Columnist apparently missed the point

Jonah Goldberg missed the point of his own column, “Dangers of arrogant ignorance,” in the July 10 News-Herald.

I believe that the point of his column was to emphasize how historical ignorance is contributing to our political divide. I like the quote he included by Alexander Solzhenitsyn: “It’s a universal law — intolerance is the first sign of an inadequate education. An ill-educated person behaves with arrogant impatience, whereas truly profound education breeds humility.”

However, rather than encourage readers to seek to understand both sides of our political spectrum, he chose to emphasize angry Twitter comments.

Instead of inspiring readers to become better informed and better educated, he chose to include an example of a 20-something’s ignorance about the Fulda Gap.

He concludes with a snarky reference to Harry Potter. He professes Harry Potter has “limited utility in understanding” in a world without wizards.

I might accept that opinion, except he admits he has never read the series.

In a column about arrogant ignorance, how does a person draw a conclusion about a book they’ve never actually read?

Be careful Mr. Goldberg, your intolerance is showing. Beth D’Arcy

Euclid