Current Events > Is "getting help with your tolerance" just lip service?

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Do you actually believe people who say "I want help being more tolerant of the life of others lead," or is it just a smokescreen to get the heat off themselves for being bigots?

Most bigots I run into assert that they are already perfect. Its not bigoted when I say it cause I would never say anything bigoted. The recognition that theres room for improvement is huge.

Having bigoted views but expressing a desire to learn more and change usually suggests the person is capable of actually changing. Most bigots I've known and seen just think their views are objectively correct and that everyone else is the problem.

Solid_Sonic posted...

Do you actually believe people who say "I want help being more tolerant of the life of others lead,"

I've heard people say, "I just wish these fucking freaks didn't make me so fucking angry all the fucking time", but I suspect that's not quite the same thing.

But a genuine, dyed-in-the-wool bigot wouldn't ask for help to be more tolerant because it'd be conceding that they might be wrong, and since they're never wrong, they don't owe anyone any tolerance.

If you're trying to be better, I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. That only goes so far though.

There also seems to be a divide between "being tolerant," and "being encouraging." Tolerance means "it's fine but I'm not going to say anything else on the matter," while encouragement is "you have every right to be what you want to be and live it as much as you can." Some people can't do the latter but should they try?

Solid_Sonic posted...

Some people can't do the latter but should they try?

It shouldn't be compulsory. There's no moral duty to give anything or anyone your wholehearted endorsement, and in a complex and diverse world in which people hold very different values, opinions, attitudes and beliefs -- and, indeed, deserve the freedom to hold them -- the most you can reasonably ask is that other people at least don't make their problem your problem (or anyone else's) and that they just let you live your life without hindrance and treat you fairly. That's the way I see it.