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Do bigots deserve compassion?

Discussion in 'Current Events, World News, & LGBT News' started by Pret Allez, Feb 26, 2013.

  1. Pret Allez

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    Read the article, almost threw up. Not really sure why we're supposed to feel compassion for demicidal maniacs who want us executed. As Derrick Jensen notes, "love does not imply pacificism."
     
  2. Minx

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    No. They do not deserve compassion.

    Perhaps, some pity... but nothing as kind as compassion.

    In my opinion at least. :slight_smile:
     
  3. myheartincheck

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    When I feel anything towards bigots it's pity.

    I pity them because they dedicate all their time to making this world a worse place. I however will move on because I have the opportunity to make it a better place so I will and not waste it listening to their meaninglessly cruel words.
     
  4. BudderMC

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    Everyone deserves compassion.

    The thing is, not everyone receives it. And since we're not receiving compassion from them, we're less inclined to be compassionate towards them.

    It's just a vicious cycle IMO. And it takes someone to break it. Want to leave that to someone else or do it yourself?
     
  5. TestingitOut

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    I strongly agree with this quote from that article. I believe its important to try to understand and empathize with people, especially people who are very different than you. Communication, respect, and compassion, are important ingredients in solving conflicts and moving forward. Anger and pain from both sides will go no where. I dont think that showing compassion for a bigot downplays your own opinion, or adds credit to what they believe, but it DOES show that you are willing to be the kinder person, and step outside of your own passions, thoughts, ideas, experiences, and attempt to understand those of another person with the goal of reaching some sort of understanding.

    To quote Bayard Rustin:
     
  6. Deserve? No. If you want to give it to make some BS point about 'being the bigger person' that's your deal.
     
  7. Mogget

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    "Compassion" is not synonymous with "forgiveness." I firmly agree with the Jewish ideal that forgiveness can only be legitimately granted by the victimized party after the offender has apologized to the victim. Since I have not been personally victimized by WBC and since WBC has not apologized, I cannot forgive them. But I can have compassion, I can desire for them to wake up to their errors, and I can recognize that their current belief system is harmful to them.
     
  8. Pain

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    I believe that bigots don't deserve compassion. In my opinion, they are doing something for no reason. However, they should be taught, in a compassionate way, that what they're doing is wrong. Not aggressive, not scolding. If those don't work, then they are a lost cause. Do not give them any attention whatsoever afterwards.
     
  9. gordilocks

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    nah, they should get death
     
  10. Fiddledeedee

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    Yes, I think they do. I think everyone deserves compassion. That doesn't mean letting them be bigoted, and, as Mogget said, it doesn't mean forgiveness, though I think they can be forgiven. It's compassion and it's a basic part of what makes us human.
     
  11. myheartincheck

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    Grrrr... I wish I could delete that previous post of mine as it came across a bit harsh.

    However, sometimes we need to avoid the toxic words of others. If they only attacked me that's one thing, but they attack my dear friends on here and in my "real life" as well. I show compassion by forgiving their ignorance and their immeasurable damage. However, I would not be so masochistic as to try to change them as they clearly have no desire to.
     
  12. theMaverick

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    Everyone deserves compassion. That doesn't mean we have to accept that someone will always be screaming that God hates fags or that we are damned to hell. We don't have to accept bigotry, but if I didn't act towards someone with compassion, even though they weren't showing me compassion, then I am no better than they are. Knock me down for being the bigger person if you want, but if no one showed anyone compassion, what kind of world would this be?
     
  13. Shadowsettler

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    They deserve pitty, I think for being so narrow, but I never give it to them. :grin:
     
  14. i'm going to agree with mogget here. i find it incredibly hypocritical for people to go around saying crap like "stupid fucking bigots" and/or "they should just die", and anything synonymous to this to bigots. i'd just like to point out that they're saying the exact same things to us. but no, i suppose what we say is automatically placed on a higher pedestal of goodness anyways.

    we're all humans and nobody is expecting anybody to be nice to each other. the ones who have the decency to do so because they understand the idea of compassion, however, do.
     
  15. plasticcrows

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    I'm not exactly sure what compassion is, but I would like to think that everyone deserves it. It feels hypocritical to say that someone should be hated for hating others. I suppose I'm biased though since one of my friends is what many of you would call a bigot and it upsets me when people treat her so rudely even when she tries to have polite conversation. She's one of the "Islam must go, racial integration is bad, homosexuals should not marry, homosexuality must be repressed, keep england and europe pure" types.
     
  16. Dublin Boy

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    In the immortal words of Tony Blair "Education, Education, Education" this is what Bigots need, ignorance breeds Bigots :slight_smile:
     
  17. Lewis

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    Definitely. They're ill-educated and brainwashed into thinking what they do and say is right. They don't know any different.

    I personally wouldn't provide that compassion though. They need professional help.
     
  18. plasticcrows

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    I'd disagree with that. I tend to look at bigotry as mostly fueled by emotions, philosophy, and ethics. For example, my friend knows more about middle eastern and near eastern culture, history, and politics than anyone I know, but she despises it. And while I've never worked in the field, I have a decent understanding of the ethics and economic practices of pharmaceutical companies and the research they conduct, but I still don't like them. I also understand that the industrial revolution and the growth of modern civilizations are largely to credit for the major scientific advances made in the 20th and 21st centuries but I don't think that they were entirely beneficial to humanity or worth the ecological damage. I don't buy that understanding begets tolerance and acceptance.

    ---------- Post added 26th Feb 2013 at 04:54 PM ----------

    Waited to long to edit.

    Now, please don't interpret this as hostile but can you explain how what you 'say and do right?' Please include how you do 'know any different' as well. What I gather from your post is that you don't think 'bigots' have ever given any thought to the opinions opposing their own, e.g. your such opinions. Have you ever given any thought to theirs?

    ---------- Post added 26th Feb 2013 at 04:55 PM ----------

    *have never given any thought [...]

    ---------- Post added 26th Feb 2013 at 04:55 PM ----------

    no, it was right the first time.

    ---------- Post added 26th Feb 2013 at 04:58 PM ----------

    Aha, I knew I made an error.

    "Now, please don't interpret this as hostile but can you explain how what you 'say and do right?'" ---> "Now, please don't interpret this as hostile but can you explain how you know what you 'say and do is right?'
     
    #18 plasticcrows, Feb 26, 2013
    Last edited: Feb 26, 2013
  19. dreamcatcher

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    My thoughts exactly.
     
  20. photoguy93

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    Every person deserves compassion. It is our duty, as living & thinking beings, to respect everyone and give them compassion. Do we have to like them? NO! Do we have to be friends with them? NO. Unless they do something horrifically terrible (I have no compassion for, say, Hitler...) Bigots are just that - bigots are people who don't like us.

    If they don't want to take it, the ball is in their court. Let them do something stupid and be the ones everyone hates.