Thread by @NeilShenvi

Thread: people who are pro-life recognize how frustrating it is when people label you as 'anti-choice.'

Imagine enumerating to your pro-choice friend all the reasons why 'anti-choice' is a bad label. 1/

1) You are not 'anti-choice' when it comes to 99.99% of the choices a person makes in life. You believe that people should be free to choose what kind of car they drive, what kind of home they own, how many children to have, what kind of job they want... 2/

2) You are not even 'anti-choice' when it comes to the choices a woman makes about her own body. She can choose to get a tattoo, or an ear-piercing, or a nose ring. You are only opposed to her making the choice to kill her unborn child, which has its own body. 3/

3) Furthermore, everyone is 'anti-choice' when it comes to these kinds of choices. No one thinks that the choice to kill your spouse or rob a jewelry store should be legal. So we're all 'anti-choice' when it comes to choices we deem grossly immoral. 4/

Your friend listens to you carefully and then says: "Well, I still think you're 'anti-choice' and I'm going to keep calling you 'anti-choice'." Question: are you frustrated? Annoyed? Do you have trouble taking her seriously now?

Ok, plot twist: 5/

This is why you shouldn't throw around the label of 'Marxist.' There is a rapidly growing ideology in our culture that divides the world into oppressed groups and their oppressors. I am worried about this ideology and I've read and written about it extensively. 6/

However, that ideology is known as 'critical theory.' Calling it 'Marxism' or 'cultural Marxism' is vague and imprecise. Moreover, it will invite easy rebuttals. 7/

For example, classical Marxists are historical materialists. They think that culture is an artifact of economics. If a person rejects historical materialism, they will rightly insist that they cannot possibly be a 'Marxist' 8/

'Marxism' is also often connected to equality of outcome. On the other hand, some CTs will insist that they do not want to impose equality of outcome, but only want equality of opportunity. Thus, they will insist that the label of Marxist is inaccurate. 9/

Or they will (correctly) point out that there is a anti-Semitic, white supremacist conspiracy that goes by the name of 'cultural Marxism.' Since they find this conspiracy theory abhorrent and laughable, they will dismiss the charge of 'cultural Marxism.' 10/

Finally, many people who are *ideologically* influenced by critical theory are *economically* still free-market capitalists. Thus, any accusation of 'Marxism' will ring hollow to them. 11/

Bottom line: save yourself a lot of trouble and talk about 'critical theory.' Don't get hung up on labels, especially if they end up shutting down dialogue. Probe the underlying ideas. That's where the real problems are: 12/12

shenviapologetics.com/intro-to-criti…