Liberal Intolerance

Liberal intolerance is the tendency of liberals to be intolerant of ideas that contradict liberal ideology which increasingly includes many strange notions. For example, radical feminists commonly claim that one is not born a man or woman, but one becomes a man or woman through gender socialization.^[1] Those who hold to conservative Christian beliefs are often condemned as "intolerant" by liberals and secularists.^[2] In the 21st century, the Left is growing increasingly intolerant of other viewpoints.^[3]

A Pew Research study found that "consistent liberals" were most likely to block others on social media for disagreeing with them politically.^[4] Pew found in 2017 that 47% of Democrats thought that their friendships would be in danger if that friend voted for Trump, while only 13% of Republicans thinking the same thing about a friend who supported Clinton,^[5][6] something confirmed by Harvard Law Professor Adrian Vermeule.^[7] A 2018 Morning Consult/Hollywood Reporter poll found that Republicans, compared to Democrats, are much more tolerant of individuals who have years-old embarrassing social media posts.^[8] In one notable instance in 2019, a left-wing writer ended a decades-long friendship because his conservative friend refused to stop wearing his MAGA hat.^[9]

Ann Coulter on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Leftists prevented Ann Coulter from speaking at University of California, Berkeley through threats of violence.^[10]

Many liberals are increasingly attempting to limit free speech.^[11][12] For example, there have been several intolerant, liberal mobs which have shut down conservative speakers at college campuses (in 2017 there was two cases in the United States where violence or threats of violence were used to shut down free speech at college campuses).^[13][14][15]

Democrats used paid leftists agitators to disrupt Donald Trump rallies.^[16][17] As far as the paid protestors, veteran left-wing strategist Robert Creamer confirmed on hidden camera that Hillary Clinton “is fully in it” and “Hillary knows through the chain of command what’s going on.”^[18] The agitators were sent to Trump rallies to anger Trump supporters and incite violence.^[19]

There have been a number of attacks against President Donald Trump supporters after his election which the mainstream media underreported.^[20] In addition, there have been a number of instances of leftists and Trump supporters clashing at Trump rallies after his election.^[21]

Liberal intolerance and academia[edit]

Politicized hiring of professors[edit]

In 2013, a study found that academia was less likely to hire evangelical Christians due to discriminatory attitudes.^[22]

Attacks on free speech[edit]

During the McCarthy era, academia prided itself on resisting attempts to restrict the rights of professors to advocate for Communism or other positions unpopular with the general public. However, in the 21st Century, faculty are not allowed to make statements that could be viewed as potentially making some students uncomfortable. So, minority students hold faculty into account for "microaggressions" or the failure to make "trigger warnings" if course material deals with topics that some students may find offensive. Universities and their staffs are expected to create "safe spaces" where minority students can exchange their pre-conceived notions about issues without being exposed to contrary viewpoints. These politically correct imperatives take priority over any concern for freedom of speech and/or academic freedom.

• Campuses create "safe spaces" where students can shelter from discombobulating thoughts and receive spiritual balm for the trauma of microaggressions. [1]

For example, at the University of Virginia, Douglas Muir, an executive lecturer in the Engineering School and the Darden Business School, had used his personal Facebook account to respond to a post about a lecture given by the founder of Black Lives Matter. He wrote, "Black lives matter is the biggest racist group since the clan. Are you kidding me. Disgusting!!!"^[23] The BLM students protested, and the Dean at first issued a statement saying that Muir's views do not represent the University and later announced that Muir was asked to take a leave of absence. After the leave of absence was announced, the local NAACP still asked that Muir be fired.

At Cornell University, historically white fraternities (which are not allowed to discriminate based on race or religion) are suspended for even minor violations involving underage drinking. However, when Omega Psi Phi, a historically black fraternity, held a party that ended in a fatal knife fight, no disciplinary action was taken against the fraternity or individuals. Also at Cornell, which has never been racially segregated and was not built with slave labor, black student activists have demanded that the "Cornell Plantations" a garden that has held that name since its founding more than a century ago, be renamed because the word "Plantations" evokes associations with pre-Civil War slavery.

In contrast, at the start of the fall 2016 semester, the University of Chicago sent a letter to incoming students denouncing political correctness and "trigger warnings." The letter stated, "You will find that we expect members of our community to be engaged in rigorous debate, discussion, and even disagreement. At times this may challenge you and even cause discomfort."^[24] The American Association of University Professors issued a policy statement against trigger warnings in August 2014. It states in part:

In September 2017, a UC Riverside was recorded stealing a "Make America Great Again" hat from a Trump supporter and insulting him. He illustrated her lack of tolerance by demanding that the owner of the hat (which she claimed represented "genocide") be punished for wearing it, and said bigoted statements like "your f***ing freedom of speech is genocide, homeboy," "I swear to G** I could burn this s***," and "I f***ing hate this country. I hate it, and I’m not leaving."^[26][27][28]

In 2018, many liberals boycotted mainstream events where conservative activist Steve Bannon was invited, falsely calling him slurs such as "extremist," "racist," and "fascist," despite his mainstream conservative positions and large influence.^[29][30][31]

See also[edit]

• Liberal bigotry for examples of liberal intolerance in action.
• Atheism and intolerance
• Liberal hypocrisy
• Left-wing Anti-Semitism
• Liberal Smear Machine
• Far Left

References[edit]