The Difference Between Personal And Public Principles And Ethics

Dennis Prager speaks of this distinction in his own life, and it is an important one. Most of us adhere to a (hopefully) relatively well-formed ethical structure in our public discourse, but out of necessity modify that structure in our personal lives.

For instance; I have a nephew who is intelligent (or at least has the capacity to be intelligent), but woefully ignorant of the realities of the world, so he fancies himself a socialist. He is young and stupid and full of himself and has no experience with what socialism really is, but he is welcome in my home and my heart, and I wouldn't dream of treating him the way I treat socialism and socialists in the public sphere.

Professional Homosexual groups are another example. They are a subset of the Left, and their goal is to erode the moral fabric of America, and muddy the boundaries between socially acceptable behavior and the insanity that is currently being debated; 57 genders and transgenders and pansexuals and on and on and on. My particular pet peeve is the craziness of transgenderism. It is nothing more than a form of body dysmorphic disorder.

But that is the macro. What about regular garden-variety gay people (some of whom read and comment at AoSHQ!)? Should I shun them and heap scorn upon them at the supermarket and at my dinner table? Should I shout "f*g"* at every opportunity?

Of course not.

And here is someone who disagrees...Principled in the Macro/Compassionate in the Micro? Not Really.

And I disagree with him. I refuse to hold individuals accountable for my perception of the failings of their groups. My ultra-conservative, gun-toting, rabidly-Trump-loving, military-supporting friend (who happens to be gay) is also always welcome at my table and in my heart, and the idea that I would reject him because of the political goals of some gay pressure groups or my philosophical and social disagreement with the "gay agenda" is nuts.

It is that attitude that drives leftist pundits to suggest that waiters spit in conservative's food, that conservatives be shunned and made unemployable, and all the other lunacy of the Left and their desire to create metaphorical (at least for now) internment camps for those who would disagree with them.

* I am being respectful of our host's wishes.

posted by CBD at 02:15 PM

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