In keeping with the new progressive strategy for arguments with conservatives, Stanley Harrold's Unsuited to be Published diatribe was the supreme example of the new "Cancel Culture" of silencing conservatives.
Instead of honoring the value of substantive debate about critical issues, he chose to lump my article about the recent attacks on Christianity with two other conservative authors writing about different subjects. Harrold's attack used the implied charge of racism against all three writers (Ironically, one writer was of Chinese descent writing about the connection of current events with his knowledge of China).
Harrold went so far as to actually allege the newspaper was irresponsible for publication of the conservative side. According to Harrold, the articles raise questions about fairness and human rights. Three far-right columns go beyond anything close to reasonable journalism. I would normally let this kind of unfounded hyperbole and defamation go unanswered, but feel compelled to reply.
First, as the readers know I have been a conservative voice in the newspapers opinion section among a substantial majority of liberal columnists. Almost two decades ago, when I started offering opinion pieces for The Times and Democrat, voices from the far left, like Eugene Robinson, predominated the opinion page. This imbalance appeared biased to the left, but I never questioned The Times and Democrat publishing liberal voices.
Recent columns on The Times and Democrat editorial page raise questions about fairness and human rights. Three far-right columns go beyond anything close to reasonable journalism.
My challenge was to provide the conservative voice, debate the ideas and provide evidence to back up my assertions. I never lumped together multiple liberal writers. Lumping writers together is absolutely disingenuous, in that all can be discredited by the assertions of one and unfair unless they are writing in coordination. In my writings, I have attempted to find credible evidence in both quotations and citations. Though I find Ann Coulters article an insightful and important counter to the far left, she makes assertions I do not.
Prior to my article about the attacks on Christianity by those involved in the current rioting, I wrote about Karl Marx and quote him extensively. In that earlier article, I made the same allegation as I did with the recent article about rising attacks on Christianity: That Marxism was connected to many of the actions we were seeing with the rioters, and that the relationship between the two should not be ignored. In both articles, I give preeminence to the actions and ideology of antifa, though in the second article I also mention the connection of Marxism to the Black Lives Matter organization. As I made clear, I did not believe many of those protesting after the Floyd killing understood the Marxist connection.
Harrold either failed to read my first article about Marxism or failed to do any of his own research about Marx. Marx was vehemently and openly anti-Christian and claimed his primary goal in life was to dethrone God, and destroy capitalism." Marx wrote of his hatred of the nuclear family and alleged that in primitive society, families were communal. This obviously contradicted the biblical accounts of family. Marx also wrote that the present must control the past and exhorted his followers to destroy reminders of the past.
Americans have watched the escalating mayhem throughout America since the riots in Minnesota in early June. The initial targets of violence (rioting interspersed with protesting) were police officers, along with police cruisers and stations. Then came the seemingly irrational destruction of statues and memorials. This includes memorials to abolitionists and generals like U.S. Grant.
In deciding to throw down the trump card of racism," Harrold fails to even mention the prominence of the role I allege of antifa in furthering Marxist ideals. Additionally, Harrold turns my mention of the BLM organization into an attack against all African Americans, going so far as to assert Black people are among the most Christian Americans."
Whether or not one racial group is considered the most Christian is not the point, and frankly the BLM protests are noted for involving overwhelmingly white progressives. The BLM organization was founded by (and still led by) those who admitted to being trained Marxists." Anyone can read the BLM website, in which BLM claims it must disrupt the nuclear family," among other values unrelated to black lives mattering.
Interestingly, the Black nuclear family is suffering the greatest crisis in history, with over 75% of Black babies born and raised outside wedlock (in 1965, under 25% were born/raised outside wedlock). If Black lives mattered, surely having a father and mother raising children would be a prime goal. BLM instead promotes children being raised the communal way Marx recommended. Additionally, the BLM goals include the end of police, prisons, borders, ICE, etc. and redistributing wealth.
After the initial shock and emotion over the George Floyd killing, Americans are waking up to an insidious movement using the emotion for ulterior purposes. Groups with Marxist ideology have brazenly infiltrated the protests and used the protests to further their aims. Former antifa member Gabriel Nadales described antifa becoming a mob like collective aiming to destroy political opposition and silence dissenters.
Shockingly, Harrold claims the Chinese Communist Party to be some kind of benign democracy with solely a window-dressing of Marxism/communism. The reality most have come to accept is exactly opposite. CPP handling of COVID-19, including the coverups and death/disappearing of whistleblowers and decision to curtail travel from Wuhan within China while allowing international flights from Wuhan, has torn the veil on any benign perceptions. It is a ruthless and deceptive autocracy. It is every bit as bad as the USSR, and not much better than the CCP under Maos Cultural Revolution killing tens of millions.
The readers are free to disregard the evidence I have presented in the Marxist connections to the rioting by antifa and BLM. They are free to disregard the claims of BLM founders to being trained Marxists, or that BLM publishes its goal to disrupt the biblical nuclear family. They are free to disregard members of antifa and BLM (primarily white) destroying Christian monuments and symbols and burning churches. They are free to disregard the recent Bible-burning episode in Portland. They are free to believe the Chinese Communist Party is just like a free parliamentary system of government.
Mr. Harrold is free to disagree and present his evidence. What he should not do is attempt to silence voices with which he disagrees by attempts to shame newspapers for publishing both sides. Too many have suffered and died to curtail that freedom.
Do not indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. George Washington
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