Danielle Kingstrom
For a feistier take on this blog, please consider listening to episode 102 of the Recorded Conversations podcast.
Dignity is defined as “the right of a person to be valued and respected for their own sake, and to be treated ethically.” To define the word dignity, however, we must first define what it is not. We then can define the violations of dignity, which are humiliation, objectification, degradation, and dehumanization. Even so, this does not give us a clear indication of what dignity is.
A central consideration of Christian philosophy asserts that human dignity is rooted in one’s creation in the image and likeness of God. Dignity is derived from one’s personal agency and free will. “No matter what they take from me, they can’t take away my dignity” sang Whitney Houston. It’s something that we understand to be self-evident and inalienable. Dignity is part of our divine nature. It’s a contributing component to our principles and values. When we stand firm in our dignity, we are advocating for the awareness and understanding of our reality.
As Wikipedia references, “An Islamic view of dignity is crystallized in the Quran through selected biographies of Noah, Abraham, Joseph, David, Moses, Mary, Jesus, Muhammed, and others. Individuals such as these are presented as role models of dignity because they did not abandon their self-respect by bowing to social pressures.”
In the simplest sense, dignity is synonymous with self-respect. And for many of us, self-respect means that what we know to be true cannot be compromised with rebranding or trendy hashtags, no matter how many join the bandwagon of buffoonery. It means that up is up and not down, and even if someone wants to convince me that down is up, I know that up is up.
Consider the phrase, “I won’t dignify that question with a response.” Dignity adds value to something or someone. It would follow then, that the unwillingness to dignify a question (or an accusation) means that you won’t add value to any attempt to invalidate one’s opinions or beliefs.
Recently, an exchange brought me to a more succinct form of dignity that I would like to use as the basis of our definition, simply because there is no real established and concrete definition for dignity. Unfortunately, “dignity” is a very ambiguous term that can easily be stretched depending on the context. Intellectual dignity is the idea that people be afforded the basic decency of maintaining their relationship with truth as it corresponds to reality without being threatened or manipulated through abusive coercion tactics. And this way of describing dignity will better serve the remainder of this blog.
When we compromise our intellectual dignity, we essentially compromise what we know to be true about our reality. We acquiesce to the mob mentality that tells us a minority opinion is proof of insanity. We say foolish things that we know are not true, all for the sake of protecting ourselves from criticism and judgment.
In the classic novel 1984 by George Orwell, for example, Winston had to admit that 2 + 2 = 5, even though he knew it to be wrong. “…they deliberately set themselves to destroy their dignity,” O’Brien mused, explaining the Party’s essential plan of power and control. Control, however, cannot be taken by force or coercion or by acts of threats and torture. Instead, you surrender of your own free will. You surrender intellectual dignity for the perceived safety of groupthink. You surrender your individual truth for the Truth of the Party.
If you want a more modern and realistic version of how one can compromise their intellectual dignity, we can turn to a more recent episode of the Piers Morgan Uncensored show. Grammy award winner Macy Gray appeared as a guest. In one segment of the program, she stated, “As a woman, just because you go changing your parts doesn’t make you a woman.” She was attacked and accused of being transphobic for siding with the science of biology. 3 days later, Macy Gray appeared on the Today Show to offer an apology to those who were offended by her comments.
If we look through the lens of Orwell’s 1984, we can see that Gray demonstrated a crisp example of doublethink.
“Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously and accepting both of them… to tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them…Even by using the word doublethink, it is necessary to exercise doublethink. For by using the word, one admits that one is tampering with reality.” (Orwell, 1984, 214)
Her apology appearance was meant to convince the audience that she misspoke and that she needed to be educated. Her body language conveyed something else entirely, but let’s not focus on that obvious feature. The lesson here, however, is that anyone who says they are a woman is a woman. End of story.
Joe Biden has done a phenomenal job of depicting doublespeak. Recall if you will, late last winter when he announced that “Inflation is good for our country.” Anyone who has taken a basic economics class understood that inflation, in every sense, is a bad sign for our economy. But the Biden administration has worked very hard to convince the American public that inflation, while annoying, is simply a part of the Build Back Better process.
If you are concerned about labels and how others will categorize you, you will of course not only agree with Biden, but you will amplify this absurdity by repeating the lie to everyone you encounter. You must do this to demonstrate your solidarity with your party. You will believe you are choosing to do this on your own accord. But you have already been convinced that whatever your party says is “the absolute truth” and so it is. There is no need for you to consider or even think. In fact, it is better to not think for yourself but to let your party head think for you. After all, you’re no expert on economics.
