So, as most of you know, I watch a lot of debates and discussions on YouTube. Today I watched an older one of Sam Harris, one the so-called “four horsemen of the apocalypse” who are also called the new atheists. I like a lot of what Sam says, because to me, he’s usually fairly reasonable. However, on the clip I watched today, Don Lemon of CNN had him on in opposition to a man named Dean Obeidallah from the Daily Beast, a Muslim apologist. Dean called Sam a bigot. Sam rebuked him, basically saying what he says about Islam is fact-based, and we should just discuss facts, not attack people. Then Sam went on to say that Dr. Ben Carson is a bigot, because he said Islam isn’t compatible with American values. He also said Carson proved you can be a doctor, a surgeon, and not a scientist, because Carson doesn’t believe in evolution. So Carson, who wasn’t there to defend himself, was called a bigot and a non-scientist, because of his opinion on something, but Harris was offended that Obeidallah called him a bigot for his opinions on Islam. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLN9ZHNA_3c&t=1s
This riled me up, and I went to dictionary.com first to look up the word bigotry, just to see what it said. After all, both Harris and the Muslim said Carson was a bigot, and the Muslim also said Harris was one. Well, dictionary.com defines bigotry as “a stubborn and complete intolerance of any creed, belief, or opinion different from one’s own.” Interesting. So if you think something is wrong or untrue, and you stick to that belief and don’t change it, you’re a bigot?
Harris thinks Islam is “the mother-lode of bad ideas.” (one of the things I agree with him about). He still thinks that. He clings to it and sticks with it. He says these are bad ideas, and need to be changed. So by the definition I looked up, that’s intolerance, isn’t it? I agree with him. So that means I’m a bigot too, right. I don’t change my opinion. Like Harris, I’ve studied Islam. I know about it. So my opinion is negative. I guess that means I’m a bigot, right?
It also says bigotry means narrow-mindedness. What is that? Does open-mindedness mean you think everything is equal, no matter what? So, if I think smoking is bad for your health, and I’m not open to consider that idea might be wrong, am I narrow-minded? If I think the Bible is true, does that mean I’m narrow-minded? If I have a certain political or philosophical opinion and I think it’s right, does that automatically make me narrow-minded?
Harris said we have to be tolerant and not attack Muslims as people. Then he attacked Ben Carson, who wasn’t present, saying that because he doesn’t believe in evolution, he can’t be a scientist, even though he’s a surgeon and everyone knows how brilliant he is. Does Sam Harris know on what basis Carson doesn’t believe in evolution? Has he had a discussion with him? So is evolution something regarding which, Harris thinks only his opinion is acceptable? (by the way, more and more scientists are admitting there are problems with Darwinian evolution and seeking other explanations.) But if Carson has a different opinion regarding a scientific theory with a lot of problems, is Harris intolerant of that opinion? Is he stubbornly intolerant, completely intolerant of Carson’s opinion? Hmmm. Sounds like the definition of bigotry to me. But Harris says Carson is a bigot.
I wonder if there might be something wrong with this definition of bigotry? Because if the opposite of bigotry means you have to agree that every opinion is equal, and you can’t be convinced of your own opinion (because if you remain convinced, doesn’t that mean you’re stubborn about it?), it seems to me every single person on earth is a bigot! How can we possibly discuss anything rationally, if we’re going to call everyone who has a different opinion a bigot? No two people on earth agree about everything. But if they each stubbornly and completely hold to their different opinions, then they’re both bigots, right?
I think words need a bit of redefinition, don’t you? (Like in the movie, Princess Bride, where the Spaniard says, “I’m not sure that word means what you think it means.”) I wonder if we can we ever get back to discussing ideas objectively, and talk about facts, and quit calling everyone who disagrees a bigot? I don’t know if we can, because this name-calling seems to help a lot of people win arguments. It shuts down all opposition. But I for one am very tired of it! I’m going to tune out this stupid name-calling as best I can, and call people on it when they illegitimately use it!