# Does speaking strongly against bigotry make one a bigot as well? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 17, 2008, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-speaking-strongly-against-bigotry-make-one-a-bigot-as-well/468321 "2008-10-17T02:50:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-speaking-strongly-against-bigotry-make-one-a-bigot-as-well/468321/21 "2008-10-17T16:59:29Z")
> [@Enfant Terrible](#): > > Could you maybe make it a… brownie? Not a good idea. That’s what got me kicked out of Cub Scouts. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Understander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3da27b/32.png) [@The\_Understander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Understander)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-speaking-strongly-against-bigotry-make-one-a-bigot-as-well/468321/22 "2008-10-17T17:03:50Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Not a good idea. That’s what got me kicked out of Cub Scouts. Oooooof! Yeah, that one’s gonna leave a mark. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-speaking-strongly-against-bigotry-make-one-a-bigot-as-well/468321/23 "2008-10-17T19:37:30Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > My favorite way of describing this is the “open mind” approach. > > It is best to have an open mind with respect to opinions other than your own. > > However, it isn’t necessary to have a mind so wide open that your brain falls out. It’s also ok to accept that everything is subjective and that we are walking contradictions. Instead of arguing terms with a person like the one in the OP, I would ask the question: What makes this issue regarding someone else’s life so important that you would prioritize it (even enough to spend any time thinking about it) above _any_ of the open issues in your own life? ---
**Author:** ![raindrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/74df32/32.png) [@raindrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raindrop)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-speaking-strongly-against-bigotry-make-one-a-bigot-as-well/468321/24 "2008-10-18T01:53:27Z")
> [@RaftPeople](#): > > Instead of arguing terms with a person like the one in the OP, I would ask the question: What makes this issue regarding someone else’s life so important that you would prioritize it (even enough to spend any time thinking about it) above _any_ of the open issues in your own life? Are your comments/questions about torie? Or about the woman torie posted about? Anyways, I think when you’ve ended friendships because you can’t tolerate bigotry, it’s probably because non-bigotry is a very high priority in your life. OTOH when you’re so attached to bigotry that you see it in people when it doesn’t actually exist, just so you can continue to feel justified in your bigotry, I’d say that also makes bigotry a very high priority in your life. But it makes perfect sense to me that a diehard bigot isn’t gonna blithely let go of bigotry just because a non-bigot disapproves of it… _obviously_. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-speaking-strongly-against-bigotry-make-one-a-bigot-as-well/468321/25 "2008-10-18T01:56:50Z")
> [@Enfant Terrible](#): > > Woo hoo! Cookie! > > Could you maybe make it a… brownie? 😃 That answer was so good, I’ll make brownies for everyone! 420 brownies, comin’ up! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![CutterJohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@CutterJohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CutterJohn)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-speaking-strongly-against-bigotry-make-one-a-bigot-as-well/468321/26 "2008-10-18T19:44:27Z")
Have none of you ever met a person so far gone towards the ideal of political correctness that they themselves become offensive by insinuating that some innocent comment, jest, off color joke, etc, that they happen to overhear isn’t in fact innocent, but indeed is bigotry on a level where you may as well be cutting holes in your linens and marching around campfires at night? For instance, one time in college i was discussing a movie with a friend. I called it gay, in that i meant it was stupid. A young lady nearby, a type like to refer to as a bigot bigot, heard this comment and took it so personally that she decided I was The Worst Person Ever, that I was homophobic, that I was stupid and ignorant and (heh)bigoted… Perhaps In some small ways I am bigoted, for my continued use of such words if nothing else, but this girl put my feeble bigotry to shame. That, my friends, is a bigot bigot, and it happens whenever a persons hate of bigots exceeds, by ludicrous amounts, whatever the supposed bigot feels towards whatever they happen to be bigoted against. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-speaking-strongly-against-bigotry-make-one-a-bigot-as-well/468321.md?page=1)