What if intolerance and bigotry are genetic traits, similar to homosexuality?

Question

You know how some people go on about homosexuality being a choice (I don't believe it is). What if the characteristics of intolerance, bigotry and arrogance are genetic traits, and people are born that way, and don't have the ability to change?

Joe C - your answer illustrates my point, thank you.

Versaille - that is what I have historically felt, but I am wondering......

Brownie - I wonder if you contradict yourself?

Linguistic - those are all examples of small groups of people realizing the potential of our common humanity. There are as many recent examples to the contrary - Rwanda, Darfur, Don Imus

One under God - My lover is the mother of my three children. I have many gay friends that I do love dearly, just I have have many straight friends that I love dearly.

MDYH 77 - Your argument is a form of flawed logic in which you attack the character of the presenter as you have no adequate response to the point.

Prays toward's Funkytown - Turn down the LIPPS dude, I didn't call you anything. I am curious as to why my curiousity generates hostility.

Answer 1

One could be intentionally ignorant of the concepts of bigotry, intolerance and arrogance. Then they would be innocent of the charge because they are too lazy to try to understand!

Answer 2

Well, let me answer one part of this first. My opinion on homosexuality is that both arguments are right... part of it is choice, and part of it is genetic. I think that there is a "gay gene" (if you want to call it that). But just because you have this gene it doesn't necessarily mean you'll wind up being a homosexual. I think for the gene to be "activated" or "expressed" the person must have some series of tragic events that occurs in their life, usually involving their father (ie: father dies when the child is young, father is not tolerant/understanding, father is out of the picture, etc.) Most gay people I know fit into this description. Now intolerance and bigotry is not a genetic trait. It's entirely a decision based on ignorance. It doesn't matter if you're gay, straight, black, white, green... ANYONE can be ignorant. And yes, people can change, but generally they don't. Though I do think that people who are prejudiced can teach it to their children, and likewise their children teach it to their children, so on and so forth. This makes bigotry difficult to control. Why do you think everyone in the Middle East is so ignorant toward other cultures, even Americans? It's because they're taught at an early age that cultures other than their own are different (religiously and in terms of what we look like), and therefore inferior. They even preach that Sunnis and Shiites should hate each other, so that in places like Iraq Muslims can't even get along with each other.

Answer 3

Yes, I think bigotry is kind of inescapable.

As you compare it with homosexuality... then what if the whole world suddenly went homosexual (you might go even further: one nationality, race, or political or economic background)? Do you think we'd instantly have perfect world peace? Or would certain factions of homosexuals become the new oppressors of those who were "different" in some other way?

By the way, it's a psychological cop-out to say of any questionable behavior, "I had no choice in it." It's an attempt to remove all responsibility for what we ourselves consider a wrong action. If I was gay, I'd be honest about it, and call it a legitimate lifestyle decision. If I insisted it was totally beyond my control and against my will, it would already be an admission that my actions were inherently inferior. The implication is, "If I COULD choose to be straight, I WOULD -- being gay is not ideal. But I can't; I'm stuck this way, so I just have to suffer through it." It's dishonest, especially when such a person turns around and promotes the thing they just implied was inferior.

Answer 4

The key phrase is 'psychological determinism'. It's basically the idea that everything a person thinks and does is the product of genetics combined with environment, with no puff of free-will soul gas involved.

Scientists are now very busy sorting out which personality traits are caused by genes and which ones are caused by how one was raised as a child--the whole Nature vs. Nurture debate. Perhaps it's a matter of someone being born genetically susceptible to bigotry, but not becoming an actual bigot unless they're brought up in the wrong environment...

Answer 5

I don't know if I believe that intolerance and bigotry are genetic traits, but I'm certain that they aren't chosen. They are a result of alot of things, most of which are situational and taught. I don't believe that anyone wakes up and says, "Hmm ... I think that I'm going to start hating asian people today" or "I just don't think that I can abide the idea of homosexuality anymore, starting today." People don't make a choice to be this way, it becomes a natural way of thinking and acting -- once you've heard something enough over and over or after having a few bad experiences, its not hard to let your mind continue to take you back to that place.

And if you don't realize that you're doing anything wrong, obviously you aren't going to try to change. Some things become so deeply rooted in our minds that we don't have much control over them.

By the way, and this is directed to the first answer -- who in the world started this terrible rumor about "hate speech" laws, that churches will face criminal prosecution if they speak out against homosexuality? Your individual rights won't end until they reach where someone else's begins ... so basically, you can't show up at their pride parade and tell them that they're going to hell, and they can't show up at your church and tell you that you're an idiot. You also can't say, "burn in hell, f *****" while you're bashing some kid's head in ... but then again, you really couldn't do it before.

Answer 6

Some very intelligent reasoning above. My head is spinning from all this logics...

Yes, intolerance and bigotry are in-born traits but need not be genetic. There are children who, from birth, have a mean streak even though they were born into very nice families. But this doesn't mean that later in life, such child cannot recognise, understand and correct his/her outlook on life and behaviour.

I believe in reincarnation, first;
and growing through experience, lifetime after lifetime, second.

Answer 7

This question is so stupid it is obvious the person who wrote it probably didn't use their God given brain to go to college. Instead they rely on the same old arguments they've heard other bigotted intolerant people use.

The difference is the intolerance and bigotry affect others. Homosexuality does not. We can pass laws that will protect us from the intolerant bigot.

Answer 8

If prejudice and violence are behavioral aspects related to our brains (and I suspect they are), then we should learn to overcome them, for the sake of societal progress and the survival of the human species.

Homosexuality is not like violence or bigotry, which causes harm and violates the rights of others.

Thus, homosexuality should not be restricted, aside from elements of personal choice, which vary with individuals.

Note: The hate crimes bill which passed in the house makes SPECIAL EXCEPTIONS for the first amendment, and only applies violent crimes. This is about punishing physical violence against certain groups, not hindering alternate views.

Dear Joe,
You sound like the kind of guy who believes teaching evolution in a science class is about banning god, or that i.d. is supported by evidence. Am I right? I assure you that homosexuality is influenced by genetics, and that discrimination continues today.

Please crack open a biology textbook, and stop looking at the world in "liberal vs. conservative" sound bites. It's really not so simple.

Answer 9

I think history disproves that. See: The Enlightenment, the French Revolution, Civil Rights Struggle in America, and such.

Answer 10

Whereas there is such a thing as "intolerance and bigotry," 99 per cent of the time those are false accusations made by liberals and homosexuals against decent people who have common sense, and who are exercsing their Freedom of Speech.

Because the liberals believe that Freedom of Speech only applies to themselves, and because the radical homosexuals don't want to admit they're wrong, these false accusations are hurled like weapons.

Now, they are continuing to seek elitist special rights by getting "hate speech" and "hate crime" legsistlation passed, in an attempt to override the First Amendment, and forbid anyone to say "I believe that homoexuality is wrong."

People who express their honest views could be sent to jail, and this is exactly what the homesexuals want. HYPOCRITES - that what they are. THEY ARE THE ONES WHO HAVE NO TOLERANCE! No tolerance for what innocent, decent and pure!

Oh yes, your point does not need illustrating. What a shallow response! I have presented the truth and have presented in respectfully. You have illustrated MY point and you have hereby lost this debate!