On the Atlanta Braves 'Tomahawk Chop'

With the Atlanta Braves in the World Series, the topic of the tomahawk chop performed at games by the fans has become a hot topic of conversation in recent days. I don't have a strong opinion on how offensive or inoffensive the tomahawk chop is. I'm not Native American, I don't know many Native American people, so I really don't feel one way or the other about it. I'm sure just like many culture issues, some within that demographic care a lot about it and some don't. But I do have some general thoughts on the discourse in a more broad sense.

I think people have every right to be offended by the tomahawk chop if they so choose. And I think people have every right not to be offended by the tomahawk chop. If MLB bans it from games, that is their right. Though, I don't know how you could ban something the fans partake in en masse. If 15,000 fans at a game break out in the chop, are they going to throw 15,000 people out of the ball park? I don't see how that would work. Nonetheless, like I said I don't have a real opinion on if it is or isn't offensive. What I do have a strong opinion about is when people stand on their soapbox and preach to someone as if their morals are superior. Morals are entirely subjective, and if you feel a certain way about something it doesn't mean you're right. People who feel that the chop isn't offensive at all and anyone who thinks so is an idiot, aren't morally right. And those who feel the chop is offensive and should be banned, and anyone who doesn't think so is callous aren't morally right either.

Whether something is offensive and whether it should be banned are two entirely different questions. Generally speaking, I'm pretty strongly against banning most things. I think open discourse and accepting the opinions of others is the most productive way to run a society. At the same time, I respect the rights of individual businesses and institutions having the right to police what takes place under their confines. 

The issue I want to focus on is the direction of discourse today. Until recent years, I was used to a society that learned to live and co-exist with people you disagreed with. We seem to be trending away from that. It becomes more and more commonplace these days, that people want to ostracize and outcast someone from society for "wrongthink." This is not how the world works. We need to learn to co-exist with those who have opinions we dislike, even despise. That's the only way societies can or will function. Anything else is untenable. When you open the flood gates of banning wrongthink, it's doesn't just stop at one or two things. Set that precedent and it can spiral out of control. For example, banning a couple books because they're offensive, as we've seen in recent news, can eventually lean to burning books by the masses.

So if you're ever at a Braves game, and you're someone who hates the chop and are sitting next to someone who loves it, or vice versa... take a moment to realize that it's okay if that person feels a different way about a certain issue and it's not the end of the world. You'll watch a ball game, go home, go to sleep at some point, wake up the next day and life will continue to go on as it always has. And frankly, you'll feel a lot better not being pissed off at yet another culture issue.