Being moderate won’t fix division
When our world is as divisive as it is right now, I think more moderate positions start to look appealing. To be able to say that you “see both sides”- or better yet, to be able to constantly critique both sides can seem like the calm and rational approach.
I want to challenge the idea that defaulting to a moderate position is the right one.
On the issue of abolishing slavery in the 1800s, I wouldn’t have wanted to be a moderate. They weren’t in the right.
In the Civil Rights Era, Martin Luther King said he was most disappointed by the white moderate.
On a number of issues today, there is a side I very clearly want to be on.
Centrism for the sake of centrism isn’t a virtue. And strong convictions aren’t necessarily wrong. Trying to “see both sides” can be a good thing, but it’s no substitute for doing the honest work to know where you stand.
