David Silverman op-ed: Shrinking the Tent: American Atheists won't tolerate intolerance

[Vork]

Tolerance-touting Democrats intolerant of Republicans (Ami Horowitz)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOXZAMEYjBw


So yeah, the "not tolerating intolerance", just turns out to be a general hatred of your political opponents... But hey, pat yourself on the back for being so "progressive" and "non-bigoted" while you hate the other side...

 

[Harry Bosch]

do you hate a group of people and want them to punished, either by a government or mob: Y/N
has that group done anything to you personally in a way you can tangibly articulate convincingly to a disinterested third party: Y/N

if you answered yes to the first question and no to the second question, you're a bigot.

wow... that was hard.

I'm a "bigot" by that definition, but I reject your definition so...

I detest Islamists (political Islam). I want them booted out of the country, which is a kind of "punishment" you would probably think.

Now Islamists have killed millions of people historically. They have brutally oppressed non-Muslims. They *want* to start up doing the same sort of things on a worldwide basis. They actually are still killing and oppressing in various parts of the world. It's not just a fantasy thing. It's really still going on today. Brutal oppression and murder.

But I mean, they haven't done anything to me personally, so I'm a "bigot" for wanting them stopped.

If people are waging a war against you, you don't need to wait until the gun is against your head before you take action.

Oh boy. Don't buy all the BS that Trump tells you. Jihadist terrorists kill about 13 Americans per year in the US. What that's bad, it's no reason to be so scared. Christian terrorists cause far more death in the US than Islamic terrorists. Should be panic and try to stop Christian terrorists?

 

[dendrast]

I decide what I will tolerate.

I decided I will not tolerate racism, fascism, or sexism.

I guess that makes me intolerant of of intolerance.

Tough shit.

 

[Jolly_Penguin]

If you are intolerant of intolerance, how do you tolerate yourself? Bwahahaha

 

[Keith&Co.]

If you are intolerant of intolerance, how do you tolerate yourself?

Give your particular brand of intolerance another name, add 'ism' and declare that you're proud of your 'whateverism' stance on the subject.

 

[blastula]

Tolerance-touting Democrats intolerant of Republicans (Ami Horowitz)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOXZAMEYjBw


So yeah, the "not tolerating intolerance", just turns out to be a general hatred of your political opponents... But hey, pat yourself on the back for being so "progressive" and "non-bigoted" while you hate the other side...

Where was the intolerance? (Even in those decontextualized quote snippets) I didn't see anyone saying Republicans should be denied any rights or kicked out of the country,

 

[dendrast]

If you are intolerant of intolerance, how do you tolerate yourself? Bwahahaha

More like I'm just used to hanging around myself. But I don't need any more assholes in my life.

What part of "tough shit" did you not get?

Nice try anyway.

 

[bilby]

Kicking people out of the country is a stupid response to anything.

First of all, for you to even be able to consider it, you need somewhere to send them TO; and as many Islamists are US or EU citizens who live in the country of their birth, that's kinda tricky - who would want them?

For the subset of Islamists who have other citizenships, and for whom deportation (perhaps to the country of their birth) might be an option, it's still a stupid thing to do. Either they are harmful to society, in which case sending them to jail makes more sense than inflicting them on someone else's society; Or they are not harmful to society, in which case, why the fuck are you deporting them?

Sending criminals (or any other troublemakers) to another country, instead of trying and jailing them, is like chucking your garbage over the fence onto next door's lawn, instead of putting it in your bin. It may appear to be a quick and easy fix, but it's going to cause big trouble, sooner or later. It may well lead to conflict with your neighbours; And it may well just blow back into your yard, leaving you with a bigger mess than you started with.

The problem with calls to 'send them home' or 'send them back where they came from', is that a good deal of the time, they are already at home, and this IS where they came from. If 'they' are a problem, then they need to be dealt with in the same way that we deal with problems caused by some of 'us' - and one of the biggest problem with 'us' is that some of us think it makes sense to group complete strangers into 'us' vs 'them', despite them all belonging to the category 'total strangers who happen to live in the same nation as me'.

