Where does bigotry come from?

[Unlabeled]

Just kinda free thinking out loud as it were. Semi-rhetorical.

When they were agureing against same-sex marriage was it that those in opposition actually didn't like homosexuals and wanted to deny them what they themselves have just to be mean? Or was it more they opposed the paradigm shift SSM represented?

Few people like change. If we know change is coming we may oppose it, feel stressed about it, etc. But once the change has occured don't most of us quickly adapt and move on? I can't stand impending change, but adapt almost instantly and never look back. I'm sure many of the same sorts of arguements were used back when interracial marriages were being made legal. But we moved on and now almost no one (worth speaking of hehe) opposes it.

Is it the thing, or the change itself that results in people opposing things?

[knout]

(hot box material following)

monotheistic religions. Yup, they try to impose rules made up millenias ago so change is not very welcome.

[Literary X]

From where does bigotry come? Ignorance.

[Unlabeled]

From where does bigotry come? Ignorance.

Might be oversomplified. I may not know about somethign yet know it exists but don't then feel bigoted about it. Like as a Jew I know Islam exists but having only ever had positive experience with Muslims don't feel bigoted about them despite not knowing a heck of a lot about the religion or culture. I get the feeling I"m expected to, but until one kicks me in the shins bigotry and hate aren't my default positions.

[Literary X]

From where does bigotry come? Ignorance.

Might be oversomplified. I may not know about somethign yet know it exists but don't then feel bigoted about it. Like as a Jew I know Islam exists but having only ever had positive experience with Muslims don't feel bigoted about them despite not knowing a heck of a lot about the religion or culture. I get the feeling I"m expected to, but until one kicks me in the shins bigotry and hate aren't my default positions.

I'm not saying everyone who is ignorant is bigoted, but everyone who is bigoted is ignorant. For instance, my family doesn't really "get" transsexualism. They know what I tell them, but they can't relate to it. They don't understand why I need to transition, but they understand that I do. They can't teach the proverbial "trans 101," but they aren't bigots. They support me. Transphobes, on the other hand, are bigots. They hold the beliefs that they do because they are ignorant of what transsexualism is. That's why I believe in educating people as much as possible, but maybe I'm just an idealist.

[Unlabeled]

From where does bigotry come? Ignorance.

Might be oversomplified. I may not know about somethign yet know it exists but don't then feel bigoted about it. Like as a Jew I know Islam exists but having only ever had positive experience with Muslims don't feel bigoted about them despite not knowing a heck of a lot about the religion or culture. I get the feeling I"m expected to, but until one kicks me in the shins bigotry and hate aren't my default positions.

I'm not saying everyone who is ignorant is bigoted, but everyone who is bigoted is ignorant. For instance, my family doesn't really "get" transsexualism. They know what I tell them, but they can't relate to it. They don't understand why I need to transition, but they understand that I do. They can't teach the proverbial "trans 101," but they aren't bigots. They support me. Transphobes, on the other hand, are bigots. They hold the beliefs that they do because they are ignorant of what transsexualism is. That's why I believe in educating people as much as possible, but maybe I'm just an idealist.

Can't we be bigoted about things we know about? Not overly fond of people who want their particular religion or religious interpretation to be implmented into civil laws and one could say I'm thus bigoted against them. I don't like, but not because I don't know them. On the contrary the fact I do know them is WHY I dont liek them. :)

[Member54880]

Having a narrow idea of what people should be, and unwillingness to accept anyone who strays from it. As it was mentioned, not all ignorant people are bigoted, since some ignorant people are willing to learn, but bigotry involves willful ignorance. It also involves a dislike of paradigm shifts that lead to more acceptance of the people who stray from their ideal.

[praetorius]

Bigotry is aided by ignorance, but, in the big picture, it is spread and magnified because it is a highly effective form of social control; nurtured and tended by parties seeking power. Creating bigotry is a proven way to create a loyal group of followers, terrified of the evil outside others coming to destroy the very fabric of goodness in the universe.

Casual ignorant bigots are encouraged by the people who benefit from their adherence to bigotry. Complex, pseudo-intellectual discourses of bigotry are developed and propagandized to the general bigot population, so that people can feel intelligent and informed and justified about their bigotry. A lightweight bigot simply has their personal opinions; an expert bigot becomes incredibly well read on a subject (within the network of literature justifying their bigotry), and can back their opinions by loads of "fact."

[Unlabeled]

Having a narrow idea of what people should be, and unwillingness to accept anyone who strays from it. As it was mentioned, not all ignorant people are bigoted, since some ignorant people are willing to learn, but bigotry involves willful ignorance. It also involves a dislike of paradigm shifts that lead to more acceptance of the people who stray from their ideal.

