THE facts answer

From Equality
to New Pharisees

May the struggle for a just principle flow into its opposite?
This is what happens if ideology wins over the ferment of life
Cultures think, but not as humans think, nor as the sum of the humans who inhabit them. They have their own thought processes, which bear down on the individual, urging him or her to think differently, more acceptably. This is why, sometimes, the human heart seems not to be represented in the thinking of a mob, institution, or movement.
In these circumstances, words cease to be constant and exhibit shifting meanings.
Who, for example, could oppose “equality”? And yet, there are clearly contexts in our societies where this word has come to mean something other than the dictionary suggests.
A generation ago, the world moved to assert the right of women to be the equals of men. Today, we see the evidence of this revolution in the workplace, in the home, and in the treatment of the sexes in public discussion. But something is wrong. Women, though they have made much progress in the areas targeted for change, seem no happier than their mothers did. Men are confused but most dare not say so. The revolution proceeded on the basis that men and women were not merely entitled to equality of respect and opportunity, but were actually interchangeable. And since biology stubbornly refused to share this view, nothing has worked out as per the manifesto.
In the course of this revolution, too, fathers and children were being torn apart, their relationships stripped of the protections they enjoyed under the previous dispensation. But the culture that created this situation had little inclination to extend the embrace of its concepts of “equality” and “rights” so as to restore the equilibrium lost in the period of upheaval.  Thus, an initiative that started out to pursue a humanly defined good has become, in truth, inhuman.
One reason is that, in prosecuting the grievance of one element of society, the claims of these movements tend to discount the damage caused to other elements. Another is that the mission of the movement becomes reduced to an ideological formulation that removes questions of justice and balance from their natural place in the ferment of life. If you wish to turn up the TV sound because it cannot be heard, it is necessary to remain alert so as not to make it too loud. But this capacity appears impossible in political agitation. Because there is always an element of demonization of those at whose expense a new “right” needs to be won, it is not permitted to suggest that things have gone too far. Because human beings have a deep need for approval, they tend to say things that are culturally approved, so the majority will voice support for an agreed concept of “justice” even as this is creating new injustices before their eyes.
Thus, a new and insidious form of Pharisaism has asserted itself. The victims of a past imbalance are inevitably placed beyond blame or criticism, omnipotent in their victimhood. And the old “oppressors” become the silent sufferers of a new violence, beyond defense or friendship.