Immanuel Kant held that human dignity is related to human agency, and that free will is essential to what constitutes dignity. In simple terms, this includes the ability for individuals to choose their own actions (and their own thoughts). Macy Gray, however, demonstrated what happens when you think for yourself and step outside of the bounds of groupthink. And as we have seen countless times before amidst cancel culture, if you step outside of the narrative and express anything logical or rational, you may suffer consequences. That is of course unless you are willing to swallow your words and offer up an apology on a morning show. Otherwise stated, if you can deny your own intellectual dignity, you too can be a star!
In 1984, Crimestop is the discipline and faculty of not thinking. It’s a pursuit toward developing the ability to not utilize logic when communicating. “Crimestop, in short, means protective stupidity.” In Oceania, thinking for yourself is lunacy. In the United States, the same can be said if you’re famous. But it’s not only the famous people who fear speaking, is it? In the last 10 years, standing up for intellectual dignity is on a downward trend for all of us.
Consider mask mandates in restaurants. The last 2 years have been nothing short of acts of “protective stupidity.” Wear a mask when you enter the Applebee’s. But once you are seated, you may take off your mask. When you are ready to leave, put your mask back on. Exit the door. Remove mask. Voila, plague averted for following the steps of “science.” Or rather, obeying the orders of authority. We all knew it was illogical. We all knew that it defied all sensical science. Yet most of us participated.
And aren’t we still participating? It was recently announced that Lia Thomas is being nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year award. I sure hope the individual responsible for this nomination is a biologist. As we all now know, you must be a biologist to determine what is and is not a woman. Your eyes and your ears cannot be trusted in such a determination, you see. Because what constitutes a woman is now subject to interpretation and feelings. Like Macy Gray said, “It’s a vibe, and if you feel that you are a woman, then you are.” Using the circular definition of woman, of course, helps us reiterate, “a woman is a person who feels that they are a woman.” Whatever that means?
Even as I type these words, I wonder what kind of fallout waits for me post-publication. Could I be canceled for saying what is beyond obvious? What is a woman? I am. And how do I define that? A woman is a female adult human. A woman is someone with XX chromosomes, as opposed to XY chromosomes. And although I am not a biologist, I had taken several biology classes in public school. Now I realize that the books can be rewritten to show updated definitions that fit whatever social narrative the authorities demand. But as it stands, based on my knowledge, I am a woman, and it is not based simply on an emotional state. It’s a physical fact.
You may say there’s no compromising one’s dignity by simply acknowledging that another individual identifies as something that they are clearly not. But if you know that Lia Thomas is not a woman, why would you say Lia Thomas is a woman? Dignity is determined by how we actively assist one another in achieving and maintaining a state of well-being. How does this assist Thomas and their personal well-being of Thomas? It’s a lie. And lying to people is not how we actively assist one another in achieving and maintaining a state of well-being.
There is a moral requirement within dignity, and that is predicated on avoiding harm. Are we acting as a moral society if we fear confronting the obvious mental disorders and mass hypnotism that are negatively infecting the minds of younger generations? If dignity is predicated on avoiding harm, then what do we say about the mob that threatens to come after people for saying Lia Thomas is not a woman? There is nothing dignified with cowing to the mob and denying reality. In fact, a denial of reality is precisely what destroys dignity.
The overturning of Roe v Wade has created an uptick in doublespeak lately. Last week, during a senate hearing on abortion rights, Dr. Colleen Nicholas of St. Louis Planned Parenthood said, “Abortion is normal, it is an act of love, and it is fundamentally health care.” Abortion is normal? Abortion is an act of love? We all know that abortion is not “normal.” And I don’t care how you manipulate and molest the word “love,” abortion is not an act of love. Let us not delude ourselves into normalizing abortion as though we can use it as flimsy birth control.
Elizabeth Warren (who always has something clever to say) insisted that crisis pregnancy centers are “torture.” She went on to say that centers that encourage people to keep their babies (centers that also help provide aid to those who want to have their babies) are “evil” and should not be allowed to remain in Baltimore or any part of the country.
Isaiah 5:20 comes to mind when I hear more doublespeak like this. Perhaps you are familiar with the verse? “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil, who put darkness for light, and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” (NIV) Calling a man a woman is the same as putting bitter for sweet. It’s absurd. And oddly, you don’t hear too many people out there demanding that we recognize a trans man as a man.
Jesus was identified as a role model of dignity. He refused to bow to social pressure. But today, he would promptly be brought to Room 101 in Oceania for daring to speak of Truth and love. Jesus was crucified by cancel culture and yet so many self-described followers of Jesus are ready to cancel a minority opinion, failing to recall that Jesus once held a minority opinion. Our society is insistent that abortion is love, that help is torture, and that men can be women. Maybe they can take away our dignity? God help us all.
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