On Zealous College Students
“You should always try to make friends, but there are certain things about religion that can’t be tolerated,” Gress said. “Basically, the intolerance of religion can’t be tolerated.”
The above quote illustrates perfectly why socially and politically active college students are so easy to dismiss en masse. They really are that naïve, and their opinions and arguments generally aren’t well formed or even coherent. In their zeal they often lose sight of logic, and give themselves over to extremism without even listening to the words coming from their mouths.
This happens with atheist, religious, and political groups all the same. And while it’s tempting to ignore all college-aged activists, it’s also very important to note that they can generally afford to be more radical and more easily mobilized. Whether that’s to fight a war, elect a president, join a cult, or overthrow a government, it’s important to understand the power of a group with very little to lose but their own lives. Pair that with a sense of invincibility and you have a force capable of altering history. You also have a force capable of making paradoxical arguments without even realizing it, and without advancing to more productive discussions such as tolerating hypocrisy, how intolerance and civil liberties combine, or a government’s role in a pluralistic society.
(As always, I will categorically deny being any different from the average college student, both now and in the past. These are only my thoughts on the matter, and isn’t a critique of any specific worldview.)
