Saw a quote suggesting that all progressives think all Republicans/Conservatives are morally bankrupt.
I think that the majority of Republicans are good people whose suffer from either being misinformed or -- more likely -- deliberately dis-informed BY THOSE THEY TRUST about certain aspects of our shared world.
They're not evil.
They've had the bad luck of being exposed to overwhelming mis/disinformation and lack the time and/or energy to overcome that exposure.
When the people you've been taught to trust & respect by your family/peers, tell you to believe what they are telling you, it's HARD to listen objectively to what they are saying. It's much easier to simply accept what they tell you as "the truth" without thinking about it.
Listening OBJECTIVELY is a skill that takes time & effort to develop. Most people don't have the time & don't want to put in the effort. It's just not worth it to them.
That doesn't make them evil.
I grew up in a racist, sexist, homophobic family. If things had gone even slightly differently in my life, I'd have grown up just like them.
I was LUCKY.
I also put in the work to examine and change the beliefs that I'd been raised with. And it was WORK. HARD WORK.
You have to be motivated to change, because change is uncomfortable. It can HURT. It can feel like you're tearing yourself apart at the seams.
Most people don't want to do that.
So what motivated me to re-evaluate the "values" I'd grown up with?
For me it was a combination of books and a few good teachers that taught me to really look at the beliefs that I'd been taught and how they affected not only me, but other people as well (esp "other" people).
Some change when bigotry affects them personally.
When you realize that someone you care about is one of the groups of "others" that you've been taught to hate, it may prompt a change of heart.
Books, teachers, befriending "others" -- all of that and more can prompt a person to re-evaluate the beliefs they've been taught.
That's why those who oppose change will try to ban books, restrict education, and prevent their friends and family members from interacting with "others"
They don't want the people in their lives to change because that would make their life change.
And change is uncomfortable.
People who oppose change are comfortable with the way things are. Their lives may not be perfect, but things aren't bad enough for them to want change. (Change is messy & difficult.)
And they've been taught to believe that the discomfort (or pain (or even death)) of "others" doesn't affect them personally, and so it's okay to ignore it.
They care about the well-being of people they consider people. But they've been taught a very LIMITED view of who counts as people.
Does refusing to see "other" people as people make bigots evil?
To me, evil is active. People who intentionally actively hurt others are evil. But not all bigots intentionally actively hurt "others"
Most Republicans, in my opinion, don't realize how much they are hurting people.
I like to think that if Republicans (and other bigots) could somehow be made aware of how much they are hurting PEOPLE, that they would be appalled at their own behavior.
Maybe I'm naïve or idealistic, but I think most people are inherently good.
Some people have just been taught negative thought patterns. They've been indoctrinated into hateful belief systems. They've been rewarded for hurtful behavior.
I think that most of these people, if they interacted those they consider "others," they would learn to see them as PEOPLE.
And learning to care about "other" people would motivate them to re-evaluate what they've been taught.
tldr: I do NOT think that all Republicans are morally bankrupt.
I think they are average ordinary people who've had the bad luck to be indoctrinated into believing and supporting a fairly hateful ideology. They've never had the good luck to learn a different, more compassionate belief system. But if given a chance, they would choose love over hate.
The very first post in the thread mentions Republicans/conservatives. But the thread could apply to any people that are bigoted.
They don't have to be extremists. Most bigots are NOT extremists, they're just narrow-minded and too lazy (or too overwhelmed) to think about anything outside of their own personal experience.
Most bigots are nice to those they care about. They just don't care about people who are not a part of their lives. They have very limited empathy.
Zhi Zhu
SuziQT