This is the sixth in a series on how the free will belief that our world’s top thinkers, Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud, and Albert Einstein each considered completely mistaken provides a foundation for conservatism’s discriminatory policies against gays, the poor, criminals, the mentally ill and other disenfranchised groups, and how we progressives can pull that foundation out from under the GOP by exposing the free will myth. For a more detailed presentation of this strategy, read the series’ first post: How to dismantle the GOP by debunking the belief in free will.
As we progressives strengthen our understanding that, as Darwin, Freud and Einstein concluded, humans do not have a free will, it is also important for us to see the unfairness and harm perpetuated by the belief in free will, especially when it’s in the hands of the G.O.P.
Only when we understand the vast reach of this unfairness and harm can we begin to craft effective messaging in order to paint the Republican Party as unfair and dangerous not only to Democrats and Independents, but to Republicans as well.
Imagine yourself enjoying a meal with friends at a restaurant. All of the sudden, a man seated across the room starts shouting obscenities. Your friends immediately begin to talk about what an insensitive jerk he is. Glancing over, you recognize the man as an acquaintance. You also recall that for years the man has been afflicted with Tourette’s syndrome, an illness that compels its victims to, as this man did, blurt out obscenities in the most inappropriate places, and at the most inappropriate times.
Noticing your friends are quite angry with the man, you explain to them what you know about him. All of the sudden, well aware of what Tourette’s syndrome does, they calm down. They lose every trace of anger at the man. In fact, their anger is replaced by genuine pity for this unfortunate soul who is so afflicted by this illness that he is unable to enjoy a simple meal at a restaurant. Your friends and you fully understand that the man was not acting out of a free will.
A group of conservative Republicans at a nearby table, however, do not share your understanding and concern. Fundamentalist Christians with a deep distrust of both science and medicine, they don’t at all buy the notion that an illness can be responsible for a man’s behavior. They are quite certain that if the man truly wanted to, he could have used his free will to not blurt out the obscenities.
And so the Republicans begin to yell at the man, calling him names, and threatening to call the police. Not an idle threat, the ignorant Republicans call 911, and several officers arrive to find a man terribly afraid of being thrown into jail.
This is but one example among many that explains the harm our belief in free will causes. When the issue is being gay, or being obese, the stakes are much higher. The Republican Party uses the free will myth to attack large populations, and to keep our Country divided into Republicans and everyone else. We progressives can continue to be as ignorant and archaic in our unscientific belief in free will as are Republicans, or we can begin to understand that there is a very, very strong likelihood that Darwin, Freud and Einstein were right about free will being an illusion, and that most of the rest of us are wrong in believing we actually have a free will.
As we open ourselves up to seeing new truths, just like we’ve done with climate change, we can strongly and clearly understand exactly why human free will is impossible. At that point, we progressives can begin our messaging attack on Republicans’ free will belief-based targeting and punishing of innocent populations. With that, we will have shifted the political terrain much further to the left, for good. Let’s get this done.