The B-word
I found this in drafts -- from 2012. I don't think it's finished, but I decided to "publish" it anyway.
I was recently accused of bigotry, but not against any racial, ethnic, cultural, or religious group. Apparently, it is now bigoted to call out someone else for demonstrating bigotry. George Orwell, welcome to 2012.
It was an example of a tactic I've been witnessing more and more in our political discourse lately, particularly from the political right (there I go, being bigoted again). In a nutshell, it goes like this: If someone criticizes you, it means you are now a victim. If you can spin it so that you are a victim of the same thing you've been criticized of, so much the better.
Here's an example: In a discussion during which an attempt was made to distinguish between the tiny percentage of radical Muslims who pose a threat to Americans and the millions of American Muslims who live peacefully, a gentleman asked how we know that our Muslim neighbors aren't part of "sleeper cells," and who is funding their Imams and Mosques -- and then said that just because they aren't in armed revolt today didn't prove their long-term intent. He ended with the phrase, "Assumptions are dangerous when you have a determined enemy." (Irony, much?)
I responded that the millions of Muslim-Americans are NOT our enemies. They are our friends, neighbors, and countrymen. To suggest otherwise is bigoted, ugly, and reflects a lack of reason and of humanity. Somehow, that made ME "bigoted against people who are uncomfortable with Islam."
Well, folks, I admit it. I am prejudiced against the prejudiced. It doesn't silence me, or even faze me, to be criticized by those whose opinions I do not respect.
I was recently accused of bigotry, but not against any racial, ethnic, cultural, or religious group. Apparently, it is now bigoted to call out someone else for demonstrating bigotry. George Orwell, welcome to 2012.
It was an example of a tactic I've been witnessing more and more in our political discourse lately, particularly from the political right (there I go, being bigoted again). In a nutshell, it goes like this: If someone criticizes you, it means you are now a victim. If you can spin it so that you are a victim of the same thing you've been criticized of, so much the better.
Here's an example: In a discussion during which an attempt was made to distinguish between the tiny percentage of radical Muslims who pose a threat to Americans and the millions of American Muslims who live peacefully, a gentleman asked how we know that our Muslim neighbors aren't part of "sleeper cells," and who is funding their Imams and Mosques -- and then said that just because they aren't in armed revolt today didn't prove their long-term intent. He ended with the phrase, "Assumptions are dangerous when you have a determined enemy." (Irony, much?)
I responded that the millions of Muslim-Americans are NOT our enemies. They are our friends, neighbors, and countrymen. To suggest otherwise is bigoted, ugly, and reflects a lack of reason and of humanity. Somehow, that made ME "bigoted against people who are uncomfortable with Islam."
Well, folks, I admit it. I am prejudiced against the prejudiced. It doesn't silence me, or even faze me, to be criticized by those whose opinions I do not respect.
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