On Open Mindedness: A Pacifist Manifesto

Posted on May 1, 2003 in Morals & Ethics War

Don’t keep your mind so open that your brain falls out. – Unknown.

More than a few of my liberal and moderate friends (as well as a few reactionary adversaries) have been on my case because I didn’t keep an open mind to using force to oust Saddam Hussein. I was told repeatedly (and I suspect that I will be told again) that as a pacifist I should support this war for the sake of peace.

Let me couch my resistance to all these in this manner:

• To my African American, Amerindian, and Asian friends: do you keep an open mind to the idea that you might be inferior to whites?
  
• To my female friends: do you keep an open mind to the idea that you were created by God to serve men?
  
• To my gay and lesbian friends: do you keep an open mind to the idea that your attraction to the opposite sex is evil or a sickness?
  
• To my environmentalist friends: do you keep an open mind to the idea that we should exploit every last inch of land, including those reserved in National Parks?
  
• To my socialist friends: do you keep an open mind to the idea that everything should be privately held, that every service have a profit attached to it?
  
• To my market libertarian friends: do you keep an open mind to the idea that everything should be owned by the State?

If you go through this list, you will discover a common thread. Every single one of these repugnant ideas involves violence to maintain the prejudice. To open my mind to these is to open my mind to oppression and mob-sanctioned murder. I have closed my mind to every one of these extremes because I object to forcing people to sacrifice their lives for being themselves. Why then do you demand that I open my mind to the extreme of demanding that I support “killing for liberty”?

To my pacifist friends: Keep the faith!

Because this article also appears at Acts of Conscience, please make your comments there.