AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Ignorance thrives when people live in isolation, breeding irrational concepts about the “other” they clearly do not understand.
The overwhelming victory for President-elect Donald Trump has brought to the forefront Democrats’ wholesale ignorance surrounding his supporters — and many are choosing to lean on their lack of knowledge, rather than think deeply about Trump voters’ reasoning.
The most prideful Trump haters are now imploring others to remain in their benighted wasteland by permanently separating themselves from friends and family who helped to put the former president back into power.
Yale-affiliated psychiatrist Dr. Amanda Calhoun appeared on MSNBC’s “The Reid Out” and encouraged left-leaning viewers to disconnect themselves from Trump-supporting family members as the holiday season approaches.
“There is a societal push that, if somebody is your family, they are entitled to your time,” Calhoun told host Joy Ann Reid. “And I think the answer is absolutely not.”
If family members or close friends “voted in ways that are against you, that are against your livelihood,” she advised, “it’s completely fine to not be around those people.”
“I’m not going to be around you this holiday,” she declared. “I need to take some space for me.”
She’s not alone: Bitter leftists across social media are picking up the theme.
Only two types of people will tell you to separate yourself from your friends and family because of ideological differences: cult leaders and domestic abusers.
Cult leaders — members, too — understand that family is a pathway to normalcy that could potentially pull recruits away from their dogma.
By associating with your family, you’re more likely to hear truths that challenge the cult’s illogical propaganda.
Cults abuse your naivety and insecurities by framing themselves as the only ones who can protect you from the evil outside their compound’s walls.
Calhoun and her ilk are engaging in cultish protectionism with the claim that the least bit of discomfort is enough to avoid speaking to the people who allegedly aggrieved you — and never examining the reason you’re feeling uncomfortable in the first place.
Even within her language, she’s claiming that a vote for Trump was done maliciously and with intent.
The remedy, she says, is to reject those voters and come closer to the ideological leftists who supposedly mean you no harm.
But this framing loses sight of the fact that there are a whole range of reasons why someone voted for a given candidate.
It’s wrong and absurd to presume that Trump supporters agree with the ridiculous leftist framing that he is the second coming of Hitler, and that every Trump voter is therefore consciously accepting a form of Nazism in America.
The cultist left has isolated itself into a bubble in which they fear-monger each other about an enemy that doesn’t exist.
Now that the bubble has been popped by the election results, they can’t handle the idea that friends and family have been seduced by the “Trumpism” they’ve created in their own heads.
Yet the people we’ve known our entire lives aren’t any different because of who they chose to vote for. The difference is just that we’re living in a new society where people suddenly feel the need to tell us about their political beliefs.
Years ago, it was considered rude to debate politics “in polite company.” Doing so would be just as disrespectful as challenging someone about their religion of choice.
You didn’t know, or care to know, who your favorite uncle voted for. All that mattered was how he treated you, and the memories you cherished from your time together.
There was a time when I feared that going public about my right-leaning political views would cause my family to step away from me. But it actually brought us closer, even though we still don’t always agree.
They don’t have to be on board with my politics to continue to love me like they’ve done for decades.
They’re not indoctrinated enough to believe I’m now a monster due to who I chose to vote for.
Despite our disagreements, all my family has expressed pride in me — because their love matters more than whoever ends up in office.
So many of us have let outside agitators come into our lives, spouting endless propaganda and frightening narratives and dividing us from the people we care about for political gain.
The cultish portion of the political left complains about American division — while at the same time advising us never to reconcile with, or even bother to better understand, people we’ve known our entire lives.
No one becomes wiser by choosing a path of ignorance.
Maybe it’s time to listen to people instead of pushing them away. You might learn something.
Adam B. Coleman is the author of “Black Victim to Black Victor” and founder of Wrong Speak Publishing.