06 Aug 2004
In the Midst of a Witch Hunt

The link below leads to a great column by Paul Campos.

While the column itself concerns the current hysteria over "fat", it's relevence cuts across a broad range of issues, from gay marriage to drug policy. As a society, we've simply got to learn to come to grips with the "demon of the week" syndrome, and stop running off on these wild goose chases, declaring "war" on ideas and conditions that are a natural part of the human experience. If we don't, we'll find ourselves eternally distracted from the real issues that we need to be dealing with, like, oh, say, survival of the species.

Witch hunts are easy to recognize in retrospect, but much harder to spot when you're in the middle of one. Today, we look back on claims that marijuana turned African-American men into sex-crazed maniacs, or that the State Department employed 205 communist agents, or that America's preschools were havens for satanic ritual abuse, and recognize the irrationality of those beliefs.

(link) [Rocky Mountain News]

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