Do bigots deserve compassion?

Agreed, that's the way society taught them to be since they were childs. So yeah, i think they need compassion and also (a lot) of patience.

 

I'm gonna be honest. I didn't read through everyone's comments. In fact, I skipped the second and third page altogether. Why? Because I can't be bothered enough to read through the expected debates going on in these pages. All I came for was to answer the question simply.

Do bigots deserve compassion?

Yes.

Everyone deserves compassion.

I'll give one example, and only one. Then I'm done here.

When Saddam Hussein...died. People were celebrating. They were running out into the streets, throwing parties, singing praises to God, thanking Him for all that they were that this man was killed finally.

I understand how one can feel immense relief when an end to terror is met, but to rejoice in the loss of a human life, no matter how unsatisfactory that life was....that is something less than humane. Natural for many, I suppose, but I cannot fathom that kind of .... It just really gets me.

Bigots, their bigotry, it's the same. Yes, they try to hold us down, they cast us out, and in such cruel ways at times. But to spare them compassion...it's only going to hurt us more in the end.

 

I'm speaking in reference to only homosexuals. People who are educated have a deeper understanding of something than most other people. For instance, I've spent a long time learning about Islam (including reading the Koran) and how it spread throughout the near east and middle east and I've decided that I hate the religion. I've spent time learning about the rise of North Korea and have decided that I want the entire country bombed. I understand them. I am educated on them. I still hate them. However, you'll still consider this consider this bigotry. Do I need to be educated more about Islam by reading the Koran and more history books and more about North Korea by reading more history books and visiting the country or is my 'intolerance' a matter of emotions and ethical values?

And how would someone be educated to learn that blacks aren't inferior to whites?

 

I agree with a lot of the above posts. I think usually bigots are ignorant of facts. I cant stand to be in their company very long. Its hard for me to tolerate them and take the crap that spills from their mouth. They are frequently uneducated, close minded people and many times they base their nonsense on religion or something else. I usually try to remove myself before I open my big mouth and let them have it. sorry..no patience for it at all.

 

I agree with you that it takes more than a lack of knowledge to develop hate for something. To say that is getting dangerously close to saying that hate is not something that intelligent, well educated people can feel. That it is a problem that only strikes the less intelligent and less educated. I don't buy that. Smart people, informed people, they can hate.

Its the lack of compassion, the lack of empathy, that leads to hate. Humans have come up with so many reasons to divide ourselves, build walls to keep each other away, and to go to war and kill each other. But at the foundation that all those reasons are built on, is the inability, or the unwillingness, to see the other as human. We dehumanize our enemies, we make them into this "other" so that when we kill we dont have to feel so bad about killing them.

You saying that you think North Korea should just be bombed, it doesnt show your lack of knowledge about their history, their political system, or anything else. It shows your lack of empathy and compassion for all the people who would be murdered by a bombing on a massive scale. All the every day people who think, feel, dream, struggle, cry, hope, call in sick for work when they really arent sick, live, love, hate, eat, shit, and piss. Just because you dont like something about their politics or their culture or their history or whatever it is that makes you think bombing them would solve something. It shows that you might be unable to see that just like in the USA, or the world for that matter, most of North Korea probably has no fucking clue what the leaders of their country are doing, and basically just want to live a good life and then die when theyre old.

Its a far more frightening thing to view hate as a result of a lack of empathy rather than a lack of education. You can learn knowledge. But I'm not sure that a person who lacks empathy can ever be taught it. At least not as easily.

 

Well, first of all, it's clear that you generalize and are fairly brutal in that you would rather all North Koreans die rather than be liberated and hopefully brought out of their brainwashed culture (or at least have their children brought up in a free society). As for Islam, I dislike the religion too, but I do not dislike the people that follow it simply because they do. If you hate Islam but don't hate all Muslims, that is valid. If you hate all Muslims simply because of their religion, you need to be educated in that all Muslims are not some hivemind fundamentalist bloc. As for North Korea, you apparently need to learn that there are actual people there, not all robots to the Kim dynasty.

As for your second question, there is plenty of biological resources revealing that there is no significant difference between the average intelligence levels between the races, and that many people are way above or below the averages in all races.

It appears that some people are taking this education to be simply a meter of intelligence, or how well one does in school. There is more to education than learning history and science. One must be educated in how people think and feel, one must receive an education from interacting with a variety of humans, and one must learn that those who are different from them are not evil or stupid. People need to learn that races, sexualities, genders, religions, and every other group are not copies of each other, but individual people, with their own flaws and virtues. Someone who has not learned these things, despite their other knowledge and intelligence, is still woefully ignorant. Add in that biology, history, and a study of modern society can refute many stereotypes and negative perceptions, I think it fair to say that ignorance is a huge factor in hate.

Furthermore, not all learning is in tolerance. Babies are not bigots, they are usually taught various forms of bigotry from their parents or culture. Like I stated previously, most forms of bigotry have deep cultural roots, and aren't simply reasoned out of thin air.

 

I will give someone compassion when they ask for forgiveness for their bigotry. The first step towards fixing a problem is admitting you have one. After someone admits that their hatred of others is a problem and seeks help I will then offer my compassion. Otherwise I will merely tolerate their existence and defend myself when attacked. It would be great if everyone would listen to reason; but with willing ignorance and indoctrination to bigoted teachings that reality will never be possible. Someone can say that they will have compassion in hypothetical settings; but "practicing what you preach" when someone is in your face dehumanizing you is another story.