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Letters to the Editor

Bigotry is indefensible under all circumstances

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign stop in Hilton Head Island, S.C., on Dec. 30, 2015. A propaganda video released by the Somali-based al-Qaida affiliate al-Shabaab includes a clip of Trump calling on the United States to bar Muslims from entering the country, according to the BBC. Trump made the statement following the ISIS-inspired shootings in San Bernardino, Calif., last month. The video calls upon African-Americans to join a holy war against the United States, according to the BBC. The clip showing Trump, the BBC noted, arrives 10 minutes into the 51-minute propaganda video.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign stop in Hilton Head Island, S.C., on Dec. 30, 2015. A propaganda video released by the Somali-based al-Qaida affiliate al-Shabaab includes a clip of Trump calling on the United States to bar Muslims from entering the country, according to the BBC. Trump made the statement following the ISIS-inspired shootings in San Bernardino, Calif., last month. The video calls upon African-Americans to join a holy war against the United States, according to the BBC. The clip showing Trump, the BBC noted, arrives 10 minutes into the 51-minute propaganda video. Stephen B. Morton AP

A recent letter writer attempted to explain the meaning of bigotry in relation to "political correctness" while ridiculously comparing political correctness to "terrorism."

Free speech doesn't absolve bigotry if one's speech specifies disapproval of people only because they belong to a given demographic group of individuals.

Religious freedom doesn't automatically make one immune from being bigoted regardless of what demographic group one's religion forces one to disapprove of despite the absence of logic and reason as to why.

What truly makes a person a bigot is behavior as I explained in my May 19, 2014 letter to the editor about ethnocentrism. Although by definition, merely having an unaccepting opinion of an entire group of individuals and only because they belong to the group in question and for no other reason is indeed bigotry. Bigotry is closed-mindedness and sanctimoniousness.

It doesn't matter what group one disapproves of or why. If one is against someone else simply because they are Jewish, Muslim, black or homosexual and only because they are "one of them," one is practicing bigotry, plain and simple.

Everyone is free to have opinions and everyone is free to "disagree" about what others are or do, but if one publicly expresses negative opinions directed toward a specific group, or worse, takes one's negative opinion of a selected group to the ballot box in order to deny said group its rights, there is no denying of that person's bigotry. One's reasons as to why is irrelevant.

As an atheist, I don't believe in a God, but I don't judge others who do nor would I deny them rights based only upon their religious orientation.

Those who dislike being labeled a bigot should refrain from behaving like one. It's only a childish expression to do so.

Gerrard Wilbur

Bradenton

This story was originally published January 24, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Bigotry is indefensible under all circumstances ."

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