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Which Side Are You On?
14 October 2004Two recent Revealer items are driving a lot of conservative readers to The Revealer. They're angry with what they consider bias. One item links readers to a piece by a Vancouver writer who accuses the U.S. of religious fascism; the other item, by Revealer writer Kathryn Joyce, raises what we think are legitimate questions about competing legal rights in the case of a pharmacist fired because he felt he couldn't in good conscience fill a prescription for birth control. What's interesting about the angry letters we're receiving is that they seem to assume that because we linked to the Vancouver writer, and because we acknowledge that the current legal system actually exists, we are therefore anti-American and raving abortionists looking for babies to kill. That'd be one thing coming from a few "fringe" characters; but we've seen similar, if slightly more balanced responses from conservative writers we admire and respect: Kathy Shaidle, Mark Shea, and Bill Cork. So: What gives? It'd be easy to accuse them of overreacting, but we're wondering if that's really the case. Perhaps the "culture war," which we've often suggested is a figment of media imagination, is real. Perhaps the old labor song, "Which Side Are You On?" is now more relevant than ever before. Perhaps Bush is right: If you're not "with" someone, than you're "against" them (though where this leaves Shaidle, a Canadian, we're not exactly sure). Or perhaps it's a case of hysteria. Not in the little, shrieky sense, but in the sense of a moral panic; a moment in the culture; a time when people fear enemies -- communists, or Satanists, or Salem witches -- everywhere. Well, if that's the case, it's a great day for writers! Now is our time. The Revealer's time, Shaidle's time, Shea's time. Now is when we abandon all allegiances and honor only the truth as best as we can perceive it. If it is indeed a culture war, then writers have no choice. They are either with us, or against us. Who's the "us"? Everyone who lacks access to a media forum. Everyone who wants to know what's going on but can't afford to take off time to investigate. Everyone who prefers accuracy to being "right." Everyone who thinks it's time to ask tough questions and face the possibility of uncomfortable answers. What do you say? Can we get an Amen? --Jeff Sharlet
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