,
9 tweets,
2 min read
Read on Twitter
One thing I have always despised—whether from the right or the left—is when people get smeared as having “ties to” or “shared a stage with” or “spoke at an event with” some individual or group that has done or said something awful in the past. There’s two reasons why.
The first reason is that if you otherwise agree with the person being smeared, you should be excited that they may have a positive impact on bad people. As @scottadamssays “I’m a good influence with the people you hate.” Personally I’m an absolutist on this.
Example: If you find out an anti-racist friend you trust is hanging out with a member of the KKK, that’s great news! You might want to make sure they aren’t becoming racist, but otherwise you should rejoice and pray that they have a good influence.
The second reason is that anyone with an uncommon combination of beliefs is inevitably going to find themselves involved with people and organizations that they agree with on one thing but disagree with on others.
Smearing them for doing so has the effect of shutting down unique voices and pushing people into boxes. The goal is to bully people into only associating with one of two predetermined packages of beliefs, no matter how ridiculous those packages are.
Example: A pro-life Democrat will have friends who are pro-life Republicans as well as friends who are pro-choice Democrats. They will end up going to events and sharing the stage with people who have said things that are either right-wing or pro-abortion.
My personal rule is that I will associate with anyone who agrees with me on something important, and I will never smear anyone—even my opponents—for associating with bad people. I judge people by what they personally say and do.
(The only exception to this is if my priest, spiritual director, or bishop tells me I’m committing scandal. This has only happened twice and I obeyed. You also need to have good spiritual direction to make sure you aren’t being corrupted.)
Most people aren’t absolutists, of course, and aren’t comfortable hanging out with bad people, and it’s hard not to judge others for the company they keep. But I would still encourage you to stop this line of attack, no matter how much it may seem to help your side. (End)
