OF TWISTED WORDS => “THE WRONG SIDE OF HISTORY” — PART 1

What is the worst kind of politician to give your vote? There is no simple answer, but we should be wary of the politician who:

• Spends most his time telling us awful things about his opposition (true or not).
• Explains his own positions without actually explaining anything.
• Makes it abundantly clear that he believes it is evil and stupid to oppose him. To oppose him is to be on THE WRONG SIDE OF HISTORY.

Demagogues do not appeal to logic and reason. They provoke our emotions and goad us to speak and act rashly. Therefore, we need to identify demagogic rhetoric before we allow it to goad us into speaking and acting rashly. With that in mind, let’s consider some examples of how some people use this phrase, “the wrong side of history.”

Examples of “The Wrong Side of History“

What Does it Mean to be On the Wrong Side of History? by SCOTT R. STAHLECKER tries to offer something more useful, a definition.

Being on the right side of history is all about doing what’s right. It has to do with ascribing to higher moral and ethical principles. It’s about being able to sleep at night with a clear conscious. About waking each day enthralled with the idea of leaving the world a better place than when you arrived.

It has to do with possessing a rigid moral backbone; strong ethical values; and about focusing on aspects of humanity that transcend time like compassion, empathy, equality, and justice.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/standuphumanist/2022/02/what-does-it-mean-to-be-on-the-wrong-side-of-history/

Apparently, Stahlecker thinks being on the right side of history is to be a STAND-UP HUMANIST.

In The Right Side of History, we have psychobabble. Here is how the author begins.

History tells us that, at the end of the day, there actually is a “right side of history.” For instance, most of us would likely agree on the following:

continued => https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/darwins-subterranean-world/201803/the-right-side-history

Then author, Glenn Geher Ph.D. lists a bunch of struggles with outcomes that most Americans would approve. These include:

• The end of slavery.
• Women sufferage.
• The humane treatment of animals in zoos.
• The victory of the Allies in WWII.

Since he apparently wants to be perceived as a very positive fellow, Dr. Geher uses phrase “the right side of history” instead of “the wrong side history.” What is the problem with his list? Consider the author’s conclusion.

Getting young people, the leaders of the next generation, to drop their apathetic veneer, learn the issues, take a stand, and participate actively in our government is essential in this day and age. If you want to be on the right side of history, at the end of the day, I say this: Building the next generation is the key.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/darwins-subterranean-world/201803/the-right-side-history

Not one of the struggles that Dr. Geher lists is actually over. We are still fighting over slavery, women’s rights, cruelty to animals, and human rights. Most of the world is run by tyrants, and many of our own political leaders are determined to corrupt the education of our children. Are public schools supposed to teach our children reading, writing, and arithmetic, or are our public schools supposed to make Liberal Democrat Marxist political activists out of our children?

In Billy Graham was on the wrong side of history, Dr. Matthew Avery Sutton offers us this “shocking” conclusion.

When Billy Graham stands before the judgment seat of God, he may finally realize how badly he failed his country, and perhaps his God. On civil rights and the environmental crisis, the most important issues of his lifetime, he championed the wrong policies.

Graham was on the wrong side of history.

The world’s most famous evangelist let his apocalyptic anticipation of the coming kingdom of God blind him to the realities of living in this world.

For Graham, the Bible had a clear message for Christians living in what he believed were humans’ last days on earth. Individuals alone can achieve salvation; governments cannot. Conversions change behaviors; federal policies do not.

Continued => https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/21/billy-graham-wrong-side-history

What exactly did Billy Graham do to put himself on the wrong side of history? He did not preach the Social Gospel. Why not? It isn’t Biblical. It is Statism. That is, the Social Gospel so twists Christianity that it becomes the worship of the state.

(Author’s note: I wrote a series on the Social Gospel. Here is the last post in that series, WHAT WOULD JESUS DO? / WHAT DID JESUS DO? – PART 5. That post has links to the rest of the posts in the series.)

Those backing Russia are ‘on the wrong side of history’: Ukrainian minister reports that Ukraine’s first deputy foreign minister Emine Dzhaparova believes that not backing Ukraine is being on the wrong side of history.

New Delhi: Ukraine’s first deputy foreign minister Emine Dzhaparova said on Tuesday that those backing Russia in the Ukraine war are “on the wrong side of history” and Kyiv plans to launch a counter-offensive in spring to create the grounds for fresh negotiations to end the hostilities.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/ukraine-to-launch-counter-offensive-in-spring-urges-india-to-take-a-pragmatic-approach-towards-russia-s-invasion-101681236040004.html

Dzhaparova’s use of the phrase “the wrong side of history” sounds trivial, but on behalf of the right side of history our leaders have spoken and acted rashly.

• They have given Ukraine about $200 billion in total military, financial and humanitarian aid (see US leads the rest of the world with $196 billion given to Ukraine amid war with Russia), and we have not tracked how well this money has been spent. It is not even clear what we expect to get from this enormous expense.
• They have caused our two greatest enemies to combine forces. Russia has turned to the Chinese Communist Party for aid.
• They have provoked Russia to respond with threats of nuclear war.

Arguably, when we spent all that money and used up all those armaments, we just made a bad situation worse.

Republicans Are On the Wrong Side of History–and Everything Else! by Dr. Dan Brook uses the phrase “the wrong side of history to explain the difference between Conservatives (Republicans) and Progressives (Democrats).

Republicans are on the wrong side of history–and everything else–and conservatism is a dead end.

So-called conservatives are actually regressives and reactionaries, pushing us down to a worse state of being. Republicans are conserving little beyond their own wealth, racism, sexism, and homophobia, while eroding American democracy, health, and the environment. Progressives, in contrast, have brought us forward to a better world and continue to do so. Progressive ideology and action is what makes America as great, civilized, and advanced as it is, despite its continuing shortcomings, which progressives seek to repair.

Continued => https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/05/11/republicans-are-wrong-side-history-and-everything-else

Dr. Brook uses California as his example of a Progressive Utopia, but people are evacuating that Democrat monopolized state and headed to states run by Republicans. So, we have wonder what Brooks makes of that, but that “wrong side of history” article was his last on the Common Dreams website.

Note that in all these examples, each of the people using that phrase, “the wrong side of history,” is well educated. Yet these people are not demonstrating a good grasp of the principles of logic. Why is disagreeing with them the same as being on the wrong side of history? Who is this person named “history” they are talking about? How does “history” render a judgement? Why should we take the judgement of “history” seriously? When does “history” render a judgement?

To Be Continued

• Part 2: The Origin, Meaning, and The Ambiguity of The Phrase: “The Wrong Side of History”
• Part 3: Malapropism — The Foolishness of Using The Phrase: “The Wrong Side of History”

This post is one of the “OF TWISTED WORDS” series. For a list of “OF TWISTED WORDS” posts, see OF TWISTED WORDS => FEMINISM – Citizen Tom.