J.K.Rowling's response

For those who might not know, J.K.Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, has been subject to some extreme abuse online lately over daring to ask perfectly reasonable questions about gender identity. She has today released a long but very good response, which can be read here. I strongly recommend it.

The issue for me is larger than her particular views, however. It is the growing tendency in this nation to adopt the attitude that if someone holds a different view on a subject - social, political, economic, or what have you - they are ipso facto at least dumb, if not woefully ignorant or outright evil. They may indeed be wrong (and then again, perhaps it is just as likely that it is we who are wrong), but they have arrived at their opinion on the basis of their history and experience and training, and if we had the same history, experience and training we would no doubt believe exactly as they do.

The disappearance of tolerance for other views in our society worries me a great deal. Of course social media is partly to blame for this. People will say in the relative anonymity of social media things they would be ashamed to say in person. But I blame the elites for this as well. The growing movement in academia to refuse to listen to alternative views, and to demonize those who disagree with one is providing a very bad model for the younger generation. It is one of the early signs of fascism, and it ought to worry all of us.