A Call for Moderation

[Archaalen]

Almost any atrocity or major political disaster can be typically traced back in some form to radical political groups. Liberal, Conservative, Socialist, Fascist, Fundamentalist, whatever you look at, you can see the same thing: radicalism and fanaticism of all kinds are extremely dangerous for everyone involved.
However, too many people always seem to be under the impression that the best way to deal with radical opponents is with a radical reaction. Are there militant Communists forces in a country? Support some militant Anti-Communists to combat them. Radical Atheists spreading their message in your backyard? Put together a radical Fundamentalist group to respond. Terrorist problem? Declare a War On Terrorism. I could keep going, but you get the idea. The list goes on and on.
More people need to stand up and argue for tolerance and moderation rather than going to extremes. This is harder because you will usually be accused of being either incompetent or cowardly for not taking sides, and will usually be attacked by both ends of the spectrum. However, the task of holding to the middle ground is extremely important, especially in our modern age when many people have begun to forget what caused most of the horrific conflicts of the 20th century: extremist ideologies taking over in many parts of the world. Some people may think me stupid for it, but I am personally proud to call myself a moderate, because too much of anything can very quickly become a bad thing.

[Baron Thunder-ten-tronckh]

I agree whole-heartedly to your statement. Perhaps in some situations in the future, or perhaps in the present that I am not aware of, or am, but haven't achieved an opinion or thoughts on actions necessary, there will be need of something more than moderate, but I agree that moderation is key.

To be so dogmatic you won't see the other side of the political pie, that is sad. It is like many youth with their parents, thinking they are oppressing them like some Burmese Junta, but in the end, often the thoughts behind the action are pure.

Okay, I have gone on for long enough. +Rep mon ami!

[Vladimir Lenin]

True, you make a good point.

[Fingon NL]

I agree, but sadly the media don't like moderate stories, only the extreme stories reach the headlines.
Thus, all moderate sounds are drowned in extremism

[Torment]

Moderation in itself can also be an extreme. I've seen too many people who go to extremes just to call themselves moderate. That just shows that most of the times its more an issue of pride than one of sincere believe that avoiding all extremes will bring about satisfactory results.

In the end they're all just words. Moderation to one, is spineless appeasement to another. It's simply best to evaluate situations as they come along without sticking to such meaningless definitions. If you're going to evaluate all situations through the same pair of glasses, you'll just end up limitting yourself.

[Stalins Ghost]

Agreed entirely. Myself I'm a radical thinker but with a moderate, realistic outlook on how to actually get things done. People just don't like radical change unless there's a very good reason. It doesn't mean eventually some totally revolutionary ideas can come into place, but rushing them can only lead to damaging them.

[Chlodwig I.]

Can't agree on that point
there needs always a "To that point and not further"
If you don't stand up for your rights noone will do it for you

Take a look at today
the People in Europe are already that afraid of political terrorism that they don't defend our way to live anymore.

E.g. A Member of Parliament of the Netherlands said he was makeing a movie that would show the truth about Islam and the Koran,

No one has seen anything of that movie yet
but many Muslim Contrys already threatend the Netherlands that if they show the movie in public that every violence caused would be the fault of the Netherlands.
And what does the EU and the Netherlands do?
They give in to these threats and try put preasure on the Media not to show this Movie because they are afraid of Terrorist attacks

Maybe thats moderate because they don't want to insult someone
but no thats not moderate because they don't act out of the reason not to insult someone but out of the fear of terrorist attacks.

in truth they act like cowards and give up our fundamental freedoms because of what?
give me Dollar for every insult of a mulsim towards another religion and I would be the richest man on the planet.

[Fingon NL]

Can't agree on that point
there needs always a "To that point and not further"
If you don't stand up for your rights noone will do it for you

Take a look at today
the People in Europe are already that afraid of political terrorism that they don't defend our way to live anymore.

E.g. A Member of Parliament of the Netherlands said he was makeing a movie that would show the truth about Islam and the Koran,

No one has seen anything of that movie yet
but many Muslim Contrys already threatend the Netherlands that if they show the movie in public that every violence caused would be the fault of the Netherlands.
And what does the EU and the Netherlands do?
They give in to these threats and try put preasure on the Media not to show this Movie because they are afraid of Terrorist attacks

Maybe thats moderate because they don't want to insult someone
but no thats not moderate because they don't act out of the reason not to insult someone but out of the fear of terrorist attacks.

in truth they act like cowards and give up our fundamental freedoms because of what?
give me Dollar for every insult of a mulsim towards another religion and I would be the richest man on the planet.

That's more the government that is just incredibly opportunistic.
They go the way the wind blows...
Plus there is still a lot ''muslimhugging'' going on, ugh I hate that.
I think most other Dutch don't care as long as they are left alone(mind you, we have not yet had a serious terrorist suicide attack, things might very well change if that happens)

[Archaalen]

Being politically correct and trying not to offend anyone has nothing to do with moderation. I believe that the only purpose of political correctness is to let conservatives make liberals look ridiculous (not that that's hard some of the time). To prevent that movie from being shown is a violation of freedom of speech, and THAT is an extremist position. No one even knows what the movie will be about yet, and if people end up having problems with it after they've seen it, then they can debate whether the film is accurate or worth seeing at all. We aren't talking about someone advocating the mass murder of all Muslims (at least, I hope we're not), so there is no reason that any such movie should be prevented from being shown. The best way to defeat ridiculous ideas is by showing just how ridiculous they are, not by repressing the dissemination of those ideas. That is the method used by despots of all sorts, not people who claim to believe in the ideals of the Enlightenment.

[Zuwxiv]

Moderation depends on your perspective. What may seem moderate to one person is extreme to another - for example you reference "ridiculous ideas," but if they exist someone must have thought them to be a good idea. It is difficult to tell people to be moderate when that standard can vary so much - for people living in the Bible Belt, USA, moderation is very different than people living in Paris, or in Dubai, or in Cape Town.

That said, people with extreme beliefs do generally take extreme actions. What society considers "moderates" rarely hurt others, although historically the lack of action has caused harm. I do completely agree with you, though - people need to be more tolerant, less radical, and generally just sit down and think about what they're doing.

When I read the title "A Call for Moderation," it reminded me of something I was planning on doing. At my college, there is a sort of freedom-of=speech plaza where a lot of people voice their opinion. Generally it is very conservative religious types.

I want to go there and stand on my own soap box, while shouting:

"You are all going to hell! ... That is, if you believe in hell, and if you believe that the requisites for going to hell (should they exist) are currently or have ever been met by you, depending on whether you believe the necessary prerequisites for hell are forgivable or damning in nature."
"Read your Bible every day! ... If you are Christian and think that's appropriate. Otherwise, read your Koran or whatever you want. Hey, don't even read. Do what you want."
"Be tolerant of others! Acknowledge that, almost without fault, someone will disagree with you on any point. Respect their beliefs, even if you disagree."

And things like that. Basically I want to be a Tolerance Prophet.

[Archaalen]

Moderation takes many forms, but is in essence the same everywhere in it's attempt at keeping strong ideas from being taken too far. Thus, moderate socialists, moderate democrats, and moderate christians may be quite different in some ways while sharing their desire to keep their political/religious compatriots under control. Thus, moderates everywhere do have shared goals, even if the locale they work in or some of the opinions they posess differ.

Your idea sounds like fun, I would love to do something like that.

[Valentin the II]

Great post archaalen.
I wholeheartidly agree.