Nick Clegg has been attacked this week for allegedly calling opponents of gay marriage, bigots. While I have no objection to people attacking Nick Clegg, were they right to do so?
My dictionary defines a bigot as; "a person who is prejudiced in their views and intolerant of the opinions of others"
The good old Oxford English goes on to define prejudice as; "preconceived opinion not based on reason or actual experience"
Intolerant it defines as; "not tolerant of views beliefs or behaviour that differ from ones own"
So if you oppose gay marriage on religious grounds, can that be based on reason? Religion is based on faith not reason. 'God moves in mysterious ways' where is the reason in that? You can't say 'God exists and these are the reasons why'. You tend to say, 'I have faith in his existence'. God is a belief not a provable fact.
I presume most of those huffing and puffing at being called bigots have not experience gay marriage or had any dealings with anyone who has and therefore have no actual experience on which to base their views.
If you oppose gay marriage, then isn't it fair to say its not something you are willing to tolerate? The reason being it goes against your religious beliefs.
So as much as it pains me - Clegg having gone from possible hero to total zero in my eyes - on this he could just possibly have been right!
Nigel
ReplyDeleteIntolerance (as defined by your dictionary) is often a very good thing. I wouldn't tolerate people hitting me in the street. (But does your dictionary really define 'intolerant' as 'not tolerant of...'? Unhelpfully circular if you don't know what tolerance is in the first place.)
But I'd agree that prejudice, defined as opinions not based on reason, is almost always undesirable, unless it's just a matter of subjective taste (e.g. I hate your orange curtains).
I'd also agree that religion (or at least the people who subscribe to it) often seems to fail to provide the reasons necessary to lift opinions out of prejudice.
As your dictionary defines a bigot as someone who's prejudiced AND intolerant, I'd say Clegg was right after all. But I'd invest in a better Dictionary if I were you.
Tariq
Hi Tariq
DeleteWe are talking of the Oxford English Dictionary. Which proclaims itself the world's most trusted! I quote them verbatim.
Neither I or the dictionary said intolerance was a good or a bad thing. Just that it was the opposite of being tolerant. Fortunately my dictionary defines both words. Tolerant it defines as the ability to endure. Which is what we do with Clegg!
What is your dictionary of choice?