Truth and Bigotry

I am no bigot! A bigot is a prejudiced person who is intolerant of any opinions differing from their own or intolerant of people of different political views, ethnicity, race, class, religion, profession, sexuality or gender.

To be prejudiced is to form an opinion without taking time and care to judge fairly - in other words, to form an opinion before considering the facts. A prejudiced person is not particularly interested in what is the truth of a situation. To express an opinion that is not based on fact is tantamount to bigotry.

A bigot is a poor listener in that he or she fails to pay attention to what is being said. Actually, listening is an active process that requires one to be interested in both the content and the person conveying the information.

Listening is quite different from allowing someone time to speak. Allowing someone time to speak is extending a courtesy to another – it is complying with the rules of fair play. However, it does not mean that one was actively paying attention to what was being said. That attitude is fodder for bigotry.

To avoid being accused of bigotry, one must interact with facts or the truth of what is informing one’s opinions. Truth in its simplest form is an honest description of reality. Any statement is true if and only if it corresponds to or agrees with factual reality. If I tell you my car is white, then it cannot be anything else but similar to snow or salt in color.

Upon that foundation we seek to determine truthful statements, our sense of integrity, and all avenues of justice. For instance, without an appreciation for truth, our society is in trouble in that we cannot even establish a basis for trust. 

Without trust, credibility and civility are lost. In some cases, many consciously distort the meaning of words in order to silence disagreement. For instance, some use the term bigot to describe anyone who shares an opinion that does not affirm homosexuality. 

That should not be - we are constantly debating and discussing topics of interest – we actually applaud such dialog. Then why can’t we applaud similar dialog when examining topics like homosexuality? At the moment our discourse on homosexuality is often more hostile than holy. Emotionally charged terms like fagot, homophobe, bigot and intolerant are inflammatory terms and are inimical to civil discourse. Civility demands that we listen before forming and expressing opinions. In addition, a Christian understanding of civility demands that violence and dehumanizing rhetoric be avoided. Jesus invites us to pray for and love persons with whom we disagree.

Disagreement must be expressed in a spirit of love. We should never forget that opponents will be attracted more to our attitude than to our debating skills. With wisdom, we must be able to distinguish assertiveness from aggressiveness; meekness from weakness and knowledge from discernment. So often we win the battle (the debate) and lose the war (ongoing opportunities for dialog).   

My point was beautifully illustrated a few days ago when a hostile customer verbally abused a Chick-Fill-A cashier. In her response to the unprovoked abuse, the cashier chose to keep her composure throughout the exchange. The customer was fired by his firm for the disgusting display but eventually apologized to the woman he abused.

In his apology he admitted: “…You handled my frustrating rant with such dignity and composure. Every time I watch the video I am blown away by really the beauty in what you did, and your kindness, and your patience with me.”

In a television interview, the cashier admitted she had no intention to pursue legal action. She felt her decision to forgive the customer was consistent with her Christian worldview. It was not her arrogance that won the hearts of millions of viewers; it was her composure, her kindness and her patience.

Those are the graces that will empower us in the current culture war. This battle is nowhere near finished. We have actually lost some ground in the ideological gay-lifestyle battle. Public opinion is reflecting greater acceptance and tolerance. We have been branded negatively in the marketplace of ideas. In addition, increasing numbers of persons are relegating our biblical lifestyle to antiquity. 

Paul’s words to the Corinthians are so appropriate in times like these: “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, (our weapons) have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3-6).
Always remember, the way we fight is often more important than the fight itself.