Is it any surprise that the leftist politicians and activists who seem so unconcerned about Hamas’s torture, murder, and be-heading of babies turn a blind eye to such things, when these are the same people who tend to favor the criminal over the victim or the mother over the unborn baby?
Their ideology, variously described as “leftist” or “progressive” or “intersectional,” is, in the end, incoherent and manipulative.
It seeks only to frame issues or events in such a way that an “oppressor” can be identified and a “victim” celebrated, usually based on skin tone, but also on nationality, economic status, or gender/sexuality.
And this taxonomy is created in order to extract the maximum political gain for the ideologue, whether it benefits the so-called victim or not.
Thus, framing all police as racist murderers accrues to leftists political power and clout, though it then creates more crime and suffering for the people they claim to be helping.
Framing illegal immigration as justice for indigenous or downtrodden peoples allows leftists to virtue signal about their anti-colonial bona fides, but then results in suffering, rape, and death for the immigrants, not to mention the burdens placed on civilians in border towns and localities where the migrants are sent to.
Framing abortion as an issue of women’s rights and reproductive freedom sounds nice, but completely ignores the horrific death and dismemberment of the unborn babies as well as the traumatic effects on the mother herself.
By making an idol out of victimization, real or imagined, these people end up incapable of seeing real evil and real suffering. Because they are empathizing with the generalized suffering of an anonymous group, they cannot see the actual sufferings of the individuals of that group.
This pathology is most gruesomely manifested by the reaction of many leftists to the terrorist attacks in Israel. In the face of some of the most barbaric acts in human history and the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust, some leftists either excused Hamas’ behavior or celebrated it.
But, then again, when someone can ignore the barbaric brutality of the act of abortion and instead defend the rights of women and “doctors” to intentionally kill an unborn human — sometimes in ways indistinguishable from the Hamas butchers — it is no wonder that they can also dismiss such violence against innocent born human beings, whatever the age.
I realize that most people who are “pro-choice” do not approve of what Hamas did, and that my connecting their violence to that of abortion seems like a stretch. But, in fact, these two things are only different in degree, not in kind. Both acts justify killing an innocent human life for some “greater” cause, when in fact doing so can never be justified.
That is the simple, coherent, and inescapable truth that the Hamas attacks bring home. And it is the ideological blindness of nearly all forms of leftist thinking that lead to such horrible deaths, whether in the desert towns of Israel, the Killing Fields of Cambodia, the gas chambers of Nazi concentration camps (remember, Nazis were “National SOCIALISTS”), or the abortion clinics of the so-called “civilized” world.
This view of the sanctity of human life is what separates the left from the right and today, that separation is a chasm that keeps growing, spurned on by the propaganda constantly spewed by the educational, journalistic, governmental, and media institutions of our day.
As I have argued many times in these pages, when the political philosophy you espouse results in such evil behaviors and consequences, you simply must question the core tenets of that philosophy.
Does it hold human life to be sacred? Does it recognize God? Does it call on us to love our neighbor, and even our enemies, as ourselves? If it does not do these things, then it is a damn lie and will ultimately lead to the deaths we are seeing in Israel this week, both of the Israelis and the Palestinians.
If you care about human life, you must care about all human life, no exceptions. That is the true pro-life position and the one that I hope can save our civilization from the nihilistic descent we are now embarked on, a descent most terribly realized in the tragic deaths of those 1000 Israeli men, women, children and babies, true victims of the ideology of victimization.
Trey Hoffman
Peachtree City, Ga.
wow! just… wow!
every time I read an opinion by Trey Hoffman I come away feeling a combination of nausea and irritation. Sometimes I consider leaving a comment, then decide not to enter into clap trap debates in public because I think they are mostly reductive and not worth the headache. This time feels a bit different, and for that reason I have to speak to these accusations from a “leftist socialist millennial snowflake social justice wackjob” point of view.
The reason there is a rise in pro Palestinian sentiment is a function of a generational shift in maneuvering shifting forms of information in the age of social media and alternative news sources. After having been the generation that witnessed 9/11 in our early adulthood, and subsequently went to war against what was sold to this country as a “War on Terror” for 20 yrs with little to nothing to come away with in terms of wins and multitudes of negative outcomes, we are exhausted with seeing death and destruction being sold to us as a turd in patriotic wrapping paper and see it as insufferable. it should not come as a surprise that despite what knuckle dragging warmonger politicians, and the mainstream news keep trying to sell, our generation and Gen Z have been able to do what previous generations won’t. We learn from history and we are willing to adjust when we need to.
The quickness with which our government is willing to unequivocally back 🇮🇱 and the narrative fed to us about Oct 11th should mark a distinct departure from how the difference in the generational, political, and class divide views information. Millenials and Gen Z are no longer willing to accept turning our backs on groups who have legitimate concerns of being harmed by the racism, bigotry, oppression and cruelty of institutions and Governments we pay into. we do not accept the framing of our unwillingness to tolerate inhumane treatment of citizens and immigrants, the working class and people on the margins who often have limited means of advocacy. This position is far from playing into victim mentality, we are fighting for the least of us. In the U.S. we recognized and protested the killing of black people by the police, on the border we protest separation of families trying to claim asylum, we accept the identity of Trans people and partnerships of LGBTQ couples, and In Palestine we detest the collective punishment and murder of people who are being starved and blown to bits with the help and consent of our government. To us these are not culture wars, they are not trivial pursuits. these are issues of human rights. these are issues of importance because we see the humanity and the immediacy in uplifting the struggles of all people we share this world with. Trey Hoffman would mock this position as ridiculous, while sitting at home railing against the “leftists” while trying to convince people that slavery was a good thing and women have no right to bodily autonomy because Jesus or whatever…
As a woman, I disagree with Trey Hoffman’s position on abortion. As a person with a fully functioning frontal lobe I disagree with his equating women who support the right to have an abortion with Islamic terrorists. I admit to feeling triggered by that vapid assessment but like everything else he vomits into his weekly rants, I recognize that if he had an I.Q. higher than the temperature of his refrigerator we wouldn’t be privy to the diĺusional thoughts of those among us who make being decent a realistic goal.
