3-19-24
Why is there so much intolerance, prejudice, and hate these days? Why? In terms of open-mindedness, tolerance, acceptance, and decency, unfortunately, it seems like society has gone backwards of late, and in addition to that being sad, it’s hurtful, dangerous, and can cause lives to be lost needlessly and tragically through attacks and suicides.
People often fear what they don’t understand which in turn can feed intolerance, prejudice, and hate. Instead of learning about the subject of their fear and opening their minds, many people gravitate towards automatic assumptions, distrust, outdated views, false information, and narrow-mindedness. Making matters worse is how much of the population these days only seeks out information from places, sites, or people who share their ideas instead of utilizing a variety of different sources and viewpoints. They nestle themselves into an isolated, close-minded environment that will reinforce what they want to hear.
Added to this cauldron of toxicity is how numerous political leaders (such as Donald Trump), organizations (such as some churches or news outlets), and others are exploiting, and at times even encouraging, people’s fears and intolerances in order to gain support in their quest for ever more power. When people who already have prejudiced views hear political leaders, ministers, or other organizations they respect spewing off hate, it emboldens these individuals to be more open about their own bigotry and even worsen it. And the greater the power these leaders or organizations have, the stronger their negative influences become.
Want an example? Think about how Republican politicians are pushing anti-LGBTQ legislation around the country. It’s not a coincidence that upticks in violence aimed at LGBTQ people are also being seen, especially in states where such legislation has become law. Since Republican leaders are showing their prejudices against the LGBTQ Community with their rhetoric and actions, everyday people feel more emboldened to do so as well.
These are scary times indeed. So what do we do about it?
Living by example is one thing we can do, exhibiting kindness, decency, open-mindedness, and tolerance in our everyday lives. Speaking out and making our voices heard is also extremely important these days. We can do this in day to day interactions with people as well as by utilizing social media and websites. We need to stand against intolerance and bigotry while promoting open-mindedness, tolerance, and decency instead. We should educate others on issues they don’t understand and encourage them to seek out a variety of different sources for information as opposed to only listening to those that tell them what they want to hear. For news, they should should check out sources such as CNN, USA Today, the Washington Post, the Associated Press, the New York Times, NPR, the BBC, and others. Not just watch Fox News. We must vote against politicians who are promoting hate and elect in leaders who stand for decency and open-mindedness instead. We can also avoid organizations and businesses that push intolerance and patronize the ones promoting kindness instead. This can also hit them where it hurts: their pocketbooks!
I’m not saying it will be easy, but we can battle against the wave of intolerance, prejudice, and hate infecting society today. It’s up to us.
Views and Observations 