I cannot fucking stand Trump supporters (almost wanna pit this). Their inexcusable fucking ignorance, fear, and gullibility is, as far as I’m concerned, the most frightening cultural/political phenomenon I have ever beared (bore?) witness to.
Their hatred is making me invoke hatred, too, albeit right back at them, though.
So if I’m expressing hate at a particular group, I’m guessing that falls under the definition of bigot.
But really, though?
Is it possible to be intolerant of intolerance?
Great minds have already weighed in on this question.
Sure, I just wouldn’t call you “tolerant” (and it’s probably hypocritical)
Would you call someone who is bigoted against bigots a bigot?
According to many conservatives, yes - being tolerant means allowing bigots to say and do what they want.
I try not to call people bigots. I think it’s a word that gets tossed around too much on this message board. Sort of like “racist” in more general political discourse. Overused and under-understood.
No.
Our entire concept of bigotry and sex/race/whatever-ism is centered on the idea that you don’t hate someone for something that is beyond their control and does not ultimately effect their decisions. We are, after all, supposed to judge not by the color of skin but by the content of their character.
A person who supports Trump has revealed the content of their character, and it is repugnant. Of practically any other candidate (except maybe Cruz) I would be willing to say that I respect their opinion even if I disagree with their conclusions. Trump is increasingly demonstrating that he is not just wrong on the issues, but actually a menace to the security of the state. Anyone who agrees with him is making a conscious and willful decision to buy into the politics of hate and - more importantly - is rejecting the very idea that reasoned debate is a useful tool for resolving our differences.
That reflects very poorly on the content of their character, as far as I am concerned.
Eddie,
I volunteer as tribute. I’ll be your Trump-supporting stand-in. Go ahead and focus all your rage and hatred on me. I hope Trump beats Clinton.
ETA: and Chihuahua, I’m actually a Cruz supporter.
Let me clear that up for you.
Bigotry: hating people for the intrinsic qualities of their humanity. Hatred because of race, gender, ability or disability, ethnicity, and so on is bigotry.
Not bigotry: hating people for the actions they choose to do and the words they choose to speak.
Hating white people: bigotry
Hating people because of their words and actions: Not bigotry
Hating white supremacists: Not bigotry
Hating people who choose to support a white supremacist Presidential candidate when he hints that assassinating his rival is a good idea: Not bigotry
Which is not to say that hating people is a good idea. Hate leads to anger which … leads to … something, I forget. I don’t recommend hating anyone, if possible.
But identifying bigotry is not at all a confusing subject, for rational adults.
I disagree about judging people personally based on politics. From my time in the Navy, I learned to judge people by the “shipmate test” – whether someone is willing to risk themselves for others. I didn’t see combat, but I did go through some dangerous incidents (most notably an at-sea collision), and in my experience political beliefs had no correlation with one’s performance in the shipmate test – both liberal and conservative sailors were equally willing to risk themselves to help and save others, no matter the affiliation or even friendship of the person in question.
Outside the military or similar environments, I’d say a similar kind of test would be a stop-to-help test… if someone is injured or in need of help on the street, who stops to help them? So far I haven’t seen any evidence that liberals or conservatives (or even Trump supporters!) are more or less likely to stop and help someone who needs it.
Some Trump supporters are bigots and some are assholes for various other reasons. But some are probably just ignorant, or have wildly different understandings of the world than I do. I’ll certainly challenge and criticize them, but unless they express bigoted (or otherwise unacceptable) views, I won’t judge them personally based on their political beliefs, and I encourage others to do likewise.
lol kinda hard to focus one’s rage and hatred on a stand-in.
Do you have, say, an orange wig, or something? Can you imitate him well?
So hating Muslims is not bigotry? Religious belief is a choice, not an intrinsic quality.
That’s still a tad fuzzy for me. Do you consider religion an “intrinsic quality of [one’s] humanity”?
No and no. I’m sure to be a terrible Trump impersonator, but I thought you were mad at Trump supporters. I’m a white male, so I’m a dead ringer for a Trump supporter.
Where does religion go among these categories? Religion is a choice.
Edit: **Scr4 **beat me to this question.
For that matter, some people choose to change their race, gender, and sexual orientation too, so they’re not exactly immutable these days either.
How is religious affiliation different from political affiliation? We can’t hate Muslims but we can hate Republicans/Democrats?
I’d put it this way: bigotry is hating someone for their self-identity. In most cases, that self-identity isn’t chosen, but in some cases, it is. Religion is an example: many of not most people do not actually choose their religion, but are simply born into it - it takes a conscious act of will to abandon that self-identity, and many do not even if they don’t believe in the supernatural at all (it is perfectly possible to ‘feel’ Irish Catholic, or Ashkenazic Jewish, even though your ‘choice’ is to not believe in any gods whatsoever).
Now, no doubt one can nit-pick that some people self-identify as serial killers, so is it bigotry to hate them? Sure, some ‘self-identities’ are inherently loathsome. But the definition tends to work as a generality.
Maybe, but you can’t curse at them - you can only recurse at them.
I bow.