Acceptable Bigotry

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Some would say that there is no such thing as acceptable bigotry, and they should be right, but sadly aren't. There is a lot of acceptable bigotry in our society. We still base many of our laws, regulations, policies and community standards on stereotypical preconcieved notions of groups of people. "The Rich", "The Poor", "The Middle Class". Each of these do have legitimate definitions and there is nothing wrong with using the terms as demographic classifications. However, we often slide into the cesspool of acceptable bigotry when we start judging individuals based on the socio-economic class they happen to find themselves at the time. It's ironic, many would gasp in horror if someone said, "the poor are a bunch of thieves", yet the same gaspers feel completely comfortable making the same accusations about "the rich". The ONLY difference is, it isn't socially acceptable to think of the poor that way, but it is very acceptable to think of "the rich" that way. Then there is the example of "the religious" vs "academics". Are religious people really less intelligent than academics? Are all academics really socially inept bookworms who would rather spend a weekend researching some elusive point than getting out and going fishing? The answer is, some are, some aren't... just like any other group of people. However, the words "religious" and "academic" are often used to justify bigotry and discrimination. I'm not pointing fingers here, I do it myself at times. I know not all liberals are for abortion on demand, but I don't always make that clear in a discussion on abortion, or liberals. But then again, it would bog down our discussions if we felt the need to disclaim and qualify everything we say, wouldn't it.