nerd’s eye view

Melting pot or ice cube tray?

March 30, 2005 – 7:42 am | by nerd's eye view

Two days ago I read the story in the paper about how some pharmacists are refusing to fill prescriptions for birth control or dispense the morning after pill because it goes against their beliefs. Then at dinner the other night, one of the women at the table told us about how in some cities, theaters that show IMAX movies are getting pressure from their customers because the movies in question, one about volcanoes and one about the Galapagos Islands, present evolution as fact. These are the same folks that don’t want our gay friends and neighbors to marry and that think that sex education should consist of “Just don’t do it.”

I’m a good liberal, in the worst pansy ass kind of way. When that kid from the National Resources Defense Council – or maybe he was from the Roadless Area Protection Network, or whatever, was on my porch talking about land use, I told him that as much as I hate snowmobiles, there are people who love them. As long as we can find a place for them to play without damaging the environment they should get to go snowmobiling. Those in search of the quiet outdoors and those in search of the adrenaline outdoors can both find what they’re looking for. Honestly, I do think that there is space in our society for people who hold conflicting beliefs, even when it’s about something as obnoxious as snowmobiles.

But here’s the deal. The current tactics of the right seem to be focused on denying access to those things that we should all have access to. They’re about limiting choices for all of us, not just limiting their own actions. I was lying awake last night thinking about how my pro-choice stance is becoming more expansive. I think you should get to choose who you want to marry. I think you should get to choose what you want to watch – or you want your family to watch – at the movies. I think you should get to choose what actions you want to take around birth control and pregnancy. I trust you to make the right choices for yourself.

I don’t think the far right should get to make those decisions for me. I’m not going to force you to act on my beliefs, but the far right seems intent on limiting my choices until I am forced to embrace theirs. I understand that there are those who are staunchly anti-abortion. I embrace bumper sticker philosophy on this issue: Against abortion? Don’t have one. And I embrace this philosophy on most (I say most because I haven’t done a critical analysis of all of them) of the civil rights issues facing us today. Against gay marriage? Don’t have one. Against movies the present evolution as fact? Don’t go to them. Against using birth control? Don’t use it. But increasingly, I fear that what the far right is against is a pluralistic society. It’s this pluralistic society that makes me love my country – and I do love my country, though it has been trying lately.

There’s still a lot of us lefties looking north to Canada or East across the Atlantic with a wistful eye. We want the perceived liberalism or civil rights of our neighbors. I understand that but I’m trying to hold out against liberal flight. Instead of packing my suitcase and driving to Vancouver, I’d prefer the far right hopped a plane to, say, Saudi Arabia, where they can live under a government that has a long history of denying rights. Maybe they’d like to join a remaining Taliban enclave where they can not do all kinds of things. They might enjoy Iran, I hear living there is pretty restrictive. But I’m happy to leave that decision up to them. Because, as I think I have made clear already, I am pro-choice about all kinds of things.