Sociologists and anthropologists bemoan the demonization of “the Other,” a process often attributed to imperialism, racism, sexism, or any instance where oppressive, powerful forces are bent on justifying the subjugation of certain groups. Lately, it seems that certain groups in America are mentally classifying a new, mysterious “Other”—and if you’re not a doctrinaire liberal with doctrinaire stances on certain social issues, you’re likely a part of it.

We’re now sadly familiar with the shunning that surrounds the issue of gay marriage: Just last week, a judge suggested a mind-boggling $135,000 fine for an Oregon family who refused to bake a cake for a lesbian wedding. But the net is cast far wider than that. 

Last week, speaking at a Women in the World Summit in Manhattan, Hillary Clinton declared that “deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs, and structural biases have to be changed” when it comes to issues such as abortion. Really? That’s kind of a big deal, is it not? She sounds like she’s on the Totalitarian Side of History! One can practically see the cartoon caricatures of primitive, benighted Christians skulking around in Ms. Clinton’s mind, clinging to their religion and their silly respect for inconvenient human life: that pesky Other, always getting in the way of progress. 

The “right side of history” crowd, it seems, views the future from a higher level than the rest of us—and their vantage point comes from the lofty driver’s seat of a giant, marauding, proverbial bulldozer.