{"id":7151,"date":"2017-08-15T08:13:58","date_gmt":"2017-08-15T14:13:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=7151"},"modified":"2017-08-18T10:37:25","modified_gmt":"2017-08-18T16:37:25","slug":"no-not-ok-punch-nazis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2017\/08\/no-not-ok-punch-nazis.html","title":{"rendered":"No, It’s Not OK to Punch Nazis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Pillow<\/p>\n

A while back, there was a discussion circulating on facebook and twitter about how it was morally acceptable to \u201cpunch a Nazi\u201d because they were so reprehensible that their rights to, well, not be subject to violence, were lost. \u00a0(See the New York Times<\/a> for some of this discussion.) \u00a0Now, to be sure, in my facebook feed and discussion groups, and in my twitter feed, it was largely a matter of people objecting to the idea that this is OK.<\/p>\n

But yesterday it resurfaced, in the form of a status update on facebook which I\u2019m sharing text-only:<\/p>\n

If you voted Republican but claim you\u2019re not racist, I have a thought experiment for you. Imagine you were in Charlottesville caught in the middle between those torch-bearing Klansmen and those protesting them. Who would you fight with? I think your answer says something very important about you.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Now, this statement got 27 likes, no comments. \u00a0Perhaps that meant complete support, or perhaps that meant that no one was willing to say<\/em> anything in response and get into an argument with a friend. \u00a0And, look, this is just one person. \u00a0She\u2019s middle-aged, like me, she supports Democratic causes and tends to share atheist memes and \u201cnonreligious channel\u201d Patheos posts, e.g., by The Friendly Atheist, that are critical of Christians, but this<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Yet she\u2019s now advocating violence.<\/p>\n

Folks, if you\u2019re caught in the middle, the answer isn\u2019t to take sides, and get involved in the melee, by taking the right side and punching the right people. \u00a0The answer is to leave the situation.<\/p>\n

Note that here hypothetical isn\u2019t about \u201cwhat would you do if someone attacked you?\u201d \u00a0Its premise is that you need to initiate a violent confrontation, and are called on to do so with the correct alliance.<\/p>\n

This is a real problem. \u00a0Yes, white nationalists are bad, but our nation, as a democracy, makes its decisions about law and governance in the voting booth. \u00a0If my perfectly ordinary, white suburban mom friend, who I knew\u00a0back-in-the-day but haven\u2019t seen in years, who, except for her politics, posts quite ordinary things about hobbies and work and her daughter, is cheering for violence, that\u2019s a problem.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Image: \u00a0Pillow Fight, Piazza Maggiore, Bologna; https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/abusx\/2565173933 \u00a0Because if these were Nazi vs. Antifa pillow fights, I wouldn\u2019t mind.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A while back, there was a discussion circulating on facebook and twitter about how it was morally acceptable to \u201cpunch a Nazi\u201d because they were so reprehensible that their rights to, well, not be subject to violence, were lost. \u00a0(See the New York Times for some of this discussion.) \u00a0Now, to be sure, in my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":7155,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[344,544],"class_list":["post-7151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-protest-violence","tag-protests"],"yoast_head":"\nNo, It's Not OK to Punch Nazis<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A while back, there was a discussion circulating on facebook and twitter about how it was morally acceptable to "punch a Nazi" because they were so\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" 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