"Linking the Unlinkable"
The Antiwar Movement Is Not Progressive -- And That's a Good Thing
Looking back on some antiwar protests I attended in the early 1990s against Gulf War I, I recall being put off by the professional activists and progressives and their attempts to link the antiwar movement to every cause under the sun: anti-racism, gay rights, feminism, environmentalism, the plight of the Palestinians, an increased minimum wage, gun control, and, of course, the sine qua non of progressivism, its litmus-test: abortion. At another demontsration of the same era, against the non-guilty verdict in the Rodney King police brutality case, I recall a group of smiling white women rushing out of some feminist organization's office to thrust hastilty made "pro-choice" signs into the hands of the majority black protestors, who in turn tore up the signs and threw their pieces on the ground in disgust.
It seemed that to be against the war, or to stand for any one of the above issues, one had to agree with the whole platform of the progressive Left. I, however, agreed with a few of the issues and disagreed with most of the others, reminding me of the words of then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Saddam Hussein's linking of his invasion of Kuwait with the Palestinian cause was an attempt to "link the unlinkable."
The above article asserts that the antiwar movement, with its support from the Left as well as sectors of the Right, could be "an unprecedented opportunity to change the direction of American society."
The Antiwar Movement Is Not Progressive -- And That's a Good Thing
Looking back on some antiwar protests I attended in the early 1990s against Gulf War I, I recall being put off by the professional activists and progressives and their attempts to link the antiwar movement to every cause under the sun: anti-racism, gay rights, feminism, environmentalism, the plight of the Palestinians, an increased minimum wage, gun control, and, of course, the sine qua non of progressivism, its litmus-test: abortion. At another demontsration of the same era, against the non-guilty verdict in the Rodney King police brutality case, I recall a group of smiling white women rushing out of some feminist organization's office to thrust hastilty made "pro-choice" signs into the hands of the majority black protestors, who in turn tore up the signs and threw their pieces on the ground in disgust.
It seemed that to be against the war, or to stand for any one of the above issues, one had to agree with the whole platform of the progressive Left. I, however, agreed with a few of the issues and disagreed with most of the others, reminding me of the words of then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Saddam Hussein's linking of his invasion of Kuwait with the Palestinian cause was an attempt to "link the unlinkable."
The above article asserts that the antiwar movement, with its support from the Left as well as sectors of the Right, could be "an unprecedented opportunity to change the direction of American society."
Redeemed by Our Savior, I work out my salvation with fear and trembling in Pohang, South Korea, where I live with my wife, daughter, and son and teach English at a science and technology university. Baptized a Methodist and raised a Missouri Synod Lutheran in Buffalo, NY, I spent six years as a guest of the Anglican Communion before being received by the Grace of God into the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church on the Feast of Saint Andrew, my patron, anno domini 2002.
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