Two stories that crossed Not the Bee's wire last week provided a curious paradox that I think is worth exploring for the sake of our culture.
Start here. An obviously deranged, or seriously disturbed woman on board an American Airlines flight attempted to open the cabin's emergency exit door at 35,000 feet. Passengers and crew restrained her by duct-taping her to her seat, despite her managing to bite a flight attendant in the process. Authorities took her into medical/legal custody once the plane landed safely.
It's a bizarre story, a frightening story, and a sad story that ended the way it needed to end for the safety and security of the rest of the passengers on board the flight. No one affirmed her delusion, no one facilitated or assisted her in moving forward with her dangerous and deadly idea. They thoroughly rejected the craziness and restrained it before it harmed other innocent people.
Now, skip ahead to this story. An "austere woke scholar" explains how a woman can be a lesbian but still "identify" by he/him pronouns. I would provide the explanation but it's too muddled, so watch it for yourself:
Collectively, culturally abiding this kind of nonsense is the intellectual equivalent of nodding sympathetically as a crazy person depressurizes your cabin at 35,000 feet by throwing open the exit door.
There's nothing logical in her words. There's nothing in her explanation that makes sense or is even remotely reasonable. It's nonsense. The young woman herself may not be crazy, and she clearly exhibits a profound capacity for memorizing and internalizing complex words and concepts. But what she has chosen to become proficient in learning and reciting is morally rudderless, pseudo-intellectual gobbledygook.
Is there a confused underbelly of society where this type of thing can exist and entertain a largely socially indigent sector of the population that prefers bandying about fantasy theories and childish things? Perhaps like university coffeeshops? I suppose so.
But for civil society to endure, there is no suffering this kind of anti-logic. These kinds of thoughts are destructive to civil/social order and human flourishing. The ideas should be exposed, arrested, and discarded, rather than entertained as legitimate in the public square.
To be clear, I'm not talking about banning speech, censoring video content, or duct-taping this poor lady to her stool at Starbucks. I'm talking about the public dialogue firmly and resolutely dismissing those things that run counter to reality, properly condemning them as unproductive at best, destructive at worst.
Serious people and serious societies don't have time for this. We must cling to what is real, pursue what is reasonable, and value what is righteous.
