Everybody already knows about the extremist religious groups such as the Westboro Baptist Church that preach hate against gay people (amongst many other things), as well as the Neo-Nazi movement and the Ku Klux Klan that hate any of the "minority" races and religions.
Can their racism and homophobia be justified? Is the excuse that "they were born into hate" a plausible excuse?
no not at all, maybe so when they're children, children are easy to manipulate into a way of thinking but as you grow up you have more ability to think for yourself and develop your own opinions on things and the level of hate that some people display to those issues is just disgusting
I don't think they can be justified. I think it's silly that people try to make excuses for these people. We're all free to form our own opinions and beliefs. Just because you were taught to feel a certain way about a group of people doesn't mean you should. Yes, many of them have been brainwashed since birth, but that doesn't make their hate acceptable; especially the ones who commit violent crimes against the people they hate.
It really isn't plausible at all. That born into hate mess is ********. Just because you grew up around it doesn't mean you have to let it rule you. You can change, no matter how gradual the process, if you want to. To say, "oh well, it's what I was taught" is a cop out. If you don't actually experience and find things out for yourself, your hate is just an excuse to keep hating what you know nothing about.
It really isn't plausible at all. That born into hate mess is ********. Just because you grew up around it doesn't mean you have to let it rule you. You can change, no matter how gradual the process, if you want to. To say, "oh well, it's what I was taught" is a cop out. If you don't actually experience and find things out for yourself, your hate is just an excuse to keep hating what you know nothing about.
Exactly. We have a responsibility as creatures with consciousness to learn and admit when our prior views are proven wrong.
They can pretend it's justifiable but that goes hand in hand with ignorance. We can and can't blame them for what they do and don't know. Until they step out of their community's bubble, there's really no changing them.
Are you feeling guilty for being racist against me?
It really isn't plausible at all. That born into hate mess is ********. Just because you grew up around it doesn't mean you have to let it rule you. You can change, no matter how gradual the process, if you want to. To say, "oh well, it's what I was taught" is a cop out. If you don't actually experience and find things out for yourself, your hate is just an excuse to keep hating what you know nothing about.
My thoughts exactly.
That's like having two parents that hate seafood, and deciding that you hate it as well. If you don't try the seafood atleast once in your life, you'll never know if you truly hate it.
If they don't realise what they're doing is pretty wrong, then it's tough to blame them. If they're allowed to access the world around them (and quite a few of the Westboros aren't), then maybe you can.
I don't necessarily think it's as easy as saying that this issue is black and white or clear as crystal. Genetics play a pretty large role in how someone will act as they get older, even before you get into the constant brainwashing from birth. It's not easy to break the cycle of racism in a family, or homophobia. These people CAN change, but it certainly would not happen overnight, even if they wanted to change. Racism and homophobia are not justifiable, all of you are absolutely right about that. But, at the same time, racists and homophobes can't just flip the switch and say, "You know, I don't hate black people anymore!", or "Hey, gay people are alright!" It would take time. A lot of time.
Until they step out of their community's bubble, there's really no changing them.
