Jonathan Haidt’s “The Righteous Mind” and the NFL Kneeling Protests

Jonathan Haidt’s “The Righteous Mind” and the NFL Kneeling Protests

I met social psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt at a Thanksgiving party and, after striking up a conversation, he gave me a signed copy of his book "The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion."

I was going to write one long book review, but I realized it's way too much to review his takes on religion, evolution, morality, the emergence of civilized societies, and contemporary politics in one piece. Instead, I decided I would write a series of distinct short essays in response.

I applied Haidt's moral matrix to the NFL kneeling protests and #BlackLivesMatter. "Simply put, if you were in a hypothetical encounter with a police officer and could choose your race for the next half hour, which race would you choose to be?"

If I got anything wrong, feel free to leave an unhinged, ad hominem attack in the comments.

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