How do you deal with bigoted people?

[Phylum]

Then once they'd cooked a bit you'd eat them, right?

[DarkHoodness]

^ Here we go again. (@ WoF)

... but I can't voice my anger unless I'm prepared to be accused of being gay, which I am not because I think I'd have a mental breakdown or something :S and i dont think my friends would be too accepting...

You need better friends, mate. Also it sounds like you need to build on your confidence and discover yourself. Being accused of being something your not, or even if it turns out that you are what they accuse you of, shouldn't be a problem if you are sure of yourself.

On topic: Some people just want to be right and win arguments even though their beliefs and perceptions are warped. People like that aren't worth dealing with since it's not as if you can change their opinions unless you feel they'll be open enough to both listen to you and take onboard what you tell them... Being confrontational with them and blaming them for all the problems in the world isn't likely to make them listen to you either (I speak from experience), so be careful.

If you're involved with them, then there isn't a lot you can do about it apart from trying to find out why they think that way and trying your best to understand and come to a compromise. Good luck to you. :S

[Abe16]

Then once they'd cooked a bit you'd eat them, right?

Absolutely. They'd make for a delicious meal.

[Phylum]

Oops. I thought you were Abe619.

Never mind.

[Abe16]

wtffffff.

[Manco]

People are not entitled to judge other people for what they do with their bodies (provided all other participants are consenting, obviously).

There is a difference between judging people and actually interfering with their decisions.

It is okay to disagree with people in favor of abortion. It is not okay to meddle with the law to prevent people from having an abortion.

[Wil]

Any piercings past an ear piercing looks gross. I'm not going to stop you doing it, but I personally find it aesthetically repulsive.

There's a difference between having your own sense of attraction and having a negative opinion of a person sporting that property. It's the latter kind that I'm talking about because that's the topic.

[moxco]

There is a difference between judging people and actually interfering with their decisions.

It is okay to disagree with people in favor of abortion. It is not okay to meddle with the law to prevent people from having an abortion.

People’s opposition to abortion is an ethical one; they have good reasons for wanting to prohibit it. On the other hand, opposition to black people or facial piercings is unfounded and although personally disliking them can’t be helped, political action against them would be a real dick move.

EDIT: What I'm trying to say is that with the anti-abortion crowd the motivation isn't "I don't like it" but "I think it's wrong".

[enchilado]

I'm a bigot.

[scrabface]

I mean people who have lived a long life tend to be set in their ways and too old to change. As long as they're not actively promoting hatred and intolerence, I think that's okay if they're family. It's not like my nana hated gay people or anything, she just didn't know how to react.

my grandmother married another guy after my grandpa. I am just pointing this out because my grandpa was super cool.
well this other 'grandpa' was always ranting about jews and gypsies and the whole family let him talk because he was old and crazy. and when I grew old enough to understand what he was talking about, I was shocked and tried to confront him and the rest of the family. but they just said, oh he went through a lot of things and he's a 'bit' crazy.
well what happened is that he disformed the minds of his grandchildren, my cousins, and now a great part of my family in hungary are actively right-winged and support some extreme ideas.

@ Laser

I always thought you meant with Devon the geological period

[AvengingGibbons]

Friends not accepting of a mental breakdown,

Really? They sound like nice people, unless I have read that post wrong.

It was a terribly confusing post from me, my bad. I meant I dont think my friends would be accepting of my sexuality. I have body image issues, I hate the way I look, I have anxiety and depression as a result of it. In my opinion, being gay is hard enough for some ppl to accept, but being ugly AND gay would just 'disgust' ppl more. It's for this reason why I say I don't think my friends would be very accepting. I can't even accept myself, that's a big problem too.

[Nate]

If someone uses 'gay' as a perjorative, I tend to crack a joke literalising whatever they said as referring to homosexuality as a way of letting them know that I disapprove. But mainly that I disapprove that 'gay' is such a lazy term to use when the English language has such a rich variety of insults.

For most other types of bigotry, (which I admittedly haven't seen very much) I generally try to confront the person and demand them to justify whatever they said. The only problem is that I find it really difficult to remain calm and debate rationally in that sort of situation

But it's the trying that's important.

It's also the letting them know where you stand on the issue.

