The Intolerance of Liberals

For years now I've been hearing, mostly from people on the right, how liberals are intolerant and I find this accusation incredibly confusing because I thought that's what we were working against.  So yesterday I'm getting ready for work and a guy on NPR is talking about how he used to be a liberal, but he couldn't take all the hate, so he became a conservative.  Some days you just think to yourself everything is upside down and inside out.

From the little bit I listened to, the host asked for an example of the hate this guy was talking about and he said he couldn't understand why people were so upset when a business refused to sell a gay couple a wedding cake based on their religious view point.  My head started to spin.  I don't understand how a small business sets itself up in a community, taking advantage of tax breaks and other community offered incentives, and then determines it won't serve the entire community.  Again, I'm really confused about how asking that business to serve the entire community is intolerance.  If the business said it didn't want to serve white people based on a religious preference, would people be okay with that?

I am not religious, I have not studied the bible, but I have heard that some people believe that white people are devils based on the bible.  Full disclosure for new readers, I am white.  So, if we say that someone can deny service based on religious beliefs, are we okay with someone denying white people service using that rationale?

All through the last nearly forty years I've listened to liberals and their sometimes political counterparts, Democrats, be demonized by the right.
  "It isn't so much that liberals are ignorant.  It's just that they know so many things that aren't so."          - Ronald Reagan

Newt Gingrich had a list of words specifically meant for this purpose.  At one of the RNC national conventions before 2000 I remember hearing that I was not a real American because I wasn't a Republican/Conservative.  Sarah Palin told me I wasn't a real American because I live on the coast and not in the heartland.  She later apologized but this has been a running theme on the Republican side to state outright or to insinuate that Liberals, Progressives and Democrats are unpatriotic and not really American.

Liberals have been mocked for how we raise our children, the fact that some of us buy coffee at Starbucks and for being 'snowflakes' who need safe spaces.  Tomi Lahren, the young darling of conservatives loves to insult liberals and call us names while at the same time complaining of that behavior on the left.

Don't misunderstand what I'm saying here.  I'm not giving the left a free pass.  We do call people on the right names.  What I really want to break down is what is actually liberal intolerance.  Take for instance the recent saga surrounding Milo Yiannopoulos.  He was scheduled to speak at UC Berkeley until protests were joined by anarchists and the university swiftly cancelled the event.  There's been a trend on college campuses to shut out people like Yiannopolous because they represent hate speech.  Their claim is that they just have a different point of view and all voices need to be heard.  They claim that liberals and the left are shutting out free speech.  I can't think of any liberal who isn't a champion of free speech.  What I can name though are liberals who don't want someone coming on to a campus only to recruit people to their cause which is hate.  Especially someone who makes false claims about marginalized groups of people.  College campuses should welcome the free exchange of ideas, but would conservatives be happy if someone from ISIS came to make their pitch?  What would the question and answer session look like on that one?  Peaceful?  Reasoned?

Here's a link to Yiannopoulos' own writing, and here's a link to a profile piece and another profile piece so you can make up your own mind about him.

So what exactly is liberal intolerance and it's partner in crime "Political Correctness"? I feel like wanting equality for groups of marginalized people and then pointing out the ways in which they're marginalized is why we're labeled intolerant.  Here's the thing though, as a Liberal Progressive, I'm not just concerned about some folks and not others, I think if we can bring about true equality, it works well for everyone.

I want women to have autonomy over their bodies and I want them to be able to work for a living, or be a stay at home Mom, or whatever their heart desires.

I want our fellow black citizens to be able to truly realize the American Dream and not worry that they'll be dead because they forgot to use their turn signal when switching lanes.

I want the LGBTQ community to not fear for their lives and get to be who they know they are and live their lives accordingly.

I want religious people to be able to freely practice their religion - just not try to make me practice it with them if I don't wish too.

I want our public spaces to be available to all, but not designated for one group over another.

I don't see how wanting equality for the race of people known as humans is intolerance or even politically correct.  If people on the right have a problem with this then they need to take a good hard look at what American values really means to them.  The pledge of allegiance that they think all of us should be required to say ends "with Liberty and Justice for All".    If you're saying those words then step up and make it happen and stop complaining about intolerance.

Note to readers:  I embed links in my posts to the information I'm referencing.  Links will open in a new window so you can read for yourself and reach your own conclusions.