Women, Jews and Guilt by Association

On Google Groups, there is a poster who keeps claiming that women brought death and suffering into the world. I ask, Which woman: Hillary Clinton or Brittney Spears? Even if there was a person such as Eve, she no more speaks for contemporary women than does Jeffrey Dahmer speak for me as another man. I refuse to be held accountable for actions of other people; and I refuse to stand by while all sorts of innocent people are being treated horribly because of something that they had nothing to do with.

The core error here is that of seeing all women as being the same, or as a part of the same force. But women are half of humanity, and there are vast differences among them. There is not much in common between Anne Coulter and Marie Curie; or between Sarah Palin and Oprah Winfrey; or between Phyllis Schafly and Madonna. To see all women as part of the same force is ridiculous; and treating the next woman based on something that she had nothing to do with is preposterous.

We see the same thing with people agitating against the Jews. The Jews are not a uniform entity; there are vast differences among them, and Jews disagree with one another all the time on all sorts of subjects. If there had been a Jewish conspiracy, I would have been invited to be a part of it a long time ago. I haven't been; so there is no Jewish conspiracy.

If Jews were – as these people claim – evil, and if Jews were – as these people claim – in control, then they would be facing a firing squad. That they are instead free to spread their propaganda shows either that Jews are not in control, or that the Jews are so good that they would even let live the people who wish them dead.

There is an unfortunate tendency in humanity to blame people by association. Many people still see Germans with aversion because of the Second World War; but the vast bulk of contemporary Germans were born after the Second World War and had nothing to do with it. Similarly, many Christians today are regarded negatively by non-Christians because of the Inquisition and the Colonialism. These people had nothing to do with these crimes, but because they are Christians they get the flack.

We also see this problem with those in the African American community who see the whole system as racist and exploitative and claim that white people are bad because they benefit from it. Which white people? When I was in my early 20s and making good money in the computer industry, I started reading Ward Churchill. I developed hatred for the Western civilization and for my role in it, motivating me to drop out, which was a bad experience for my family. Some of these people would see me as evil just because I am white, regardless of how I myself treat the black people in my life; and that is no better than Nazism.

At no point in this do I come from the position of political correctness. I detest political correctness and have fought it ever since I knew what it was. I believe that wrong ideas should be met, not with censorship, but with better ideas; as I am seeking to do here.

There is absolutely nothing evil, or immoral, about my Jewish family. They are all hard-working, honest, ethical people. They have major political differences with one another, and they remain loyal to one another even in spite of these differences. And believe me that takes a lot.

So whenever we see someone agitating against women, or against the Jews, or anything of the sort, what we are seeing is either an idiot or a conman. There is no Jewish conspiracy, and there is no woman conspiracy. Jews differ from one another, and women differ from one another. And until one acknowledges this basic reality he has no business commenting negatively about either.