Something you see both here and elsewhere on the internet often is the decrying of "purity tests". Generally, the term refers to some sort of behavior or stance an individual or group takes, and other individuals not being happy with it in some fashion and making that fact known.
Now, I'm not going to say it isn't ever ever a thing, or that sometimes it can't be counter-intuitive to people's ultimate goals, it very well could be. The troubling thing that I see though is when the expectation of very basic good behavior or ideals is defined as a "purity test". Not being racist, or sexist, or homophobic, respecting people, these are all basic things that we should all aspire to live up to and build our society around. Especially so in the political realm, where so many candidates have troubling baggage, it makes sense to hold people accountable for their words and actions, and to expect them to show the desire and effort to acknowledge whatever they did that was wrong and to change and learn from it moving forward.
I feel like what some people may think of as a "purity test", what it really is a lot of the time is a matter of accountability. For a long time, for most of the history of this country including the present day, it has been hard to hold people accountable for their actions or words. With the rise of the internet and social media, we are now more easily able to discuss both among ourselves and directly to the people in power or public figures when something is happening that is harmful. Generally, I believe that is a good thing and is one step to helping us progress as a society, and sometimes I feel like the backlash to "purity tests" are from people who are afraid of that, due to the likelihood of them being on the "wrong end" of the "mob".
So, Era, what is your input on this topic? Do you share my belief that the complaints about purity tests are misguided, or do you think they represent a real problem worthy of complaining about?
Now, I'm not going to say it isn't ever ever a thing, or that sometimes it can't be counter-intuitive to people's ultimate goals, it very well could be. The troubling thing that I see though is when the expectation of very basic good behavior or ideals is defined as a "purity test". Not being racist, or sexist, or homophobic, respecting people, these are all basic things that we should all aspire to live up to and build our society around. Especially so in the political realm, where so many candidates have troubling baggage, it makes sense to hold people accountable for their words and actions, and to expect them to show the desire and effort to acknowledge whatever they did that was wrong and to change and learn from it moving forward.
I feel like what some people may think of as a "purity test", what it really is a lot of the time is a matter of accountability. For a long time, for most of the history of this country including the present day, it has been hard to hold people accountable for their actions or words. With the rise of the internet and social media, we are now more easily able to discuss both among ourselves and directly to the people in power or public figures when something is happening that is harmful. Generally, I believe that is a good thing and is one step to helping us progress as a society, and sometimes I feel like the backlash to "purity tests" are from people who are afraid of that, due to the likelihood of them being on the "wrong end" of the "mob".
So, Era, what is your input on this topic? Do you share my belief that the complaints about purity tests are misguided, or do you think they represent a real problem worthy of complaining about?