..."
Segregation still exists in many (most?) parts of the country, even if it's not codified in law. Racism is pervasive and completely acceptable in many areas. As for witch trials, well, bouts of them come and go...
You're really full of sunshine today, Mike.
--Phil
--Phil
Phil,,
Given your use of polls in your own writing, on many occasions, I can't help but find your sudden dismissal of them a little convenient.
In any case, I don't recall ever saying all of the world ills were solved, just merely that social attitudes have changes considerably on those mentioned issues.
And lastly, despite the demographics in your hometown, that there is a growing tolerance of gays seems like a fairly well-supported assertion.
That homosexuality was accepted more or less 2,000 years ago hardly seems relevant when are talking about society today.
But, I would welcome any evidence that points to the contrary.
MC
"In any case, I don't recall ever saying all of the world ills were solved, just merely that social attitudes have changes considerably on those mentioned issues."
Of course . . . to an extent. But you're making these sweeping, victorious pronouncements: "I can assure you this effort to discriminate against gays...is a losing one." You're so sure?
"And lastly, despite the demographics in your hometown, that there is a growing tolerance of gays seems like a fairly well-supported assertion."
Tolerance and acceptance are too very different things. That very big distinction is the name of the game in terms of race in the latter 20th century.
"That homosexuality was accepted more or less 2,000 years ago hardly seems relevant when are talking about society today."
It's relevant when you're trying to establish a sort of social teleology, which is the only way I can read something like this: "Societal progress almost always take shape in the form of liberalism and acceptance." Which I frankly do not buy, even for a second. Prejudices wax and wane, they become muted and grow pronouned -- they aren't simply conquered and converted to mere historical phenomena.
I think that you are to an extent right re: our generation's liberal attitudes towards many social issues. I was just surprised by the extent of your optimism.
But, I would welcome any evidence that points to the contrary.
"Of course . . . to an extent. But you're making these sweeping, victorious pronouncements: "I can assure you this effort to discriminate against gays...is a losing one." You're so sure?"
Well I find the data to be conclusive. And if the data said the oppsoite, that young people were less open to gay marriage, then I would have surely come up with opposite conlusion. This is not unbridaled optimism, but an analysis of demographic trends, in which the results just happen to be the ones I favor.
Indeed saying progress almost always comes in the form of liberalism is sweeping -- I am course, a political person. Read emconblogs missions statement again and tell me if that isn't sweeping. You make the word sound perjorative. I of course beleive progress comes in the form of liberalism, hence my personal politics.
In anycase, a look at America History, I think lends itself this view. While racism is still prevelent; slavery is deplored. While there is still sexism; women can now vote. And on and on.
I think is quite logical to look at that trend -- the one of increasing social tolerance in the US -- and that look at the PEW report which suggests that the younger generation is especially liberal on these issues, and project, with confidence, what will happen with marriage/gays in the military laws over the next generation or two.
This is hardly unbridaled optimism, but a fairly objective trend w/o even getting into to whether this is a good thing or a bad thing.xdbackp
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