Couldn't agree more. Pity I can only hit Like once. :)

[chapman1491]

I think there is an element of it being a bit of both, there is a dislike of the change because people don't understand it.the difficulty is getting them to relate to something that they don't understand.

The way it is explained to people is also important, if you present someone with a militant explanation and tell them flat out "that they are wrong" then it builds a wall to their acceptance and they will resist you because they don't like the way you represent your argument as much or even more than because they don't like the idea itself. Anger only builds anger, as a reference here is a link to a CGP Grey video about thought bubbles:

[Prairie]

Hmmm. At the core I'd say that it's a combination of conditioning to see the world in moral terms (via being mistreated by people who view the world in moral terms), unfamiliarity with the people, and living an unsatisfying life. Each is essential, as people who view the world through morality can still be non-bigoted with the morality just lying dormant. Ignorance doesn't explain it because mere unknowing doesn't necessitate hatred; there has to be something else that projects the unknown as a threat.

[allrightalready]

my parents were programmed into narrow mindedness by theirs and every generation in turn did it.

people have to learn to think for themselves and most find it painful (i know my brothers simply kept to the "party line" of intolerance and hate)

[R_1]

1) Bad experiences

2) Indoctrination

3) Influences from socialization

4) Generations of influences

5) Majority is right philosophy

None of these has to come from religions. In fact, there are irreligious atheists that hates homosexual people and people of color.

[Lover Of Cats And Cake]

I think bigotry is partly about validation. People are naturally very insecure, and I guess they look for constant reassurance that the way they are is somehow the "right" way to be. And so they pick on those who are different to them because they can't stand not being completely validated in the eyes of another

[Skycaptain]

My personal experience suggests cultural exposure and education have a lot to do with it. It's more than just sexual bigotry, but race and religion as well.

As a child one of my relatives was a closet homosexual, but we all knew, so from a young age I was taught that non-cis sexuality was acceptable. However we had no non-caucasians living anywhere near us. When the first ones arrived at school they were teased and bullied mercilessly. It took education to teach such behaviour out of us.

[Someone Else]

There just seems to be a tendency for people to decide that a supposedly "different" group of "others" has personality characteristics that can be assigned to the entire whole. White people tend to understand, easily, that other whites can have an enormous variety of characteristics, but when confronted by a "strange" group, they tend to more easily assume that there is less variety, applying more easily a negative characteristic to the entire whole -- the essence of stereotyping a group.

[Rising Sun]

Egocentrism. "You aren't like me, which means that you're inferior, and therefore you deserve <insert here any punishment going from insults to complete extermination>".

Intolerance is natural, it's in our DNA. All living beings want to preserve their lineage by exterminating others. Which doesn't mean that we shouldn't fight intolerance, but the thing is that no matter how hard people fight it, it will always keep coming back.

[Artistofnoname]

These days it just seems to be used against people who don't agree with what somebody else believes, same-sex marriage for example which I do not agree with. It doesn't mean you really are bigoted it just simply means you don't endorse or condone a certain lifestyle. The true meaning of these words seem to have been lost on all of us.

[crazypimpernelfan]

You know? I sometimes think that we all experience bigotry (hatred) towards some group at some point in our lives. To pick on certain people for it... ehhhhh.... you sure you yourself never had bigotry?

Besides, I think the word "bigotry" is sooo over-used. Just like hundreds of years ago, the word "heretic" was the world's favorite word, so is "bigot" the world's favorite word today. I just don't think it's right to throw that word at people just to get them to change to your viewpoint. That only fuels ACTUAL hatred.

I don't know, maybe I'm just being very pessimistic, but this what I've seen during my lifetime.

[Tetus]

You know? I sometimes think that we all experience bigotry (hatred) towards some group at some point in our lives. To pick on certain people for it... ehhhhh.... you sure you yourself never had bigotry?

Besides, I think the word "bigotry" is sooo over-used. Just like hundreds of years ago, the word "heretic" was the world's favorite word, so is "bigot" the world's favorite word today. I just don't think it's right to throw that word at people just to get them to change to your viewpoint. That only fuels ACTUAL hatred.

I don't know, maybe I'm just being very pessimistic, but this what I've seen during my lifetime.

Two points:

1 - I think you're absolutely correct that most people tend to discriminate based on irrelevant crap: orientation, skin color, nose length, whatever. Even unknowingly, we make judgments based on crappy assumptions and grouping methods because our brains are VERY BAD at this kind of thing, which is great if you want to err on the side of caution about what kinds of things are likely to try and eat you, but less good if you tend to pay people less because they have dimples.

