Reflections From a Murky Pond

This post stems from Bruce’s brief but vitriolic comment on a post at Reflections From A Murky Pond. In it Bruce labeled me “divisive.” This got me to thinking about divisiveness and the Left’s use of the phrase.

Thus we have this post thanks to Bruce, who would be offended at providing inspiration to one of “my sort.”

Adherents of the Left’s ideology in America use “divisive” as a very strong insult. It is fast becoming one of their favorite epithets to hurl at Conservatives. The Left does not like and is seemingly horribly offended by those who vocally disagree with any or all of their agendas. Therefor dissent is divisive and divisiveness is Wrong and not to be tolerated.

Perhaps we should all remember that, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary divisive is defined as:

Divisive
Pronunciation: \d?-?v?-siv\
Function: adjective
Date: 1642

Definition(s):

1. creating disunity or dissension

So essentially the Left views dissent and/or disagreement with their manifesto(s) as legitimate cause for contempt and disgust. In their minds such dissenters are somehow less worthy than than those who have swallowed the Left’s message. Since divisive is being used as the insult this isn’t even a matter of loathing the Conservatives’ opinions; the very act of having a different – and therefor divisive – opinion seems to be the cause for rancor, disrespect, and denigration.

Please don’t get me wrong – I don’t expect scions of the Left to agree we with me, nor do I expect them to be kind or polite in their disagreement. Such an expectation would both be completely unfounded and hypocritical since history has shown me that neither they nor myself have a propensity for “pulling our punches” when we engage in argument. What both intrigues and concerns me is that they seem to view my disagreement itself as a wrongdoing.

A phrase comes to my mind:

We are Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.

— Third of Five aka Hugh
Star Trek: The Next Generation episode I, Borg (1992)

Has anyone else noticed this trend? Has the use of divisive or divisiveness as as the paramount insult by the Left struck anyone other than myself as worrisome?

BTW: The Right has its own way of being vile and insulting their opponents. The difference seems to be that the Right is offended by the opinions of the people who they disagree with, whereas the Left seems to be offended by their opposition’s very disagreement itself.

Tags: Conservatives | Intolerance | Liberals | Politics | Prejudice | Society

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 17th, 2008 at 7:29 pm and is filed under Society. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.