Oh Susie Q, baby I love you, Suzie Q. I love the way you walk I love the way you talk…Credence Clearwater Revival
I remember many years ago watching Oprah Winfrey when she interviewed a man who specialized in teaching parents how to protect children from abuse. He said when your child comes to you and says “Mommy I don’t like Uncle Johnny,” too often Mommy will say, “Don’t be silly. Uncle Johnny is a lovely man. He loves you. Maybe he loves her, but not with that platonic love Mommy is thinking of (He loves the way you walk he loves the way you talk oh Suzie Q).
At that moment Mommy taught Suzie not to trust her instincts. Instincts that have evolved over the millennia that keep us alive-warning us of a threat not yet visible but… there. The next time she gets that feeling she will tell herself-don’t be silly. Nothing is wrong. And that repressing of her fear, her anxiety, that queasy feeling, could stay with her and keep her from all kinds of questions about what is going on in her world. And that is a terrible loss. German philosopher Martin Heidegger (1889–1976) wrote,
“Questions are the piety, the prayer of human thought.”
If Suzie fears asking questions then she will unconsciously give up her freedom of speech because of a chill has that been placed upon her. A chill that could last a lifetime.
We need to listen to our instincts. Not that they are always right but that they are sending out a warning-pay attention. That warning comes from our amygdala, the seat of survival. It lies deep within our brain having evolved over the millennia to be our first line of defense against personal harm. And we need others to hear us and listen to us and acknowledge our concerns. Instead we say “Oh Suzie Q it’s not about you. It’s about Uncle Johnnie.” And so we invalidate Suzie.
Why am I telling this story? Because the same thing is happening on a grander scale, a larger stage. We are being told by far too many who know better than we -oh Suzie-that our fears are not based on reality. That we just don’t understand Uncle Johnny. That we need to be nice and kind-to those whose intent is not nice and kind. To those want to hurt us in the name of good manners-or tolerance, inclusion, accommodation and diversity.
We are being told by the self-appointed self–righteous “Progressives” that we are giving in to fear. More than that, we are spreading our fear. We are racists and fear-mongers. Why? Why are those of us who ask questions about people coming into our country, bringing values and behaviours that are not practiced here, be it sex-selection abortion, or honour-killings, because our ethic, the Judeo/Christian ethic that underpins Western Culture say no to those practices, why are we being accused of fear-mongering?
I think the Progressives, so sure of themselves, are realizing that their sermons from the mount are not being swallowed-any better than Communism or socialism were swallowed whole. They cannot defend their position of opening up the West to behaviours that we have fought against since our birth as a nation. So they turn against those of us who have the audacity to question with personal hateful, false accusations.
We not only have a right to ask questions, we have an obligation in a democracy, as long as they are asked respectfully. And we have a right to be answered respectfully, without shouting and yelling, physically assaulting, and screaming down peaceful displays and speaking engagements. There is no legal right in Canada or anywhere in the West as far as I am aware, “not to be offended by “discriminatory’ comments.” As John Carpay , President of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms wrote, “The so-called “right” not to feel offended by another’s speech is a toxic cancer that is slowly killing our freedom and our democracy. This false understanding of “equality” chills free speech for everyone…”
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This is what our country is becoming. A country whose priority is the protection of feelings. Our fathers and grandfathers and great grandfathers did not fight to defend our freedoms so that a new generation would be free from hurt feelings. In the name of inclusiveness we are told to keep in mind that offending a Muslim in any way, especially by saying something negative about their religion or their God, leads to such hurt feelings they will turn to terror. If that is true, I would think the comments made by President Obama, that the Islamic state was just a JV team really hurt their feelings and their pride and gave them the push they needed to spread their terror, for their feelings in the West have been under attack for a long time.
We are constantly told by our media and academia and politicians that our instincts are wrong. There’s nothing to fear-but fear itself. And slowly but surely we lose our connection to our instincts-like Suzie Q. We become good little lemmings ready to follow our elected officials. The same ones accusing us of fear-mongering, the same ones bringing a chill to free speech and thought.
And then one day some “lemmings” woke up and realized that their good manners and tolerance, accommodation, inclusiveness and love of diversity had failed them. Unlike a lobster, put in warm water that is slowly brought to a boil and realizes at the last second-OOPS- the “lemmings” at the last second are refusing to be drowned out and there is panic amongst the elite. For them the sky is falling.
I believe we are in the midst of a revolution. I have written about this several times. It is not as loud and violent as the 1960s because it is coming from an older crowd who have “lived experiences” to draw on, not just fancy footed-walking backward in high heels-rhetoric.
Despite lived experiences with Islamic terrorism we are told not to fear. That is pointless and counter-productive. We know from history that great leaders, like Franklin Delano Roosevelt, acknowledge fear in order to keep it from paralyzing the citizenry. Today we have too many in the media and government at all levels who refuse to acknowledge the danger of Islamic terrorism-of Islamic teachings, of Islamic law.
The next time Suzie Q says I don’t like Uncle Johnny, there’s just something about him that puts me on edge…maybe those in positions of power should listen. Maybe we should stop telling her to deny her instincts. Maybe we should be concerned. And then do something about those concerns. Let us face those concerns head on as Roosevelt advised.
Diane Weber Bederman is a blogger for ‘Times of Israel’, a contributor to Convivium, a national magazine about faith in our community, and also writes about family issues and mental illness. She is a multi-faith endorsed hospital trained chaplain.
