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Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps, for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are and what they ought to be. — William Hazlitt

Everyone loves to hate bigots. It is the sign of forward-thinking individuals. Proof that your world view is more inclusive than the narrow-minded fanatic who has merited your dislike.

Bigots, by definition, are closed to ideas. But that is not why I hate them. I hate them because they are closed to ideas I am open to. Everyone is closed to some ideas. Many are repulsed by the idea of same sex relationships. I can’t stand scatology (humour with references to excretion). I am closed to those ideas. I am a tiny little bigot living in a little reason-proof zone of my own.

The other bigot just happens to believe in something outside of my belief system. In addition, he hates me. Ideally, I would want him to open to the fact that I am doing nothing wrong. More importantly, I am not in his way. But have you thought about the inherent problem in this?

Opening to an idea means either actually changing one’s belief system or acknowledging the conflict as something that must be lived with. In other words, the bigot either stops speaking his mind, or he… becomes me. I don’t want the bigot to stop speaking his mind. That’s just cruel.

This way, even at its tolerant best, the world would only be living a compromise. It would be a peaceful world, but it would not be a healthy world. We would shut up some bigots, ‘reform’ most of them, and end up with a world full of photocopies of ourselves.

How about if we switch off the good-bad/acceptable-unacceptable indicator? Stop being judgemental? I understand taking the world at face value is easier said than done. But I would tell you what works for me. I get rid of tags like modern, old-fashioned, religious, weird, freaky (yes, adjectives mostly).

So upon seeing a man preaching intolerance, you would say straight-facedly, “Look, a man preaching intolerance,” instead of getting animated and saying, “Bloody bigot.” Being literal helps.

Of course, this would seem like encouraging apathy and urban numbness (we really don’t need more of that). So you would need to draw a line. I draw it right before damage. Let nothing less than actual damage hurt you. Sticks and stones.

In many cases, you are assumed dumb. Sometimes, you even seem deliberately annoying. But trust me, the peace of mind that comes with it make it all worth it. And you don’t become apathetic. Your mind is better able to focus on problems. It stops reeling in violent thoughts and actually starts thinking of solutions. Solutions are good, right?

Of course, this goes for the other bigot as well. But he probably won’t listen. However, if you feel obliged to do more than just whine, this will probably help.

Posted on Tuesday, May 15th, 2007 at 3:17 pm and filed under theory, essays.

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