Alright, so in light of this Duck Dynasty BS, I've had a few thoughts about the nature of bigotry, hatred, intolerance, etc. and its cultural acceptability.
This is, I think, a thornier issue than people are interested in making it. Let's first break this down into its fundamental perspectives so that we're not getting muddled with intersecting definitions.
Legal:
This is really the most cut-and-dry of the perspectives on hatred. Is it legal to hate people? To be intolerant of them?
The answer is "Yes, but..." with the caveat that you're not allowed to let your intolerance affect how you treat people whom you do not accept. Granted, there are some laws that specifically circumvent this legal issue, allowing for the bullying of people on the basis of religious beliefs, etc.
However, on the whole, you simply cannot treat people differently depending on whether or not you like them or their choices.
Unless, their choices directly impact the environment/people around them. Alcoholics who show up to work drunk, people who have anger management problems that come out in public, people who physically abuse others, etc. We can be intolerant of these choices because they play a direct role on the surrounding environment of the perpetrator.
Where the issue gets murkier is when there's indirect consequences to the choices we make. We don't have a sufficient legal system set up to handle indirect causation. For example, anger management problems are an issue if they affect the environment, but what if our anger management problems stem from something else? Something that doesn't directly affect the environment? What if our anger management issues stem from a personally-held racist ideology that is never revealed to the public? What if it stems from our religion? From our sexual fetish? From any other personal opinion we hold that doesn't directly sway our actions?
Is it still acceptable if it causes the anger management problems? Or are we allowed to be intolerant of it at that point?
Moral:
This one is probably the most subjective since personal morality varies from person to person. Are we allowed to be intolerant of something if it causes moral problems?
For example, the bullying of gay youths- I would pretty strictly say that intolerance causing moral qualms is unacceptable, but I cannot deny the argument of utilitarianism here. If your immoral intolerance results in a better world overall, who's to argue that your actions are not just?
Obviously, the problem here is that someone is actively making the decision for what makes the world "better." A judgment call that no one has the power to make on their own. So, we as a society have to establish what consequences result in a "better" society. This is an unfortunately complicated issue and is almost literally just an impossible endeavor based on the subjective nature of the undertaking.
This is the issue raised when we ponder whether or not it's okay to hate hatred; to be intolerant of intolerance; etc.
Is free speech inherently ethical? Or is there a line whereupon free speech crosses into immoral territory? Who decides that? How do we decide the line? Does free speech become unacceptable when it harms another person? How are we defining harm?
What if we tell someone they cannot hate? What if bottling that hate hurts them?
Is there a way to determine aggregate societal benefits like that?
Physical:
Physical intolerance is basically the one issue that we can write off right away. It only causes harm to be physically hateful to another person for any reason. This harm is nothing more than vindictiveness, isn't it? Or is there some retribution in it?
Once again, who gets to decide that? Is it based on outcomes? What if vengeance truly satisfies some people? Is it acceptable?
Emotional:
Emotional hatred is probably the one I find to be the worst. It causes the most long-term damage, but is the hardest to define or prove. It's the easiest to commit this act of hatred unintentionally. It's the hardest to see the damaging effects on others when we do.
If our hatred elicits feelings of persecution, solitude, desolation, isn't it immoral?
What if it is, again, an intolerance of hatred itself? Are people expected or allowed to feel solitude and isolation when they're not allowed to hate?
Ultimately, I think the greatest good is produced by refusing to accept hatred in general. That isn't to say hating hatred. We must understand it and its necessity, but politely decline it from entering our society, our hearts, and our minds. But that's an ideal. In the meantime, is it acceptable to fight fire with fire? Hate the hatred? Be intolerant of intolerance?
It would be arrogant to assume I know what's best. I have ideas and hypotheses, but nothing more than that.
Hatred is natural, and we must accept its existence, but we do not have to tolerate its presence when it causes undue harm. I wish I had a more solid answer than that.
Thoughts?
-
Waddles
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