I've always felt that encouraging cultural diversity and then expecting inclusion and harmony and not divisiveness is very contradictory and flawed policy. The two concepts seem mutually exclusive, at least at some levels.

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Even though I don't agree with the commentator who wrote about the "contradictory policy", trying to urge those with a different opinion to leave isn't exactly inclusion, harmony, or even diversity. Diversity of thoughts and ideas are just as important as diversity in cultural backgrounds, religions, and ethnicity.

did you actually *read* the comment you are defending? Hitchens clearly has a problem with diversity. The problem for him is, he lives in one of the most diverse areas of the United States. Therefore, if diversity is such an issue for him, he should live somewhere more to his liking.

Understood?

Yin Yang, The two ideas are in flux. Neither "wins" but both are continually interacting. I guess the Universe was made/developed with a flawed design? Not to rainbows and me.

the wikipedia entry
Web Link

You don't really believe in "diversity of thought," because there are plenty of thoughts you'd find unacceptable in your community: Nazism, white nationalism, pro-slavery, prop-pedophilia, etc.

"Diversity of thought" here is just a buzzword to short-circuit the argument about which beliefs we accept in our communities. You can argue whether you personally find William Hitchens opposition to a diverse community acceptable, but don't bludgeon the rest of is with unexamined abstractions.

It appears to me that some people did not read or are incapable of understanding Mr. Hitchens' comments. I agree with his premise that encouraging separation and categorization into dozens of groups with various and competing goals, and then expecting them to function as a harmonious unit, is indeed contradictory. The venomous commentary that Mr. Hitchens' received in return for his thoughtful contribution to the conversation is a perfect example of the point that he was making.

I have often noted that in this area, diversity is celebrated as long as it is not diversity of thought or opinion; in which case people who categorize themselves as progressives generally feel free to engage in verbal or physical assaults against those with whom they disagree, while the press cheers them on and pats them on the back for their 'pro-diversity views'.


Jim Neal
Modesto, Ca
(Formerly Old Mountain View)

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That what Jim Neal commented on above (two separate points, in separate paragraphs) is true, is apparent to thousands, and is easily verified by anyone seriously interested, still isn't enough to keep someone from gratuitously heckling him online.

I look forward to someday seeing Jim mention that the earth is round, and 1 + 1 = 2, only to prompt yet another ad-hominem putdown with no counterargument to his facts (like the example above).

"Never let mere reality stand in the way of your ideology" seems to be the hecklers' implicit motto.

And now we have one of Neal's cultists coming out of the woodwork.

Hate to rain on your parade, sport, but Neal insists that 1+1=3, and that the earth is flat. And that those of us who disagree, and have the facts to back that up, are "haters" who don't know what we're talking about.

You really need to do better. And do some actual thinking.