So there’s something that’s been happening for the last couple of months and which I have seen crop up again on my facebook feed. It’s called GamerGate. I will not talk about GamerGate because it is in fairness, only part of a larger issue which has been baffling me for a long time, and I am quite sure that some of you out there will be all too ready to explain it to me.

Now, just so that we have the same idea about it, let us have a look at some examples.

Person A loves something, person B doesn’t. Is it normal behaviour for person B to abuse person A because of that? I hate cabbage and I have never been shy about it; need I fear for my life? Would you threaten someone who hates pizza, just because you love pizza? Would you hit someone in the face because that person prefers to swim and you prefer to run? So why would one bash a man’s head in because he loves another man? Why would one stone a woman for loving another woman?

And no, I can’t accept the whole religion thing on this one. Religion gives you no right over the life of another. It never did. It never will. Anytime people have professed the use of violence in the name of a deity, they have abused your trust, they have taken you for a fool. Are you a fool? Do you not know better? Do you not want to know better?

 

Let us look at another example.

Person A and B love the same thing, but they don’t do it the same way. For instance, some climbers prefer to boulder than to cliff-climb. Don’t they still hang out? Some artists favour watercolours, but do they start beating up those who prefer acrylics? It is because you do something differently, that you’re doing it wrong? Is it because the prayer is different that it is worth any less?

 

Indulge me by looking at another example again.

Person A and person B love the same thing, but person B knows that that thing is not perfect. Two people like beef stew, but one may improve upon the recipe by adding a different spice. Medical procedures are improved upon by finding out what could be better. Engineers constantly design better systems, better machines, by finding out the faults and fixing the problems.

Surely, a surgeon would not abuse another for suggesting the use of different sutures?  Surely, engineers would not beat each other for pointing out that there might be an issue with the car’s carburator? Surely, computer programmers would not run each other out of each other’s houses because one suggests a function which may make the other’s code run better?

If you love something, if you enjoy something, would you not want to take any chance to improve it? If you love something, would you not want to share it with everybody? Would you select those you share it with simply on the basis that they think like you? Would discovering different things not enhance your experience of the thing you love?

 

I don’t get it. I really don’t get it. I simply cannot comprehend how violence or abuse can be an appropriate response to something one doesn’t like.