The Necessity of Grey Areas

Some people say that history is written by the victors. That history is written from only one point of view, a radical right-wing point of view. I cannot help thinking that, as censorship and a shrinking freedom of speech continue to infiltrate Western Civilization, we are moving towards a future that is written by the other end of the spectrum, the radical left, a bastardized and extremist version of the values the left originally held.

Outspoken defectors from North Korea, such as Yeonmi Park, are pointing out the growing similarities between the culture they escaped from and the culture they've escaped to. A dictatorship doesn't emerge overnight; it grows slowly, playing on a society's obliviousness. It starts with the seemingly small things, taking things inch by inch, until suddenly people wake up and realize that miles have been stolen.

What happened to the idea of simply not partaking in the things that offend us, removing ourselves from situations we disagree with? What happened to honest and open debate? Every day, our culture progresses further and further toward a dystopian system in which, if you do not say the right thing, you are a danger to society and should be locked up or put down. Room for differences grows ever smaller. Western Civ boasts a policy of acceptance, freedom to be whatever and believe whatever - but in truth, lines are being drawn in cement rather than sand. Personal choices must adhere to the stance of the media and the represented majority (which is not the same as the statistical majority).

I'm conservative-leaning in my politics, and a Christian. There are people who think my beliefs are wrong. There are people who think my beliefs are horribly misguided. There are people who think my beliefs are harmful, to myself and to others.

Typically, the people who believe those things are also those who I believe to be wrong, misguided, and to hold harmful views.

So if we both believe this about each other, what do we do? Do we condemn one party and uplift the other? Do we censor and restrict one party until it either collapses in on itself or - perhaps inevitably - civil war breaks out?

People of different views have been living on this planet for thousands of years. Looking at history, we can see what happened when differences were treated with hostility rather than tolerance: murder, torture, genocide, etc. Tyranny abounds when one stance is determined "right" and the other "wrong".

"But is there no standard to which everyone must be held? Should we tolerate any and everything? How do we agree on what is morally correct if we tolerate so many different beliefs?"

It's debatable if anyone has a perfect answer to those questions. Statistically speaking, however, nearly every religion/philosophy agrees that particular acts are ethically wrong: murder, rape, theft, lying, breaking promises. There is some black and white.

But grey areas exist, and we must keep room for them, or we damn ourselves to a future in which history repeats itself over, and over, and over again.