Just because we all do it doesn't mean it is okay. We should try to be better. Will anyone ever succeed in truly being unprejudiced? I'd be surprised. Doesn't mean you get to give up on it.

This leads to:

2 - We have a responsibility to try and treat each other rationally.

So when you inevitably slip up and do something stupid, or make a crappy assumption about someone for a dumb reason, own up to it. Apologize if it's appropriate to do so, or at least try not to make the same mistake again.

The problem with bigotry is the willful refusal to consider the idea that maybe freckles on someone's arm doesn't make them a serial killer. It's not so much the fact that they're wrong that is the problem, it's their unwillingness to examine their own beliefs.

Even MORE importantly, I could honestly care almost nothing for what goes on in a person's head as long as at the end of the day, they treat one another decently. We're not there yet, unfortunately.

[crazypimpernelfan]

You know? I sometimes think that we all experience bigotry (hatred) towards some group at some point in our lives. To pick on certain people for it... ehhhhh.... you sure you yourself never had bigotry?

Besides, I think the word "bigotry" is sooo over-used. Just like hundreds of years ago, the word "heretic" was the world's favorite word, so is "bigot" the world's favorite word today. I just don't think it's right to throw that word at people just to get them to change to your viewpoint. That only fuels ACTUAL hatred.

I don't know, maybe I'm just being very pessimistic, but this what I've seen during my lifetime.

Two points:

1 - I think you're absolutely correct that most people tend to discriminate based on irrelevant crap: orientation, skin color, nose length, whatever. Even unknowingly, we make judgments based on crappy assumptions and grouping methods because our brains are VERY BAD at this kind of thing, which is great if you want to err on the side of caution about what kinds of things are likely to try and eat you, but less good if you tend to pay people less because they have dimples.

Just because we all do it doesn't mean it is okay. We should try to be better. Will anyone ever succeed in truly being unprejudiced? I'd be surprised. Doesn't mean you get to give up on it.

This leads to:

2 - We have a responsibility to try and treat each other rationally.

So when you inevitably slip up and do something stupid, or make a crappy assumption about someone for a dumb reason, own up to it. Apologize if it's appropriate to do so, or at least try not to make the same mistake again.

The problem with bigotry is the willful refusal to consider the idea that maybe freckles on someone's arm doesn't make them a serial killer. It's not so much the fact that they're wrong that is the problem, it's their unwillingness to examine their own beliefs.

Even MORE importantly, I could honestly care almost nothing for what goes on in a person's head as long as at the end of the day, they treat one another decently. We're not there yet, unfortunately.

^^ I agree. I just think we all tend to over-use the word "bigot", when bigotry is when you're taking discrimination a LEAP too far. Just like centuries ago, the word "heretic" was over-used, when heresy was most of the time a LEAP further than what most people believed and thought at the time.

[LeftyGreenMario]

Bigotry probably comes from less-than-ideal upbringing, negative experiences, and lack of overall experiences. Bigotry is a cumilation of narrow-mindedness, lack of willingness to learn, and probably even a lack of empathy forgiveness. Bigotry is spread by brainwashing and probably denying reality, which is the willingess to remain ignorant. I can't comprehend the mindsets of the likes of homophobes, transphobes, racists, misogynists, Nazis, and others myself, but they make me want to seclude myself from the world and ponder why people like them even exist.

These days it just seems to be used against people who don't agree with what somebody else believes, same-sex marriage for example which I do not agree with. It doesn't mean you really are bigoted it just simply means you don't endorse or condone a certain lifestyle. The true meaning of these words seem to have been lost on all of us.

The problem with your argument of not agreeing with same sex marriage is that you're denying a minority group fundamental rights based on personal traits that cannot be easily controlled, and that it has no effect on your personal life. That disagreement on same-sex marriage usually comes from a flawed understanding of how homosexuality works and it does not consider the legal applications of getting married. Perhaps you don't like it, but there is no real convincing argument to outlaw it. Nevertheless, calling you a bigot is way too harsh, but I must criticize your beliefs.

One good parallel on the term abuse of "bigot" on legit critics would be the "SJW" term used by some folks in the gaming community. It stands for "social justice warrior". Originally, the term is intended for those who try to pick fights where none exists (like criticizing Mario Kart 8 for have a predominatly white roster, making the game racist), but it's coined to anyone who disagrees with a hive mindset, particularly if you're a woman criticizing how women are commonly portrayed in video games. It's been so ridiculously abused that it became a meaningless term and usually exposes you, if you use the term seriously, as a person who would get his panties in a twist over things you don't agree with.