The New Prejudice

There is a growing movement in society. It is one of rejecting long-held traditions; of saying what used to be unacceptable should now be acceptable. Every generation wants to make a name for itself. Many new generations reject their parents' belief systems in a misguided attempt to show they are independent, smarter, or more progressive than those who have gone before. Unfortunately this can, and does, lead to new prejudices.

What is a prejudice? The Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary, 11th Edition gives this etymology: "Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin praejudicium previous judgment, damage, from prae- + judicium judgment." In other words, prejudice is a preconceived judgment or opinion. The same source continues: "an adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge" and "an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, a group, a race, or their supposed characteristics."

This week Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican United States Representative for Florida's 18th congressional district, who is currently the most senior Republican woman in the U.S. House, reportedly made this statement: "The [enter any opposing stance] bigotry spewed by this ... shill demonstrates once again that [there are] advocates of hate and intolerance."

Bigotry? Shill? Hate? Intolerance? Sounds like we already meet the criteria for "an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, a group, a race, or their supposed characteristics." "Well, maybe it was deserved," you may think. What did the individual/group in question state that showed such bigotry, hate, and intolerance? Here's the statement I found by doing an Internet search, "That matter is very sensitive, very touchy. As a Muslim, I am not in favour of it . . . it is not accepted by the majority of countries. My opinion is not in favour of this matter at all. I think it's not really acceptable by our religion, our tradition."

Did you catch any hate speech at all? Just the opposite. He said it was a sensitive matter and seemed to treat it with respect. Intolerant? He said he was not in favor of it, but later recognized that "there are some countries that allow that". Does this mean that any time we are not in favor of something, that automatically makes us a bigot? It automatically makes us a hateful person because we don't accept all ideas, or at least the politically correct ones? What kind of logic is this?

This is the new prejudice: To prejudge someone with a differing viewpoint, call them names, and label them hateful and intolerant (which is exactly how the accuser is usually acting). It is being prejudice against anyone who doesn't agree with us and label them the "bad guy" in an effort to get people to accept our views and reject theirs. This new prejudice is running rampant in our society. In every news story that deals with opposing opinions/positions see if you can't recognize it. I see it all the time in the media. I see political figures use it regularly as a weapon against the other party. It's easy to call other people names, to make a straw man argument, and to throw out unsubstantiated accusations. Usually those who resort to such things do so because they don't have a leg to stand on themselves.

So, what was this differing opinion about that resulted in such irrational hostility? Does it matter? If you really want to know, go ahead and do an Internet search based on the direct quotes I used above. You may be surprised. You may even change your mind about who you think the "bad guy" is. If you do, you just might prove my point.