Not As Other Men

The Free Democrat has an interesting link from the US:

A few years ago, Jeff O'Holleran said he began to realize that he was different from the other boys he knew.
"I started having certain thoughts," said Mr. O'Holleran, 19, a student at the University of Colorado (CU). ..

Yesterday, he said, it was time to come out of the closet. In the middle of a crowded university dining area, he took to the podium and announced, "I'm Jeff, and I'm a conservative."

Of course, there's serious purpose to all this. It's a protest against academic bias. After all, there's a certain disconnect between Liberal rhetoric about diversity and their treatment of those with diverse views. I remember how over at this place some guy in the comments started boasting about how a class he was teaching had degenerated into a anti-Conservative hatefest. Think that one over: a guy at a site called 'Conservative Commentary' is quite happy to boast about how he allows schoolkids in his class to take time out to screech abuse about Tories. To him, that was normal. Somehow, I think he wouldn't have been too impressed if a colleague had allowed his class to openly express hatred of gays.

Yet, with all that, I'm wary about this sort of thing. No two ways about it, we should oppose bias wherever it exists but there are so many ways for students to be victimised that this sort of thing runs the risk of being a kind of political Charge of the Light Brigade. Martyrdom ain't our thing. More to the point though, it runs the risk of being counter-productive.

The problem is, as Jonah Goldberg put it, we don't want to encourage the 'Gorillas in the Mist' approach to Conservatism, the belief that Conservatives are some weird, exotic species. Unlike gay activists, we don't merely want to assert our identity or draw a reaction, we want to convince people. We don't want to be a minority group, we want to be a majority group. Equally, if we develop the attributes of a minority group then that automatically sets us apart from people.

We've got a mountain to climb though. For example, it says a lot about the reality of Liberal bias in the media and the Academy that people really believe that Nazis are right-wing. Hello ? National Socialists, anyone ? As Paul sums up perfectly, most of the BNP manifesto is indistinguishable from the Lib Dems. Indeed, the main point of contention appears to be that Nazis want to kill Jews, while the Lib Dems prefer to subcontract to the Islamofascists. Yet, still large numbers of people believe that wanting to privatise the BBC is the same as thinking Hitler was a pinko who wimped out. Say what else you like about it, but this is prejudice.

As with all prejudice the way to defeat it is to slap it in the face with reality. Maybe these ceremonies would help ? Would the mindless hatred of Conservatives on campus abate if Joe Kewl stood up and admitted he occasionally indulged in full-on Conservatism ? Possibly, or it could just confirm the Lefty libel that Conservatives are weird and alien.

Let's be clear about this: a lecturer, let alone a schoolteacher, who expresses hostile views on Conservatives (or permits others to) should be judged exactly the same as one who expresses the same views about gays. We don't need another PC victim group but it's entirely fair to question whether Conservative students can be fairly assessed by someone who believes they are Nazis. But, outside of that kind of official bigotry, we should recognise that this demonisation is a sign of weakness not strength. Here's modern Liberalism, it claims to the way of the future, but it's best argument is that Conservatives are Nazis. Really - it shows a certain lack of confidence in the force of their arguments.

The best way to defeat this prejudice is simply by day-to-day interactions. Live your life, don't hide your true beliefs but don't ram them down people's throats either. Sooner or later people will question why you don't have two heads or a swastika flag on your wall, like they were always told you'd have, and once they turn off the Kool Aid supply, then they're ready to listen, their minds are open, and with care and attention, you can seduce them to the Dark Side.