Been reading a book on the Big Easy, Tom Piazza’s Why New Orleans Matters. Reflecting on his surprise at learning that a musician read philosophy, the author philosophizes himself:
It is an old American situation, of course—anyone interested in an extended essay on the subject should read Ralph Ellison’s “The Little Man at Chehaw Station,” in his collection Going to the Territory, or Constance Rourke’s American Humor, both extended meditations on the masks not just that we put on for others but that we put on others, that surprises that lurk so often around the corner of someone’s seemingly straightforward identity. It is a lesson that one has to learn continually in New Orleans. Things are always more complex than they seem.
Bold added. Italics in original.
The masks that we put on others. To our commenters, think about that before you reply to someone who offers an opinion different from your own. Don’t make assumptions about who they are. You may be surprised how much you have in common. (Reminder to self: do need write that post on how Paula Deen brings together GayPatriot readers with contrasting political views.)
The masks that we put on others. The masks some of our ideological adversaries place on gay conservatives when they make assumptions about our motives.
Read the passage above, then re-read it. There’s much wisdom there. And not just about New Orleans.
I have come a long way from where I used to be, as far as political convictions are concerned. One thing that has NOT helped me to move to the Right is being attacked because I still hold some views that are different from mainstream conservatives.
Some of those views are libertarian, and will not likely change. Others may be holdovers from my days as a liberal, and on those I may yet be persuaded to change. But ad hominem attacks and brainless labels won’t do it.
I think there may be many people who read this blog, yet are afraid to venture a comment. They may be afraid they are going to be attacked instead of helped to see things differently. I talk to many gay people who would be easy to dismiss as liberals, but whose views are actually more complex than that, and may be in a state of flux.
Lots of people are disenchanted with Obama and “hope and change.” Gay Patriot is an excellent place for them to come for a fresh perspective. I hope that when they come here, they will be treated with courtesy. Let’s not label them before we know what they’re all about.