Sometimes, the most heartwrenching form of oppression is “common
sense.”
So-called “common sense.” Where there’s this unquestioned
certainty that of course any right thinking person believes this …
For me, I can take raging vitriol. It reveals a discomfort
the rager has. It tips their hand, shows their vulnerabilities. I can even feel
sympathy for them.
But that unquestioned acceptance, that assumption that all “normal”
people think this one thing, and anyone who thinks differently is a freak – it just
hits me down in the gut, you know?
I attended an evangelical seminary, and had some really
great moments there. And then there were other moments. One that remains a scar
happened one evening in my Ethics class. The professor, whom I really admired,
was talking about homosexuality. He was being “tolerant,” I’m sure he thought. “Of
course homosexuality is a sin,” he said, “But what about all the other sins?
Why don’t we give them as much attention?”
He wasn’t being mean. I’m sure he thought he was being
moderate, generous, even. He didn’t even question it. He thought we all agreed.
Facebook, oh Facebook. The medium for the message about what
is normal.
You crush me. I see posts from people I used to know,
casually ridiculing the notion that every person has worth, deserves to be
treated with dignity. Memes or propaganda posing as journalism is shared with a
blithe indifference to the idea that this isn’t just a topic in the news, that
real live people with crushable feelings and vulnerable bodies are in the
crosshairs of the rhetoric.
C’mon, they say. It’s just common sense.
It is neither.
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