The author of this article used to be an atheist social justice warrior. As a liberal who spent twenty years in “the SJW Cult,” Smith offers firsthand experience on the Social Justice Left and its growing influence in mainstream culture. She walked away from that ’cult’ mindset (her words) four years ago, returning to God in the process. She refers to herself as pro-choice at this time but is open to the pro-life (biblical) position, which I believe she will adopt soon. Keri is not an Adventist, she attends church in Austin Texas. Her reflections on human rights and government mandates are thought-provoking, especially as they relate to abortion and mask mandates. At a minimum, this article (which first appeared in Medium) questions the intellectual honesty of Adventists who claim to be pro-choice and are yet pro-mask mandate. Disclaimer: Fulcrum7 is solidly pro-life.
“I will never understand the kind of person who claims to be pro-choice when it comes to abortion, because they say they believe in bodily autonomy, but then demonstrate that it’s not true when it comes to the government forcing people to wear masks. There is zero intellectual honesty or consistency to be found in this kind of person.
My Position
I’m pro-choice. I have been for my entire adult life. And that comes with caveats (I don’t believe third trimester abortion should be legal, and I don’t believe abortion should be legal once the baby can survive outside of the womb — a date at which medical science keeps pushing earlier). I know that many Christians disagree with me. I understand why they do — there is a long overdue conversation I want to have with Samuel Sey about this very topic. My mind is open to being challenged on it.
But my sticking point, as I see it, is that I don’t believe the government should have a right to dictate what a person does with their body. I believe in bodily autonomy to the point where I think abortion should be legal, though I now find it immoral. There are plenty of things I find immoral that I think should be legal.
This is where personal responsibility and personal ethos comes in, instead of government edict. I think we oftentimes look for political or legal solutions where we should instead find cultural and personal ones. We need to change the way people think about abortion so that it’s not sold to us as no different morally than having one’s tonsils removed (and trust me, that IS the way it is being sold to us now). I know my position is at odds with many whom I respect. I understand they disagree.
Which leads me back to the unprincipled pro-mask-mandate Covidians who *claim* to be pro-choice.
How is it that one can claim to be so thoroughly committed to the principle of bodily autonomy without government intervention that they will support abortion — which necessarily ends a human life, by definition — but then throw that supposedly strong belief in bodily autonomy without government intervention into the wind when it comes to the government forcing one to wear a mask? This kind of person prioritizes blind, unthinking tribalism above principles.
They are so thoroughly *followers* that I doubt they’ve ever thought a great deal about their own opinions or positions, for surely it would have led them to their glaring lack of intellectual honesty and consistency. I don’t know what to make of this kind of person other than to think of them as sleepwalkers.
They are such ‘followers’ of tribalism over principles that they assume everyone must be like they are, and they project their own way of being in the world onto others. When they find that I am opposed to mask mandates, they invariably incorrectly assume I am anti-choice. **Because they think in terms of tribalism.**
They incorrectly believe everyone else does as well. These are intellectually weak people, which has nothing to do with IQ.
I am reminded here of the Asch conformity experiments, which indicate that about 75% of people are *followers* in this way. Whether they are followers of one particular tribe or the other doesn’t matter. They go with their tribe rather than seeking truth or trying to figure out what principles they believe in and hold those as most important, consistently.
They’re not “pro-choice.” They’re “pro-whatever-position-I-think-my-tribe-is-taking-on-this-issue-even-if-it’s-not-consistent-with-my-stated-beliefs-and-makes-me-into-an-unthinking-hypocrite.”
Don’t be one of them. Interrogate your principles, beliefs, and values. Try to see if you’re consistent or a hypocrite depending on what your “tribe” says. Live your life as Jordan Peterson encourages: “Tell the truth, or at least don’t lie.”
And, may we add, go to the Word of God to find truth, and finding it, hold it forever.
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Keri Smith is a self-confessed former professional SJW (social justice warrior). She worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade as a talent manager and producer for comedians. In her own words, she was 'brainwashed by the cult' more than 2 decades ago but she's finally come to her senses, found God and is seeking to make the world a better place for real. Listen to her podcast Escaping the SJW Cult on Amazon. Keri is also one of the hosts of Unsafe Spaces, and a frequent contributor there.