(Click to enlarge. But — who knows? — be warned that I just might try to hit you if you do.)
Over and over again, I’ve read someone’s account of suffering at the hands of the Mormon patriarchy, or because of oppressive and bigoted “heteronormativity,” or on account of honest questioning, or something of that sort.
And — wretched man that I am! — I’ve sometimes dared to suggest, rather gently, that there might be two sides to the reported experience, and/or that (even if it’s more or less true) it might not be entirely representative, and/or that I’ve never ever seen such a thing, and/or that, even if true, the account doesn’t seem to justify the sweeping conclusions that often accompany such reports (e.g., demanding rejection of Mormonism or the total revamping of society) . Horrible, mean-spirited, callous, bigoted responses, of course, all of them.
More times than I can count, I’ve been angrily informed in such cases that I’m devaluing the experiences of others. That I lack empathy and am full of unfeeling, vicious, and fanatical hate.
I wonder how such folks will respond to these accounts:
http://www.frc.org/updatearticle/20150130/the-kids-are-not-all-right
Will they call those who share them liars? Dismiss their experiences? Will they be — is it even remotely conceivable that they could be — as cold-hearted and angry as I always am?
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