The Silence Of Homogeneity

Only crazy people, extremists, if you will, don't think like the rest of us. Everyone is the same, or would be, if allowed to reach their own personal equilibrium end state.

That's the message from the left after the Paris attacks as well as the theme of the latest round of campus protests. It's also the underlying principle behind the push to accept the refugees from the Middle East.

Yes, all religions are the same, there is a universal set of values, everyone is trying to maximize the same things and minimize the same things. We all have the same ideas about freedom, success and security. Only a few, crazy fundamentalists disagree. They don't really see things differently, they're just completely nuts.

If everyone is the same, then we can all live together in peace because every conflict will be something we can talk out since we're all trying to achieve the same ends. Being the same simplifies so much in life!

Furthermore, because everyone is the same, there's no need to learn about Islam. No need to read the Koran, the Hadiths or any books summarizing their belief system. There's also no need to read the Catechism of the Catholic Church or G. K. Chesterton or C. S. Lewis. We can probably throw out the philosophers as well - Nietzsche, Rousseau, Aquinas and the rest. Everything worth reading will naturally lead you to the same conclusions since we are all, as I said before, the same.

But hold on one minute. If we're all the same and all thought leads to the same place and we all share the same values, then what you have to say is no better or worse than what anyone else has to say. If you're writing a book or giving an interview or making a speech, isn't it all just a waste of time since it's only going to end up right where everyone else is?

When you get right down to it, you've made your point very well, Mr. President. You have nothing of value to say at all.