My sons are still creeped out by Pravda in the new American Soviet

So this story ran on CBS the other night.  Our son who was in the accident was home and two of the others were there.  We were waiting for Jeopardy, when this story, occupying that final slot in the newscast that typically entails some form of 'feel good or thoughtful piece', aired.

Long and short, it's about how a woman had a 'change of heart.'  The story begins by interviewing an African American woman who says that when the woman in question first moved in, she seemed nice enough.

But then, the woman hung out a Confederate Flag.  Now, by the woman's own later explanation, she did this to honor her ancestors who fought for the Confederacy.  And the story admits she did nothing other than hang up the flag outside of her house.  Nonetheless, the resulting backlash was swift and merciless.  Almost overnight, mobs gathered outside of her house to protest.  And I use the word 'mob' purposefully.  If groups from all around came to stand outside of my home and protest me, I would consider it an unfriendly mob.  She responded by hanging out more Confederate Flags.  Then her neighbors built giant walls around her house to block her house from the neighborhood (that they 'built a wall' was not lost on my sons).  She responded by hoisting the Confederate Flag on a flagpole.

And then?  A miracle.  She had a heart attack.  During recovery, she realized she had been wrong and hadn't looked at things from the others' point of view.  She was wrong to put honoring her own ancestors above the concerns of those around her.  She promptly took down the flag and handed it to one of those who had worked hardest to organize the backlash against her.  He thanked God as he took the flag from her, its ultimate destination never mentioned.

The story ended with a sweet narration in which we were told this was a small act of goodness that shows an example of people uniting and coming together at a time when our country is so divided.

When the story was done, my 17 year old immediately popped up and said, "Wow, that was creepy."  My oldest chimed in and agreed.  He said he didn't grow up in the Cold War, but he imagines that was the type of propaganda that was common then, especially in places like the Soviet Union.

After all, they immediately recognized that, even though the story wrapped up with words of unity and coming together, they meant she was wrong and was redeemed only when she had abandoned her position and conformed to the position of the critics.  They gave up nothing.  She gave up everything.

Yes, I said, that has been the right bower in the hand of the Left for decades.  For almost half a century, liberalism was able to define tolerance, diversity, unity and compromise as conforming 100% to the dogmas and policies and narratives of the Left.

Second, my boys noticed at no time was any of the tactics of her critics questioned or even presented in a way that suggested negativity.  Even when they 'built the wall.'  Everything she did, on the other hand, was presented as wrong, bad, and the cause of the problems.

Then they noticed that, even though the African American woman interviewed at the beginning said she seemed nice, and that she herself said the only reason she hung the flag was in order to honor her own relatives, the story never presented her as anything but the antagonist.

They noticed that at no time was there any possibility there could be a neutral or understandable reason for hanging a Confederate flag. The story never suggested that the woman's critics should have looked at things from her side.  There was one side that was good, and one that was evil.  And unity was achieved and harmony stepped toward when the evil side surrendered entirely to the side of goodness.   I pointed out that the crushing hammer of moral absoluteness wielded by the side that promotes moral relativity is another powerful tool in the Leftist machine shop, albeit a socially confusing one.

And yet, my boys noticed, it was all framed around this idea of a nation needing to come together and heal our divides.  How can that be?   I again explained as above, that this has been the Left's most powerful weapon; to speak of such things as diversity and compromise but really mean absolute fealty and conversion to the Left's indisputable dogmas.

My boys wondered if this is the case, could that be why we are so divided?  If one side says there is no possibility but conversion and conformity and obedience, it's possible that the other side, short of heart attacks and other life threatening moments, simply isn't going to budge, because they know there is no end to coming together that doesn't involve unconditionally surrendering to opposite side.