FORSETH – Intolerance, ignorance and bigotry continue to be with us today

IT SEEMS LIKE THE INTOLERANCE I spoke of 5 years ago, has changed very little:

Intolerance, prejudice, ignorance, bigotry, injustice  … all of these are nothing new.  They have blemished our past, and they continue to blemish it today.

Through-out time there have been wars fought, and arguments have raged, over perceived superiority.  And there’s no finite end to a list any of us could create, as to what that superiority might be based on.

Sadly, it continued over this past weekend when an individual stated, “Awwww… this is just so TERRIBLE! How could they do such a thing! Sniff, sob…“.  It was in response to a story in the Vancouver Sun about a Pride rainbow sidewalk in White Rock being defaced with swastikas.

The comment disappointed me and so I responded by saying, “As far as I’m concerned, the vandalism was disappointing enough … swastikas however says this is the work of an individual with a sick mind.”

I won’t repeat all of the responses to that, but here’s just two of the facts(?) I was enlightened with:

“… the swastika was a good luck symbol in some cultures” (which is true although these days it has an extremely negative connotation)

“… being ‘disgusting and sick minded’ perfect definition for the lgbt”

For one reason or another we have used, and continue to use, all kinds of horrendous and thoughtless expressions to demonstrate our prejudices.  In the weekend exchange, for instance, one individual went so far as to indicate they believed people in the LGBTQ community are all pedophiles.  Sort of like all Italians are in the Mafia …  all Arabs and Muslims are terrorists … all Germans are Nazi’s … all people from the South are hillbillies … all Irish people are drunks and eat potatoes.

You get the picture.

I attempted to explain to those who were slinging these insults, that at another time they themselves could have been the recipient of insults, just as ugly, not only due to their ethnic background, but also for a host of other factors.  To that I was informed, ‘all those words are racial slurs, and not at all comparable to LGBTQWERTY.’  In fact, one went on to say:

“Race is usually an identifiable trait most of us can objectively see on another individual, whereas you only know if someone is gay is if they decide to tell you …. there’s no clear evidence that LGBTQWERTY folks are ‘born that way’, but even if they were, there is a difference between having a predisposition and a predetermination to act out accordingly…

“As to your other assertion that knowing someone close to you being gay, or whatever else should alter your view, well that’s just admitting you’ve lost your ability to be objective in the face of an emotional attachment of some kind. Our emotions will control, and destroy us, if we let them. That’s why society needs value systems and structures that in the very least, don’t defy nature.”

The words being expressed, were about intolerance, prejudice, ignorance, bigotry, injustice.  And they continued.

“The liberal-Left often finds reasons to justify ‘civil disobedience’, so what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. I’m just impressed there seems to be growing blow-back against PC culture and an increasing awareness that compelled tolerance and acceptance are being forced on the majority by these cultural Marxists.”

Seriously?  I thought we had long ago left the Middle Ages!  Apparently not.

Inter-racial marriage … not believing the world was flat … putting forth the notion that women should be allowed to vote … that beauty shouldn’t be defined by skin and hair colour.  When first broached in their day, all of these things would have, ‘heaven help us’, brought about the … catastrophic upheaval of  __ insert the ethnic group, gender, or organization’s __  rightful place in the order of things.

Intolerance, prejudice, ignorance, bigotry, and injustice.  Apparently even now, those thoughts continue to filter through society.

In Kamloops, I’m Alan Forseth.  I hope you will take a moment to share your thoughts, on what I’ve had to say, in the ‘Comment’ section below.

Alan Forseth is a Kamloops resident. For 40 years he has been active, in a number of capacities, in local, provincial and federal politics, including running as a candidate for the BC Reform Party in the 1996 provincial election. He more recently was involved in the BC Liberal leadership campaign.