What Bigotry Is
Bigotry is when you say,
"To have X, I must deny a portion of humanity to some group of people."
For any X.
Let me be clear. It matters which way you decide. It is much more moral to say, then, ". . . so I won't."
But this is not enough.
The truth is that all people are people. Denying that is embracing a falsehood. Embracing a falsehood does not serve you. Keeping the option open but boldly refraining from acting on it is still an act of entitlement and privilege like unto that of God; it is imagining that if you simply chose otherwise, you'd have the option to take that humanity away.
Let me also be clear on this. It matters what X is. To sacrifice others' humanity for a good cause---well, that's better than sacrificing it for money.
But it's still not enough.
All people are people. You are not the creator and the disposer of this world. You cannot take their personhood away. It is not yours to sacrifice for any cause, be it virtue and justice or the reveling in pain.
"To have X, I must deny a portion of humanity to some group of people."
For any X.
Let me be clear. It matters which way you decide. It is much more moral to say, then, ". . . so I won't."
But this is not enough.
The truth is that all people are people. Denying that is embracing a falsehood. Embracing a falsehood does not serve you. Keeping the option open but boldly refraining from acting on it is still an act of entitlement and privilege like unto that of God; it is imagining that if you simply chose otherwise, you'd have the option to take that humanity away.
Let me also be clear on this. It matters what X is. To sacrifice others' humanity for a good cause---well, that's better than sacrificing it for money.
But it's still not enough.
All people are people. You are not the creator and the disposer of this world. You cannot take their personhood away. It is not yours to sacrifice for any cause, be it virtue and justice or the reveling in pain.