Yes, with one further point: It's letting them know that not everyone agrees with them. Intolerance thrives in isolation.

It was a terribly confusing post from me, my bad. I meant I dont think my friends would be accepting of my sexuality. I have body image issues, I hate the way I look, I have anxiety and depression as a result of it. In my opinion, being gay is hard enough for some ppl to accept, but being ugly AND gay would just 'disgust' ppl more. It's for this reason why I say I don't think my friends would be very accepting. I can't even accept myself, that's a big problem too.

I can relate to what you're saying. With hindsight, I can see that when I was younger I was influenced by a perception (from tv, movies and porn) that gay people were all super-attractive, hard living, drug-taking, clubbing, camp-talking sexaholics with excellent fashion sense, and I really couldn't see how I fit in. It was only once I came out and met other gay people, that I realised that gay people are, in the end, people. Just like everyone else.

[OANST]

Here's how I normally deal with it: http://www.oddworldforums.net/blog.php?b=1200

[Bullet Magnet]

I think a lot of the time, arguing with a bigoted opinion is a fruitless endeavour. Somebody usually gets riled up, nobody comes away having learned something, and nobody seems to change their opinion.

When it comes to persuading people, the benefit is usually for the observers, who can be convinced or might be on a journey of changing beliefs. I've never known a public debate to change the mind of a debater, but every single debate sees audience members change their minds.

[OANST]

Or you could post really awesome comics in your blog.

[Bullet Magnet]

Not until the next time I mistakenly assume people already agree with me.

[OANST]

I think the only disagreement was whether or not the comic was any good. Which it wasn't.

[Laser]

@ Laser

I always thought you meant with Devon the geological period

The what?

[STM]

Devonian.

[MeechMunchie]

I'm a bigot.

+rep for honesty

[Varrok]

I'm not sure whether I am a bigot or not, and I don't care.

*waits for MM*

[MeechMunchie]

I don't plan to go to Poland any time soon, so if you're waiting you'll be there a while.

[Varrok]

Oooooooh

[MeechMunchie]

... The plates are empty. You didn't even care enough to make any dinner.

[Varrok]

I ate all waiting for you to come. And all others went home. And the cake was pretty big

Joe ate it

[Mac Sirloin]

My dad had/has some pretty batshit insane things to say about Zionism, Jews in general, Greeks, Mel Gibson and to a certain degree Italians. He would basically go on old hippie tangents about how Zionistic Lizard Men are going to rape our graves and that they were getting me addicted to video games through the pixels, the brighter of which he deemed 'masturbatory.' If I didn't at least grunt a non-Mediterranean sounding syllable in response he'd call up a friend and repeat everything he'd just screamed into a wall at length, once his stream of consciousness had a bit of time to ferment. He also defended Mel Gibson's right to call women 'sugar tits' at Christmas dinner one year, and just would not drop it.

So I tuned him out by becoming interested in remarkably terrible music and eating candy. This evolved into listening to slightly better music and smoking cigarettes. Someone needs to draw all of this, by the way.

[Abe16]

I still say fire is the best way to combat bigotry.

[Varrok]

Like in "fight fire with fire"?

[DarkHoodness]

I still say fire is the best way to combat bigotry.

I hate to bring up the subject of that comic which BM posted in his blog a while ago, but fighting fire with fire and being confrontational is a very, very bad way of getting those who don't agree with you to listen to you. The comic and the response to it was a good example of this.

You could have the most politically correct view ever in the history of the universe but people will infact disagree with you and go against your opinion if you yell it at them.

[Abe16]

I hate to bring up the subject of that comic which BM posted in his blog a while ago, but fighting fire with fire and being confrontational is a very, very bad way of getting those who don't agree with you to listen to you. The comic and the response to it was a good example of this.

You could have the most politically correct view ever in the history of the universe but people will infact disagree with you and go against your opinion if you yell it at them.

I was meaning lighting them on fire as a joke haha

But srs. It's hard to try and reason with a bigot. I know, I've tried. Even remaining cool and level-headed (at least for me) is a bit of a challenge because they just keep on and on with whatever they're saying. Fortunately I've never blown up on someone like that, but yes, fighting fire with fire is not a very good idea.