ARE THE PROTESTERS CRYBABIES?

That’s what many on the right are saying. That’s what they are calling those who are protesting the election of Donald Trump. Now because protesting an election has never before happened after any election in the United States, many of those who felt that they lost the election back on Nov. 8 have taken to the street to protest. Sometimes it has gotten out of hand and been more than a protest, it has become a riot with people destroying property, damaging cars, assaulting the police, burning stores, etc. But that was a small group.

Many just protested and did so crying and even wailing that Clinton lost. So those on the right began calling them names and mocking them— “crybabies,” “cupcakes,” etc. Videos of people crying have been played on television and social media. They were also quick to recommend solutions: “grow up,” “get over it,” “suck it up,” and so on. But it is not only those on the right of the political spectrum, even those on the left have been consoling them— giving some of them hot chocolate and cookies, bringing in puppies to comfort them, giving them a “safe space,” etc.

But are they crybabies? Could there be some other explanation? What other explanations could there be for people in a democracy having so much “emotional distress” that they can’t go to work, can’t go to class, and need comfort? Here’s one. What if they are not just crybabies who didn’t get their way. What if they are liberal fundamentalists who are actually hatefully intolerant of those who contradict them?

After all, that’s what being a “fundamentalist” refers to. When you are a fundamentalist about anything, it is “your way or the highway.” What you believe is not just a belief, it is “the truth.” It is the final word about what is true and real and anyone who can’t see that is stupid or evil. A fundamentalist is a person who confuses map and territory. They confuse what they mentally map in their head with what is real. Then they reason that anyone who disagrees is just plain wrong and need to be straightened out, eliminated, or stigmatized. Anyone who disagrees must not be capable of rational thought or must be an evil person. They do not tolerate differences. And why would they? They are right. They have the truth. They are in the know and the others are not.

That’s why they are so intolerant. That’s why they forbid those who differ to have an equal voice. They will shout down a speaker who dares to stand up and express a different point of view. We have seen a lot of this in the past few years on College Campuses. They proclaim that they are liberal and loving, but it is a limited tolerance and love, only to those who agree with them.

I’m not only targeting the left-wing fundamentalists, this is equally true of right-wing fundamentalists, religious fundamentalists, and anyone who confuses their reasoning, thinking, believing, concluding, etc. with “the truth.” When you believe you are fundamentally right about something, a strange temptation arises. You start to scorn and disdain anyone who disagrees with you. That’s because the more you know you are right, that you have the truth, the more a divergent view threatens “the truth,” and of course, you cannot have that. That must be stopped! It was that kind of thinking that created the European wars, the Crusades, the Nazis, Radical Islam, etc. It continues to this day as the fuel for terrorists of all brands and creeds.

Now given this possibility, I hope that the protesters are just crybabies. That would be a much smaller problem and one easier to solve. I hope it’s a case that they were fooled by the liberal media who set them up for the disappointment, who never seriously thought Trump had a chance in hell of winning and who gave him billions of dollars of free publicity—even though it was overwhelmingly negative. I hope it is the case that they were the unsuspecting victims of assuming that Hillary was the inevitable candidate that they never gave any consideration to the other side’s perspective.

Interesting enough a few networks have actually come out and apologized for their biased and one- sided coverage. That’s good. Maybe instead of being agents for a party, they will return to actual journalism and begin reporting in a more fair and balanced way. That would be good although it is unlikely given that 90% of reporters identify themselves as politically liberal (which in the US means tending toward the socialistic side of things).

What’s the solution for getting beyond the fundamentalistic mind-set of assuming that you are the possessor of truth and have a right to be rigid and intolerant? Several things:

• Recognize that all of your thoughts are but mental maps and never the reality. Whatever you understand about anything is a human understanding and subject to all of the cognitive distortions and cognitive biases that plague all humans. Absolutism, black-and-white thinking, over-generalizing—the thinking patterns of children.

• Recognize that you could be wrong. Not only could you, you are. I am. We all are wrong on a daily basis about things. We forget things. We misconstrue things, we mis-perceive, we mis-hear— the list of things that our human fallibility touches goes on and on. For years when someone knocked on my door and said that they have some “truth” to share with me, and “could we come in for a few minutes?” I always say, “Yes, sure, upon one condition.” “What is that?” they would ask. “If you could be wrong, please come on it.” In all of the years, not one person could cross the threshold! Once one said, “That’s not fair, I have the truth and cannot be wrong.” So I responded, “Then sorry, but I’m not prepared to talk to an infallible person today, only to fallible humans who could be wrong.”

• Humbly explore each other’s views with respect. Intolerance kills learning. The intolerant are saying, “There’s nothing I could learn from you.” How sad. Let’s adopt the attitude that “I can learn something from everyone. No matter how extreme the other’s view, there’s things I can learn.”

• Cut out all of the insults. This includes name-calling, mind-reading, judging, etc. None of that helps. It makes authentic conversation less and less likely.