You vet them so you can dispel them.
I've re-realized an old prejudice lately: Baptists, especially Southern Baptists. While I've only met a handful in real life that have actively pissed me off (and quite a few that were a lot of fun), the news/net/LJ is riddled with Baptists-gone-bad, especially in the realms of religious freedom, gay prejudices, and anti-science rhetoric. Every time I'm asked if I've been born again, if I've chosen Jesus Christ as my personal savior, told I'm not a real Christian because I'm a Catholic, etc, etc, it really raises my hackles. Chick tracts also raise that sort of deep-seated rage within me that most religions just can't seem to pull off.
Like a good liberal/anthropologist, I try hard to negate these prejudices. I tell myself about the positive Baptists I've known, note that I usually don't hate the individual practitioners, just the political arm of the beast, and if all else fails, I invoke the holy name of MLK.
The question always comes down to why. Why do I feel this way? Am I re-enacting some ancient battle between Baptists and Catholics, the alkies and the abolitionists? Am I just so anti-religious that I can't stand to see people who integrate religion so deeply into their everyday lives?
What do you think?
Like a good liberal/anthropologist, I try hard to negate these prejudices. I tell myself about the positive Baptists I've known, note that I usually don't hate the individual practitioners, just the political arm of the beast, and if all else fails, I invoke the holy name of MLK.
The question always comes down to why. Why do I feel this way? Am I re-enacting some ancient battle between Baptists and Catholics, the alkies and the abolitionists? Am I just so anti-religious that I can't stand to see people who integrate religion so deeply into their everyday lives?
What do you think?