Nice column by Wendy McElroy, The Bill of Intellectual Rights, advocating civility, tolerance, and respect for diverse opinions, and opposing a feminism whose “politics of rage […] depicts men as political enemies of women,” which has replaced “reasoned argument with ad hominem onslaught”. Among the “intellectual rights you should demand: [] You have the right to not care. Perhaps anorexia in America is being blamed on Calista Flockhart for the 100th time. If the topic is boring, you have the right to state, ‘I don’t want to talk about this further.'” and “You have the right to not understand something without being made to feel stupid. A feminist may be excoriating white male culture for the lack of women in Congress. You have the right to say: ‘I don’t understand. Since more women vote than men, how can men be blamed for election results?'” Another: “You have the right to form an opinion and to express it. You do not need a diploma, permission from your spouse, dispensation from the Church, or a birth certificate listing the ‘correct’ sex. Simply by being human, you have a right to reach conclusions and state them. For example, men have a right to independent opinions on ‘women’s’ issues like abortion.”
