Jonah Goldberg’s column “Certainly, certainty has a place in life” (Commentary, Dec. 28) is, without question, the most insightful and intelligent piece of writing I’ve read on this extremely serious subject. It exposes the growing intolerance in our society of any thought that betrays an individual’s certain beliefs, absolute values or convictions that has become so palpable in our society today. This was evidenced by recent incidents within our educational system and various institutions, almost to the point of being corollary to the “first you burn books, then your burn people” fanaticism espoused in Germany in the 1930s.
I have spoken with university students who fear voicing their beliefs or convictions in the classroom out of real concerns for their grade point average or perhaps being ostracized by classmates.
It should be a matter of concern when we see advocates of political correctness or the “anti-absolute theorists” so eager to impugn the relevance or value of different or opposing viewpoints, once known as “the courage of one’s convictions.” It is especially frightening when a potential candidate for the presidency of the United States, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), would think it fair or even politically prudent to equate President Bush’s known religious beliefs with the president’s concerns relating to global terrorism as being no less than expressions of “messianic certainty.”
Carefully nuanced messages–spoken or otherwise–can conceal an intolerance with any who do not share or endorse a specific way of thinking. It’s easier to define the other’s viewpoint as “closed-minded” or even “zealous.” Such labeling takes us dangerously close to the jumping-off point where such discussions are not only subtly curtailed, they are silenced or eradicated by the “group think” that’s most prevalent within the community or society at the time.
