Just in time for Halloween, a social scare-tale is playing out across the country. Well, actually, an isolated incident has taken place with a lone crank targeting a holiday event, but still, the horror!
The impetus for change is Ron Thomas, a mental health activist whose schizophrenic son died at the hands of police years ago. What does Thomas’ tragic experience have to do with a Halloween theme park? I am not sure I could tell you. While there is a zeal to his complaints, there was little curiosity or analysis in his accusations.
Steve Lopez of the Los Angeles Timesdetails how Thomas caused Knotts Berry Farm to close its Halloween-themed amusement park, called FearVR: 5150. Curiously, Thomas expected to be offended by the theme park, yet went anyway. Now, if I find myself offended by an activity, I take action by not engaging in that activity. That is not possible for today’s social justice warriors. Avoiding offense is never an option. Banishing that activity, and preventing others from any possible enjoyment they derive from it, is the only acceptable result.
While Thomas did head over to the attraction, he never got in—the lines were too long. “Instead, he talked to people as they exited and asked them to describe FearVR. They told him they were strapped into seats as if being admitted to a hospital, and then were transported into a frightening scene of mayhem,” Lopez writes. Therefore any outrage and action taken as a result is the result of hearsay.
Read the rest at TheFederalist
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