“Be kind”, this saying can be found everywhere from your kid’s school to the windshield on the truck right in front of you. Be kind used to be a great message! As a mother I've often found myself saying this to my own children, usually when there is a squabble between two siblings. But this seemingly innocuous phrase is now being misappropriated and used in an effort to suppress speech and dissent. What used to be a phrase to remind kids not to hit their sister or call that kid a mean name is now used frequently by the progressive left to normalize their bizarre woke agenda. ‘Be kind’, they say and submit to our ideology otherwise you are mean and disrespectful. Almost daily throughout the media and social platforms there is some reference to the lack of kindness from right wingers. Be kind and refer to that obvious man as ‘she’. Be kind and agree with our point of view. Be kind and tell that Black child he won't do well in school because of historical injustices. These are all stances we hear from progressives. But what does it mean to be kind? Why does kindness only seem to be needed for one side of the ideological spectrum? Why does only ONE group of people seem worthy of kindness? And how do we know we are actually being kind and not being cruel?
Is it kind to lie? Is it kind to tell a delusional person who is hearing voices that you hear them as well? Is it kind to tell children that what makes them boys or girls is their subjective feelings NOT their bodies? Is it kind to tell Black children that they are less than their White counterparts, and they are less then because of the mere existence of White people? Is it kind to tell women they can't be called women or mother because a small handful of mostly White people might get offended? Is it kind to medicalize a young child with hard core drugs that are proven to be of low efficacy? Is it kind to cut the healthy breasts off of a 13 year old girl for what's most likely a passing phase? Or is it kind to tell the truth, even if it’s hard to hear?
If I were an alcoholic trying to get sober and I asked you to give me a beer, what would you do? What is the kind thing to do in that situation? As an alcoholic, I may be despondent over my sobriety and insist I NEED to drink. I may be suicidal or even physically dependent on alcohol. I might scream and yell and issue all sorts of threats until I receive my drink. And what will your reaction be? What is the best way to be kind to me? Should you provide me what I want, and push me further down the track to an early grave because that seems like the kind thing to do? Or should you refuse to enable me and instead push me to get help? Sometimes being kind is hard. Sometimes to be truly kind we have to let people hurt a bit and sit with that pain, which is part of life! Sometimes doing the right and kind thing isn't so easy and isn't so obvious.
Being kind is such a simple concept, children can very easily understand it. Treating ALL people-not just certain groups with respect, dignity, and tolerance is something most kids tend to do naturally. Kids understand that people are different. We all look different with different skin color, hair color, belief systems etc. And in general children do not care about these differences. It is us who create the prejudice in them. It is us that teaches them that some people are bad and instills bigotry in them. And so it is up to us to allow them to remain kind. It is up to us to allow them to see each other not as a skin color, sex, or religion but as fellow humans. It is up to us to allow kids to judge people based on their character, as MLK said and judge them as WHO they are rather than on their skin color, sex or WHAT they are.
In the last season of Game of Thrones (warning spoiler alert), one of the main characters achieved her goal of becoming queen. But after obtaining her goal which spanned the entire series she wasn't satisfied. She wanted to continue going and declare herself queen of the entire world not just her realm. When her partner warned her of the repercussions of her newfound philosophy she assured him it was alright because THEY were the good guys. She assured him she would treat everyone kindly and be a just queen. But he knew that belief was incompatible with being just. If you believe that only you are the kind and just one and because of this it's permissible for you to exhort control over all others, you are not a good or kind person. It is simply not possible to believe yourself to be superior to others and remain a good person, because a truly good and kind person would never think of themselves as superior and force their will on others.
For those in the ‘be kind’ brigade, it's important that we ask ourselves how exactly we are being kind. Being kind should mean treating ALL with respect! That includes those who think and believe differently than you. I do not believe in gender ideology. That does not make me a bad person as most humans do not believe in this ideology either. I do not believe men can become women. To me this gender movement is misogynistic and homophobic. But although I think radical adherents of this movement are bigots, I do not think they should be silenced! I do not think they deserve to be discriminated against. And I do not think they shouldn't be treated with kindness and respect. I think ALL people (even the very bad ones) should be treated with decency and respect. THAT is true kindness. I could not consider myself a good person if I thought kindness or respect should only be given to certain people, namely those who think like me!
Why are those on the left so concerned with being kind to ONLY those with whom they agree? Why are they not kind to conservatives, religious people, or those who think critically? Why are leftists only concerned with trans students and not those kids harmed by covid lock downs? Why are leftists only interested in teaching children to be kind to sexual minorities but not religious minorities? Where is liberal kindness to women who do not consent to men in their spaces and sports teams? Where is the kindness for girls who do not want to be harassed by boys pretending to be them? Where is the kindness for women who are raped in prisons by male inmates who have no business being there in the first place? Where is the kindness for our fellow man?
You cannot call yourself kind if you exhibit kindness only to certain people! Progressives, I’m looking at you. We are coming to a point soon when those on the political left can no longer claim ignorance. When there is so much evidence of unkindness and politically motivated hatred that if you continue to support progressive superiority you are complicit in it. Its time we advocate for TRUE kindness! Lets be kind to EVERYONE regardless of who they are or what they think. Everyone deserves the right to speech and belief. What you deem ‘hate speech’, I deem truth, and that's OK. Don't be Daenerys from Game of Thrones. You cannot be a good person if you think ONLY you and like minded people are right. THATS not kind!