Left and Right Extremism; It’s Not About Babies

Extremism in our country is revealing itself in a way I’ve never witnessed or experienced before.  I’m not speaking of classic liberals or classic conservatives who both tend to believe in freedom for all, opportunities for all, democracy, and the constitution. As a liberal, I want progress to be made but without destroying people in the process.  I am speaking of extremists who want to enshrine their minority views on the entire nation, or they attempt to bully others into their ways of thinking by treating others with contempt for not aligning to their ideals. Over the last five years, I have witnessed both types of thinking and experienced bullying of both types.

One, both extremes do not support religious freedom. The extreme right wants everyone to hold minority religious views and wants those religious views to be enshrined into federal law, like extreme abortion bans, taking away IVF, and taking away contraception when even the majority of Catholics do not believe the government should do this.  I’ve met some on the extreme left who believe religious institutions should be abolished, and they don’t respect those who even identify as Christians/religious people simply for identifying as such. I’ve also met a few on the extreme left who wish to confiscate guns when most Americans hold a view of moderate reasonable gun restrictions and ownership.  I’ve been told by the extreme left that I cannot eat at certain restaurants, shop in certain places, or worship in certain churches which don’t do gay weddings while also being a “true ally” of the LGBTQ+ community. On my own, I have chosen not to support certain restaurants and businesses and not worship in most churches because they are not LGBTQ+ friendly, but I don’t think it’s right to bully people into not eating, not shopping, or not worshipping at certain locations.  In short, I think my lived experiences support the conclusions in the study above. The extreme right uses more violence, and violence comes in many forms. In my own observations, I believe the extreme right’s motives are rooted in white supremacy, financial power, and religious fever which are not held by the majority of Americans and the majority of Christians/Catholics.

In my opinion, the most pervasive extreme right issue is anti-abortion extremism.  I’m speaking of those who say, “you cannot be pro-life and you cannot be Catholic and not support a national abortion ban.” Sorry, that’s way too extreme for most Catholics/Christians.  If that’s your definition of pro-life, I’m identifying as pro-choice as the other 65% majority of the Catholic Church. Telling me that I’m not allowed to vote in a certain way, or I’m not allowed to hold a moderate position on the abortion issue is a violation of the freedom of conscience which is part of Catholic theology.  I can hold deep personal beliefs, not support abortion for myself, but believe the government shouldn’t come between the patient and the doctor.  Nor do I believe the Church should enforce doctrine on individual people and families by bullying them to conform and even at the cost of endangerment which I have experienced personally. I never supported overturning Roe v Wade, so since I wasn’t an anti-abortion extremist, I never should have used the title, “pro-life.” That was a huge mistake on my part to not understand what anti-abortion extremists were doing. I didn’t even know overturning Roe v Wade was possible. I never thought anti-abortion extremism was “pro-life,” nor did I think I would be expected to embrace extremist ideology to identify as “prolife” which I refused to do. Since I have not and cannot embrace anti-abortion extremism, I cannot embrace any stance that comes between a patient and a doctor for any reason because trust has been totally lost with me. Extremist ideology which demands a minority rule is a threat to American society, vulnerable people, and democracy. I will openly say I hold a pro-choice position just like 65% of the American Catholic Church because the trust of the church trying to control public policy is wrong. They have abused it. It’s not about the well-being of babies because if it were about babies, babies and mothers would be cared for before, during, and after birth. Anti-abortion extremism is about control.

In some ways, both left and right extremism are a cut of the same cloth because there are bullies with views they wish to impose on others, but I believe the extreme right is much more dangerous because their extremism is done, “In the name of God,” they have a lot more power and money, and they are much more dangerous.  I also believe there are fewer bullies on the extreme left, and there is less violence. That’s my experience at least.