Posted by
PDX Dave on Saturday, October 27, 2007 6:52:19 PM
Among the many terms that the left uses to stifle the free exchange of ideas, is the speech-killing and illogical "homophobe."
As
Dennis Prager says so often on his radio show and blog, the left uses intellectually dishonest and inflammatory words and phrases that are designed to stop their opponent's debate in it's tracks. Little bombs that label the other as a despicable person of one stripe or another, and which render further debate meaningless. After all, one does not waste intellectual energy or logical debate with a racist, one showers them with scorn and hatred. Right? Of course.
So, little phrases which label the other as a bigoted hater are the verbal weapon of choice for the liberal. The first arrow out of the quiver. Anyone who has doubts about the wisdom of affirmative action is a "racist." Anyone who thinks the unborn have even rudimentary rights is a "woman-hater." Those who seek a secure border are "anti-immigrant." An opponent of socialized medicine "doesn't care about the suffering of children."
And one who sees the institution of marriage as a social contract between a man and woman is definitionally a "homophobe."
I say that "homophobe" is an illogically coined term because it seems to me to defy the parameters of a phobia. In all seriousness, is there anyone who is - in reality - AFRAID of homosexuals to the degree that it rises to a phobia? I sincerely doubt it.
Consider the term "arachnophobia." It's an irrational fear of spiders. A real fear - one that triggers a fight or flight response. Or "agoraphobia;" the fear of open spaces which causes a sense of blind panic.
A phobia really has a narrow definition. It's not a term used to describe a person's disagreement with an opposing political plank. It simply isn't. It is a term used to describe an abnormal and debilitating fear.
If one does not like broccoli, one is not a "broccoliphobe." A woman who avoids green dresses is not a "verdaphobe." She simply does not like the way the color looks on her. If one opposes leftists and their ideology, one is not definitionally afraid of them and thus a "libbiephobe" any more than a Democrat is irrationally afraid of Republicans and thus a "Republiphobe."
Nor is a person a "homophobe" who simply wishes society's age-old definition of marriage to remain, the union of one man and one woman.
The left will gain much more traction in their pursuit of socialism if they ditch intellectually dishonest, debate-killing buzz words designed to stifle discussion, and just get on with the free exchange of ideas.
PDX Dave
Behind Enemy Lines in Portland, Oregon