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James McDermott's avatar

As Rowling's story confirms, the wrath of the righteous is the surest evidence of the evil that exists just below the surface of civil society. Intolerance of different ideas, beliefs, or philosophies underlies not only book banning, but the Salem witch trials, race riots, the martyrdom of the unorthodox, the persecution of the Jews, etc., etc. Those who are absolutely convinced of their moral correctness, their favored status with God, science, or history, are the most dangerous bigots in the world. It is not only Nazis who burn books. The progress of "Political Correctness" and the "Woke" movement is just another example of this fact.

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James McDermott's avatar

Like Abraham Lincoln, I think that rather than worry about whether God is on our side, we should be more concerned about whether we are on God's side. The most dangerous people in the world are those who are certain of the correctness of their beliefs, especially when they gather in groups.

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Jeff Cunningham's avatar

From the time I was little my father would always say, "You see an angry crowd? You head the other direction. Don't go near it," and "The IQ of a crowd is the average IQ divided by their number".

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James McDermott's avatar

Love that rule of crowd intelligence.

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Terence G Gain's avatar

The most dangerous people are those who act on that certainty.

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