Wendy’s Biases

Wendy McElroy’s latest column, The Culture War’s Battle of Lexington, discusses a dispute in Massachussetts between a public school and a parent over whether the school should teach his 5-year-old son about homosexuality. Earlier this year his son brought home a “Diversity Bookbag” from kindergarten, which included “Who’s In a Family?” which depicts same-sex parents alongside others. The parent complained and was eventually “arrested for criminal trespass when he refused to leave school property without an assurance of parental notification of lessons with sexual content in the future. He is now barred from school property, which precludes him from attending events open to other parents or being a voice on school committees.”

What I found interesting about McElroy’s piece was her extremely insightful and very libertarian list of “biases” or crude guidelines she employs where there is a “need to make a snap judgement” about who has the better side of a given dispute. Writes McElroy:

My preliminary bias is:

  • Against the first one to call the police (if no violence occurred);
  • Against anyone whose income depends on the outcome;
  • Against someone who attaches a broader agenda or shifts the ground of discussion;
  • For anyone who argues rather than insults;
  • For those calling for a private resolution.

My preliminary bias can easily dissolve in the presence of a compelling fact to the contrary.

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10:35 am on September 28, 2005