I am astonished by the intolerance of the New Left, as exemplified by Kurt Eherenman's (April 26) contribution to political discourse. Mr. Eherenman considers those who have views different than his own to be "warped," "twisted," "crazed," "delirious zealots" who wish to dominate, even "infect" our judicial system, while taking over his life and the entire country. He demands "the freedom to keep them out of [his] life."
Two trends are apparent here, both of which cause me concern. One is the increasing tendency of those on the Left to stereotype, vilify and demonize their political opposition, when it would be sufficient to simply disagree with them (preferably on some factual, or at least reasonable, basis). Hysterical and insulting characterizations are counter-productive, serving only to dissuade many of the readers one seeks to convince.
Secondly, Eherenman's desire ... excuse me, his demand ... for the "freedom to keep them out of his life" is even more worrisome. Simply put, that ain't freedom, Mister, that's totalitarianism. The Mussolinis, Francos and Saddams of the world were motivated in this same way, and were actually able to achieve such “freedom” for themselves … at the expense of others'.
In America, under our present system, you can vote against the opposition, you can keep your guy’s sticker on your car after he’s lost, and you can even publicize fear-mongering hallucinations about the evil nature and intent of the opposition. But you can’t “keep them out.” Even in the hermetically sealed ideological box of Boulder, no such “freedom” to exclude or eliminate the opposition exists. And that’s a good thing.
I don’t agree that our judiciary (or government in general) should consist solely of secular Leftists. And I vehemently object to those who would disregard longstanding traditions of tolerance and diversity, in favor of exclusion and obstruction.
So, as much as Mr. Eherenman may demand the “freedom” to keep me out of his life, he’s just going to have to learn to share the country. The flip side is that no matter how intolerant or intolerable the New Left becomes, we “delirious zealots” can’t keep them out, either. Thank G-d (thumps Bible).
Anne Lieberman
Boulder
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