Custom Search
|
|
What's In A Name (calling)
In my much used and heavy volume of Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary; bigot is clearly defined: n. a person who is utterly intolerant of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs from his own. My Webster’s is some twenty years old, so words were still clearly defined then. However, I rarely use the old Webster’s anymore; owing to the fact of it being bestially heavy and that it is far more convenient to use the dictionary application on my Macbook Pro. The handy-dandy dictionary application I use daily and it defines bigot thusly: n.a person who is bigoted : religious bigots. See note at zealot .(aw geez ok) zealot n.a person who is fanatical and uncompromising in pursuit of their religious, political, or other ideals. I had to make two stops, but we have arrived at a similar if not more explicit definition. The real fun begins when you hit the thesaurus button: n.he was denounced as an anti-Catholic bigot chauvinist, partisan, sectarian; racist, sexist, homophobe, dogmatist, jingoist. See note at zealot . (Sigh) Now we see, most of these words that are supposed to be synonymous, are not the same when defined. So bigot has become a sort of catch all word that can be mercurially used to vilify anyone; or any view that the user defines as bad. I buy only Apple computers because I like computers that work, and that I don’t have to devote time to keep them working. I spend all of my time when on a computer... working. To a PC blogger who reads this, and spends considerable amounts of his time engaged in downloading patches and security software to keep his machine working, in his frustration, I am sure to him I am a bigot, because I cannot abide PCs. Bigot is a purely emotion driven word. I find that it is most often used by people who find a position that they have taken up; is indefensible, or by people who reject the idea of absolutes. Rejecting absolutes is also a function of emotion, most often guilt. This is the reason the word bigot is so often heard in liberal diatribes and ad hominem attacks. Liberalism is rarely rational and never tolerant, but somehow to liberals, never bigoted. This is the reason the left feels perfectly justified in pillorying Barack Obama for choosing Rick Warren to deliver his inaugural invocation. And why it is Ok to call blacks who voted for Prop 8, niggers, and to storm Christian and Mormon churches hurling epithets, and to throw paint on peoples fur coats... It is all in the name of tolerance. Is it OK to be bigoted against bigots? Does being one who is perceived as a bigot make you unworthy of considerate behavior from others? Could not those who hold the minority opinion; as with the gay lobby, not be accused of bigotry towards the majority? They are certainly intolerant of those who don’t support the gay agenda, they call them bigots, not a very inclusive word. Is the use of the word bigot ipso facto an act of bigotry? This is a word, strictly speaking, not relegated only to the liberal. I for example made the statement on several occasions that if McCain had chosen Mitt Romney for his running mate I would have stayed home on election day. For me it would be worse for Romney to be vice president, than for Obama to be president. Why? Because of Romney’s Mormon faith. I happen to agree with John Jay when he said: “ Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.” A most bigoted statement. But one that I agree with whole heartedly. Mormonism is not Biblical Christianity, and I feel that if by virtue of Romney being a Mormon it is perceived as legitimate Christianity, it would promote and raise the profile of a faith that would have eternal and disastrous results for those who embrace it. This is the reason I engage the young fellows on the bicycles with white shirts and ties, and do not shun them. Yet men that I respect and in many cases agree with, Like Sean Hannity and Michael Medved, dismissed all who opposed the Romney candidacy based on Mormonism as bigots. If I ever have the occasion to meet either gentlemen, I will ask them if they believe in the concept of false religion; as both of them confess faith in religions that teach this important tenet. If they do, then they leave themselves open to another controversial word, Hypocrite. You can’t oppose abortion for faith and not reject false religion. It has nothing to do with Mormons or Buddhists or Muslims being lovely people, heck, as I’ve said before I was a Muslim for thirty years. It has to do with the truth, perhaps the most bigoted concept of all. To accept the truth, you have to be intolerant of all the untruths, big and small, even the warm fuzzy nice ones. This is a hard saying. When it comes to the gay lifestyle, Christians are labeled bigot and hateful because we accept what the Bible teaches about homosexuality as true, and we uphold what the Bible clearly teaches about marriage. If a Christian in a loving way attempts to share his faith with a homosexual he is called a hater. If I, as a Christian, truly believe what the Bible says about homosexuality, and I don’t tell you about it, that is hatred. You would never let someone knowingly engage in what you believe to be destructive behavior without warning them; unless you hated them an awful lot. It is the live and let livers that could really give a hoot about you. They are the ones who could care less if you live or die. You need to recognize that it is the folks that look at you and say “whatever” that you need to think about. When a Christian shares his faith with you, it is out of love. I am not talking about the kooks that say they are Christians and proceed to spew invective. I mean the wise as a serpent, gentle as a dove Christians who would see you live an eternal life with them. Bigot? Ain’t we all? “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Ephesians 4:17,18 Digital Publius Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com |
|