I have so much rage, I don't even know how to respond to this, "If you hate bigots, are you a bigot (by the definition)?" It's wrong, but I can't turn my knowing that into a coherent argument. :( Anybody have any ideas?
- n a person who is intolerant of any ideas other than his or her own, esp on religion, politics, or race
[C16: from Old French: name applied contemptuously to the Normans by the French, of obscure origin]
'bigoted
- adj
The reason this is such a difficult argument to refute is that in a strict reading of the definition, they're correct. It's a sort of conundrum -- comes up with 'intolerant' too, is intolerance of intolerance really intolerance?
So people who do this are using word-play to justify themselves. I'm not sure it's worth arguing with people like this at all. I mean, they've admitted they are bigots, so what's the point?
Their wordplay doesn't refute the fact that being a bigot towards bigots is a much more defensible moral position than being a bigot towards someone who's got little to no say in who they are or whose beliefs or activities don't rely on belittling others (e.g., any give black man, Jews, gays).
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bigot (ˈbɪɡət)
- n
a person who is intolerant of any ideas other than his or her own, esp on religion, politics, or race
[C16: from Old French: name applied contemptuously to the Normans by the French, of obscure origin]
'bigoted
- adj
The reason this is such a difficult argument to refute is that in a strict reading of the definition, they're correct. It's a sort of conundrum -- comes up with 'intolerant' too, is intolerance of intolerance really intolerance?
So people who do this are using word-play to justify themselves. I'm not sure it's worth arguing with people like this at all. I mean, they've admitted they are bigots, so what's the point?
Their wordplay doesn't refute the fact that being a bigot towards bigots is a much more defensible moral position than being a bigot towards someone who's got little to no say in who they are or whose beliefs or activities don't rely on belittling others (e.g., any give black man, Jews, gays).
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