In the late 1960s, while on leave from the Air Force, I came home to see my family in New York City. At that time, I was following the political upheaval that had gripped Ireland. I learned that Bernadette Devlin, the Irish firebrand, was in town, so I went to hear her address before a large indoor crowd in midtown Manhattan. I was not pleased by what I heard.
Devlin wasn't the problem: the problem was that although this happening was billed as an Irish event, it was taken over by activists representing every left-wing cause imaginable. The war on Vietnam, the oppression of minorities, Indians, women, prisoners, students—you name it—that's what carried the day. In short, the radicals had no interest in discussing conditions in Ireland. They simply hijacked the event to mouth their own litany of grievances.
Nothing has changed. The Left is capable of finding oppression in a box of cereal. Moreover, they are masters at linking together causes that appear to be unconnected. The same phenomenon is taking place today.
The pro-Hamas crazies have taken up the LGBT cause. Never mind that the former are known for hating and killing the latter, they have found a common enemy. That common enemy is Western civilization. And since Jews and Christians are the face of Western civilization, they are targeted, though for different reasons.
The Western haters loathe Jews because they are seen as European colonizers. But as even the New York Times recently acknowledged, "Jews have been indigenous to the Holy Land for millenniums," and "more than half of Israel's population are Mizrahi Jews of Middle Eastern and North African descent who have often fled Arab persecution."
The Western haters loathe Christians because their idea of sexual freedom is genital liberation. By contrast, Christian sexual ethics, as made explicit in Catholic social teachings, is based on restraint; promiscuity is taboo.
Therefore, what unites the haters are twisted notions of liberation, one political, the other sexual. Their hatred of Israel and the United States, in particular, is what animates them.
Proof of this mindset can be seen by considering the comments and voting choices made by the most left-wing segment of the Democratic Party. They are united against Israel, and they are rabid proponents of the Equality Act (it would force Catholic doctors and hospitals to perform abortions and sex-reassignment surgery).
Res. 771: "Standing with Israel as it defends itself against the barbaric war launched by Hamas and other terrorists."
Voting "Nay" were:
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY)
Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN)
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (MI)
Rep. Jamaal Bowman (NY)
Rep. Cori Bush (MO)
Rep. Summer Lee (PA)
Voting "Present" were:
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (MA) *
Rep. Greg Casar (TX)
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA) *
* They subsequently voted against a House resolution condemning Islamist terrorism against Jews on college campuses.
All nine of them co-sponsored the Equality Act.
The same phenomenon is happening outside of Congress.
- The leader of an LGBTQ group at Columbia University barred supporters of Israel from attending an upcoming black lesbian event.
- "Queers for Palestine" show up at rallies in New York City. The leader shouts "F*** Israel."
- "Palestinian liberation is black liberation" is their mantra.
- "Reproductive justice means free Palestine" is a popular banner.
The conflation of political liberation and sexual liberation is traceable to the cultural Marxists of the Frankfurt School in the late 1920s and early 1930s in Germany. In the mid-1930s, the major figures moved to New York City, laying anchor at Columbia University. I hasten to add that Marx himself hated the family as much as he hated capitalism.
Wilhelm Reich was perhaps the most crazed member of the Frankfurt School. He hated Catholicism and was known as the "Father of the Sexual Revolution." He said there could be no political revolution without first witnessing a sexual revolution. Feminists such as Shulamith Firestone in the 1960s took the same position. Transgender and lesbian professor Judith Butler is the most famous contemporary writer conflating these twin causes.
Marx abandoned his family, impregnated his maid (never supporting his son), and ripped off his parents. Reich was convicted of fraud and died in prison. Firestone was mentally ill. And Butler likes to be called "they."
These are the kinds of dysfunctional and miserable persons who have given voice to the current state of madness.
