It Should Not Be An Insult to Call Someone Unfair
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One of the biggest blows to the battle for social justice is that all the “-ism” and “-phobic” words have become insults. You can’t have a serious discussion about racism, sexism, classism, or homophobia anymore because so many people will feel personally attacked if anybody suggests to them ways they could work towards a fairer society. These used to be movements focused on equity and transformative conflict, yet they are now often used to spread moral superiority and petty conflict.
It’s important to instead discuss inequity as what it truly is, a social issue caused when people express viewpoints that accidentally contain logical gaps which overlook human rights. As a socially conscious provider of information, I can’t be sparking public fear by accusing all these statements of having malicious intent. Instead, I will have to acknowledge the possibility that the person may have simply forgotten to consider what their viewpoint means for other demographic groups.
In this article, I will demonstrate how I approach the topic of inequality. I will do this by presenting an example where the discrimination is easy to miss if you aren’t paying close attention. I will explain how it’s discriminatory, speaking for the benefit of the people who may fall for it and the people who are targeted by it. I will describe these examples as logical fallacies, not as rage bait.
I’ll discuss the comments on this r/worstof thread shaming a person who asked r/TrueChristian how to explain Christian reasoning against same-sex relationships to a Christian coworker who was already in one. I can see how at first glance, the comments can seem like fair criticism directed to someone behaving petty, unnecessary, and judgemental. So while I’ll assume the r/worstof commenters had good intentions, they failed to recognize an important piece of context, which resulted in their comments actually being discriminatory against Christians. (By the way, attacks against people for their faith do not have an “-ism” or “-phobic” word associated with them, at least not to my knowledge, but as long as they attack the people and not the religion, they can be placed in the same category).
What the commenters missed out on was the fact that Christians, like anyone else, have the responsibility to love and respect people they disagree with. The r/TrueChristian user never actually said anything judgemental, but since they view same-sex relationships as a sin, the commenters jumped to the accusation that the Christian was filled with resentment for this person, despite the fact that the Christian even says, “I’ll be praying and keep treating her the best I was already treating: with love and kindness.” Maybe they could have been a kind, supportive, empathetic friend with their coworker. But by that point, the commenters dismissed any such possibilities on the grounds of their religious views.
Some commenters also assumed that these comments would hurt their friendship. These users have forgotten that respectfully sharing advice is a common attribute of relationships among all people, Christians included. Now, it’s fine to disagree with Christian advice or to even be offended by the advice itself, and if a respectful Christian encounters that response from someone, they will know not to bring it up to that person anymore. The difference is that the r/worstof commenters aren’t personally involved in the Christian’s situation, so the commenters are saying that they don’t have to know the coworker to know that the Christian’s suggestions would poison the relationship. By assuming that nobody would take Christian advice well, the perhaps unintentional effect of their comments is that Christians should not share advice with anybody, even if they’re respectful about it, which is a double standard because that’s what everybody else does.
Now I’m not trying to get anybody outraged by a “Christian hate panic” or whatever — this is only one Reddit post after all. I’m instead here to show an example of where inequity can come from, how it can easily go unspotted, and what you can do to prevent it from happening. Christians such as I believe that intolerance against Christians is inevitable and that it will never go away completely. Instead of creating rage bait, we are supposed to consider these obstacles to be like puzzles to navigate. How we handle these puzzles will reveal our level of faith.
What doesn’t solve the problem is when you insult people. This is the problem when words that should be used to describe unfairness become insults. It doesn’t people to the knowledge they need to treat people equitably. Instead, people believe that when they are called racist or homophobic or ableist or whatever, then the other person must hate them, and that they must respond not by considering the impact of their words, but by repairing their bruised ego.
Every time inequality is viewed in this way, the opportunity for resolution goes out the window, adding up to a staggering amount of lost potential over the years. Millions of missed opportunities. That’s the problem right there.
And Internet discussions are our big ticket to solving it.
Now you can give it a try in the comment section below. Feel free to use this new method of describing examples of discrimination.
#Inequity #SocialJustice #Religion #Reddit #ConflictResolution