Quote Originally Posted by Helena View Post
Yes, that is what I meant in large part.

But, don't ideas have consequences? And there's the tricky part, separating the notion that your idea or opinion can hurt me right now, even mortally wound me ( which results in hysterics and calling for people's heads) vs seeing where this idea, notion or opinion will ultimately lead. I think it can get pretty tangly. Because if I see where your opinion has in history led, or where it might lead, aren't we right back to being nervous about certain ideas and wanting to correct them? Nip them in the bud. Punish that idea or train of thought so thoroughly so that an example is made and people will think again before voicing that idea publicly.

Am I misunderstanding that an idea can't hurt you? No, not by itself, I understand that. But where it leads. Have I completely misconstrued part of what you were saying?
The SJW "culture" doesn't consider an idea damaging because of its predicted consequences based on history. I don't think SJW's think that far ahead (or behind). The fact that an idea opposes their ideology is enough to consider it damaging, violent, threatening, etc. Their behavior is infantile in the extreme: if you don't like something, throw a tantrum. Unfortunately, they've often been rewarded for their tantrums, so they continue to throw them. Somebody should have sent them to their room with no supper when they were three-year-olds. (The psychology is more complex than that of course, but bad parenting is a big part of the equation.)

Theoretically, if a particular opinion has ultimately caused society some damage in the past, we should be able to sit down with the persons holding that opinion, lay the facts out on the table, and present the case rationally. Then some debate could be had, and some mutual understandings reached, and a new awareness found. Bat that's the behavior of mature, well-adjusted adults seeking the truth - people who aren't desperately clinging to their half-baked opinions out of sheer ego.