Ask Alan Dershowitz about other people’s opinions and he’d likely say, “There's no such thing as a false idea or a false opinion.” The Harvard constitutional law professor emeritus and celebrated defense attorney made that observation during an interview August 9 in reference to some of Donald Trump’s legal travails, but Dershowitz’s analysis could just as easily apply to the broader society. At least it should.
Until recently, simple opinions were unremarkable; people would observe things and formulate a point of view. Not everyone would agree with a particular opinion, but that’s okay, and we would all go about our business. But two events in recent days show that reasonable opinions are now somehow controversial. The first involved a parent of seven kids; the second involved a bill signing ceremony.
A father named Shaffer Smith articulated his opinion that he believes it unwise to perform life-altering elective surgeries on children. Smith, better known by his stage name Ne-Yo, thinks performing mastectomies and castrations on junior high kids is ill-advised. This is an entirely reasonable opinion. After all, most states regulate or ban practices as pedestrian as tattoos, body piercings and tanning salons for children, so it’s not odd to be dubious of surgically mutilating minors.
During the same week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ceremonially signed a bill codifying the idea that men should compete against men in college athletics, and women should compete against women. This too is a practical opinion. It recognizes the simple reason we have separate teams for boys and girls in most sports.
Here are two ordinary opinions on two ordinary ideas. But today, not agreeing with dismembering the anatomy of adolescents or men competing against women is deemed controversial. Not only are these opinions controversial, they incite rage among those with a different opinion.
In Texas, people whose opinion is that men should compete in sports against women formed a gauntlet through which little girls attending the bill signing had to pass. "Bottles are being thrown, protestors are spitting in people's faces, profanity is being yelled at children,” reported one of the attendees, former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines. Another woman who attended and was assaulted described the mob as “rabid.”
R&B singer Ne-Yo did not have to endure a face-to-face confrontation like the children in Texas but he caught his share of media flak. The Los Angeles Times described Ne-Yo’s opinion as “transphobic comments.” Out Magazine said his opinion was “transphobia against kids.” I do not know Ne-Yo but having listened to some of his music, I would wager an enormous sum of money that he does not fear people whose chromosomal sex is at variance with their anatomical sex.
The violence, slander and intimidation aimed at people who do not share the opinion of LGBTQ activists is striking, and the intensity is unprecedented in my lifetime. The closest thing I can recall is the maltreatment of some veterans returning from Vietnam in the 1960s. Passions ran high during the Vietnam War but they pale in comparison to what’s happening today.
Responding to such acts of hostility over simple differences of opinion can be challenging. The urge to react in kind is understandable but there’s better guidance available. The Old Testament book of Proverbs is especially helpful. Described in the first verse as “The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel,” this 3,000 year old book contains many thoughtful passages on managing adversarial situations like those of America in 2023.
Proverbs does a good job of characterizing the anger of modern militants: “A man of wrath stirs up strife, and one given to anger causes much transgression.” It’s not unfair to conclude that the ugly rancor targeting children attending the Texas bill signing was less about persuasion and much more about causing strife.
King Solomon recognized the destructive nature of strife and counseled against it, writing in one passage, “It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife, but every fool will be quarreling.” Elsewhere in Proverbs, we’re advised, “A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back.”
Some observers theorize that the unhinged behavior of activists today is purposely designed to provoke a violent response so as to portray normal people as dangerous. But Proverbs has suggestions for that too, advising readers, “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself.”
The problems of Israel in the 10th century BC may seem far removed from our current state of affairs but the solutions are timeless and we could sure use an American Solomon right now. A little more Solomonic restraint in our discourse would go a long way toward healing the wounds that fester in the American body politic.