I am not going to denounce or support conservatism or Liberalism here, in this rebuttal. my opinions on these matters is not the point I want to argue. I am just tired of hearing the condescending bloviating of windbags and biĺigerent people who criticize others endlessly without making any effort to understand the rationale behind ideas with which they disagree. i especially find arguments that display a total lack of interest in reality a problem that adds nothing to how we communicate with one another. on that note I will go back to smoking weed with my fellow comrades and attending drag queen story hour.
Hiya Trey Hoffman—Of course you are free to disagree with anyone’s political opinions. And to criticize their activism. But to judge their motivation is asinine. It is impossible for you to know what is in their heart (as you presume to do in your letter).
However, you might try by understanding them by setting aside your cynicism and bitterness and actually asking a “leftist” or “progressive” or “intersectional” person to explain themselves. Ask me!
I believe my motives are quite straight- forward. And not nefarious, as you assume. Let’s begin—
Yes. I support aiding refugees and asylum-seekers at our border. Simply because they are in desperate need and turn to us; and we are taught by Jesus the Christ (God) to recognize Him in the least of these. Check!
Yes. I acknowledge law enforcement racism and brutality and a shameful lack of accountability by the system. Day after day, year after year, name after name…families shattered for with legal basis and for no good reason. I do indeed hold the lives of these young defenseless men, beaten down, as sacred. Check!
Now i realize you and I disagree on abortion. Nothing will make you agree with me. That’s okay. But again, my motive in supporting women’s reproductive rights is an attempt at understanding, empathy, and mercy. I extend the privacy and freedom for all women to make the best choice in a harrowing situation (as with all other medical procedures). Yes, it does call on me to love my neighbor. Check!
No, Trey. Nothing in my opinions in any way indicate that I am supporting the slaughter in Israel. I am utterly horrified and heart-sick.
I am also braced for more lives lost and ruined; on both sides and of all faiths. And I am terrified that the hatred and bigotry will inspire violent acts here at home.
If you could truly look into my heart and mind, Trey, and see and judge my motives accurately…you would find only a cry for peace. And a better world for all.
Once again Suz comes in from the compassionate perspective and says things in the kind, gentle way I wish I could! ❤️💚💜🤎
And I always value your passionate voice, Jax!
I suppose you can chalk up my “gentle way” to my advanced years!
I assume you are familiar with Franciscan priest and author, Richard Rohr. He wrote so beautifully in his morning meditation just today concerning mature people of good faith (as he lives out the final years of his own life)–
“Faith seems to make people spacious, non-controlling, and waiting in awareness. It is a capacity within people to contain and receive all things, to hold onto nothing, with almost no need to fear or judge rashly.”
I trust someday each of us (including myself!) will, “…hold increasing amounts of chaos in one tranquil and ordered life”–Father Rohr, again.
Trey Hoffmann, too!
Amen.
Finally Trey is saying something we can both agree on: “As I have argued many times in these pages, when the political philosophy you espouse results in such evil behaviors and consequences, you simply must question the core tenets of that philosophy.”
Nothing in the philosophy of “love one another” I espouse can result in evil or blasphemous behavior, but plenty in the political philosophy Trey espouses can and does. In these digital pages he has …
• Vehemently defended chattel slavery when it comes to women’s bodies.
• Denied science, denigrated vaccines, and promulgated conspiracy theories that, if anyone listened to him and acted on his words, could easily have led to their death.
• Spewed the most virulent lies and demeaning insults toward those with whom he has political disagreements and accused them of the most heinous motivations and actions.
• Supported policies that cling to “America First” and “White America First” and “White Male America First” and “White Christian Male America First” at the expense of the rest of the world.
“Evil behavior and consequences” indeed.
Trey often sounds very angry, and very scared. If this is so then he should listen to his own words about his chosen political philosophy here: “Does it hold human life to be sacred? Does it recognize God? Does it call on us to love our neighbor, and even our enemies, as ourselves? If it does not do these things, then it is a damn lie…” Maybe the political philosophy that is causing him to be so angry, to have such hatred toward “the leftists,” and to be so fearful of a rainbow-colored future, is a damn lie?
As for his “stretch” to connect pro-choice people to Hamas terrorism … he has demonstrated will use ANY tragedy to ring his well-worn bells. We should have seen this one coming.
This missive is so factually inaccurate that it wouldn’t even air on Fox News. Somehow, Trey thinks that right-wing, fascist Nazis are socialists. He confuses the antisemitic “fine people” in Charlottesville who marched chanting, “Jews will not replace us” and praised by his orange god with progressives. He confuses the political direction of his fuhrer who just this week complimented Hezbollah as “very smart.” And, as usual, he trumpets how important it is that men have the right to command women in decisions about their own bodies and health. Is there any authoritarian position that he will not champion?
But not to worry. Trey has vowed never to read any comments that vie with his own. A quote attributed to Alfred Einstein is apropos: “The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits.”
Hoffman, it’s not a “stretch.” it’s a disgusting equivocation you’re making in an indecent attempt to capitalize upon for your tired, out-of-touch, broken record crusade. This site has devolved into bumper-sticker propaganda.
Shame on you and Cal.
just shut up secret squirrel… you are out of touch
We don’t say shut up on this page.
HaHaHa! Touche, Jax!
🤣😊👏😝