Pride, “Pride,” and ***PRIDE!!***

     There are days when I feel as if I’ve undertaken the vocation of pointing out the obvious to people too distracted to notice it. Then I remember the all-important truth I learned so long ago:

     Shortly after that, it occurs to me that I’m not the only one non-gainfully occupied in doing this…whatever it is I’m doing. But what of that?

     What today parades under the banner of ***PRIDE!!*** has absolutely no connection to what commentators of yore called “just pride.” It’s really deliberately obnoxious self-assertion. Its practitioners intend to oppress others who’d prefer peace, quiet, and normality. But then, the concept of “normality” is the Prideful Ones’ chief enemy, is it not so?

     I’ve ridden this horse before, and I could hardly argue with Gentle Readers who are tired of the whole thing. That’s the point. The ***PRIDE!!*** thing is intended to grind you down. They want to make you so weary that you give up, cede the streets, the media, the schools, the marketplaces, the public squares, and all the rest of what was once the most civilized nation in human history.

     In practical terms, “civility” equates to domestic peace.

     The perverts and delusionals capering and orating in the name of their ***PRIDE!!*** aren’t actually proud in the traditional meaning of the word. How could they be? They have no achievement to be proud of. They’re defiling our public places to humiliate us, and for no other reason.

     Do you feel humiliated yet? If not, what do you suppose it will take?

     The title of this piece is deliberately obscure. It was my intent to indicate a trichotomy of meanings about the word pride, and I had no better way of kicking it off. Before I light into that, spend a moment on the different connotations of the words pride and vanity.

     Just pride is pride in one’s achievements. It’s quite all right, because it allows that others’ pride in their achievements is equally just. It’s not vanity, which consists in elevating oneself above others in an existential sense. Vanity is the capital sin: it leads to demeaning and mistreating others.

     Then there’s “pride.” This is a blend of vanity with resentment of others for not holding oneself in greater esteem. Many persons who feel ignored or excluded are afflicted with “pride.” If you strain a bit, you can almost hear such a person saying to himself “I’ll show them what’s what.”

     The ***PRIDE!!*** of the perverts and delusionals is an aggressive weapon, a campaign strategy. Those who are prideful in that sense are fully aware of their deviations from the norm. Perhaps they can’t do anything about those deviations; opinions vary and probably always will. But rather than merely resolve to “make the best of it,” to live within their condition quietly, respectful of others’ preferences and right to be left alone, they resolve to force themselves upon the rest of us. If they can, they seek to redefine normality to privilege them and their deviations. That’s the thing in a nutshell.

     Now that you’ve read the above, how do you feel about the marchers in the streets, the promoters in the media, and the agitators in the legislatures? Ready to make any further concessions to them?

     I could go on about this, and sometimes I do. But I’m recovering from a dinner party – hey, even the good ones filled with love, laughter, good food, and just the right amount of wine require a recuperation period – and I dislike to pollute the memory with too much fulminating over something I can’t personally control. So I’ll let the speaking of my mind above stand as it is.

     I hope, Gentle Reader, that you understand what I’m driving at here. Along with the opinion pieces I’ve posted here and elsewhere, I’ve written over a million words of fiction. Much of that fiction has treated with deviates and their deviations. I try to be objective. I try to be fair. And I don’t imagine that my opinions and preferences have the stature of natural laws.

     Nevertheless, there are natural laws. When we accord with them, we flourish: we grow more prosperous, more secure, and more numerous. When we flout them, we become less prosperous, less secure, and fewer in number. The process operates over generations, so it can be hard for any individual, viewing things from his point in time, space, and circumstance, to see it in operation or grasp its inexorability. As we theophages like to put it, God is not mocked.

     And that is why Pascal and I are always nattering about the death cults.

     Have a nice day.