A reader with the majestic yet Gaelic name of KingMcDee writes:
I read an article from last year, in the Atlantic, where some liberal or other […] accused a section of the “religious right” (those who look to Orban and Putin as possible examples of how to use the public power for the sake of a conservative society) of essentially throwing a tantrum because they were losing the culture war.
I admit this criticism affected me, because I have been at least somewhat sympathetic to such ideas myself. He essentially called them babies who gave up on liberal democracy once it stopped doing what they wanted, accused them of wanting to use the state to oppose the will of the people instead of arguing their position, etc.
… I feel the sting of being called an authoritarian who asks for tolerance when he is weak and imposes his will when he is strong. I don’t know what to say, to be honest.
However, to take one of the examples used by the man himself, while he might mock the idea of Alabama banning an episode of Arthur that shows a gay “marriage”, I doubt he would object to the state banning an episode that showed characters in, say, blackface.
I have not read the article. I have a few questions, and many comments:
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