 

[Vork]

Oh boy. Don't buy all the BS that Trump tells you. Jihadist terrorists kill about 13 Americans per year in the US. What that's bad, it's no reason to be so scared.

I didn't say I was in fear of my life. This is a matter of principle for me-- you don't tolerate people waging a war against you. Doesn't matter if they have a real chance of success or not.

Also, you can't just count the impact of jihadism in terms of lives lost. e.g. We are talking about hundreds of millions in security costs. We are talking about billions fighting wars. You may not agree with all of those wars, but still.

 

[Vork]

First of all, for you to even be able to consider it, you need somewhere to send them TO; and as many Islamists are US or EU citizens who live in the country of their birth, that's kinda tricky - who would want them?

You're thinking of the modern practice of deportation. I'm not.

Sending criminals (or any other troublemakers) to another country, instead of trying and jailing them, is like chucking your garbage over the fence onto next door's lawn, instead of putting it in your bin. It may appear to be a quick and easy fix, but it's going to cause big trouble, sooner or later.

I wouldn't really agree with that in this case. If you can send Islamists to an Islamic country, where Islamism is actually entirely mainstream, it's not like sending them "criminals" exactly. They can fit right in! But as I say, I'm not talking about deportation to a specific country. Maybe an Islamic country will take them. Maybe not.

The problem with calls to 'send them home' or 'send them back where they came from', is that a good deal of the time, they are already at home, and this IS where they came from. If 'they' are a problem, then they need to be dealt with in the same way that we deal with problems caused by some of 'us'

Right. For example, I don't think we should treat someone with Pakistani ethnic heritage differently to how we would treat someone with British ethnic heritage, that just happened to have converted to a political form of Islam.

So it's not about race. It's not about what country you were born in. And I didn't say, "send them home".

 

[Vork]

Tolerance-touting Democrats intolerant of Republicans (Ami Horowitz)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOXZAMEYjBw


So yeah, the "not tolerating intolerance", just turns out to be a general hatred of your political opponents... But hey, pat yourself on the back for being so "progressive" and "non-bigoted" while you hate the other side...

Where was the intolerance? (Even in those decontextualized quote snippets) I didn't see anyone saying Republicans should be denied any rights or kicked out of the country,

So merely hating the other side isn't "intolerance" in your mind? I believe the word "intolerance" isn't strictly linked to persecution, as you seem to think.

 

[blastula]

Tolerance-touting Democrats intolerant of Republicans (Ami Horowitz)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOXZAMEYjBw


So yeah, the "not tolerating intolerance", just turns out to be a general hatred of your political opponents... But hey, pat yourself on the back for being so "progressive" and "non-bigoted" while you hate the other side...

Where was the intolerance? (Even in those decontextualized quote snippets) I didn't see anyone saying Republicans should be denied any rights or kicked out of the country,

So merely hating the other side isn't "intolerance" in your mind? I believe the word "intolerance" isn't strictly linked to persecution, as you seem to think.

Sure, you want a very broad definition to make a very weak point.

 

[Mumbles]

Tolerance-touting Democrats intolerant of Republicans (Ami Horowitz)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOXZAMEYjBw


So yeah, the "not tolerating intolerance", just turns out to be a general hatred of your political opponents... But hey, pat yourself on the back for being so "progressive" and "non-bigoted" while you hate the other side...

...yes, and I could come up with any number of GOP-aligned fools on the street willing to say things like "The blacks are taking our money and getting things they don't deserve." Or "Trump's right, Mexico is sending us their rapists." Or random people willing to discuss entirely made-up "scandals" at some award show or other. These clips are never proof of anything, especially when they're chopped up like that.

And I say this every time I see someone trying to put a "Jay Walking" - style comedy clip as evidence of anything. Wanna show that I agree with them? Find me a quote.

And note that I convinced close republican friends to vote for Evan McMullen over Toupee Fiasco. At the very least, I could say that McMullen isn't openly white supremacist, isn't involved in money-laundering, isn't an obvious narcissist, and would do what he thought was best for the country instead of just best for himself. To say any of that about the clown president we have now would be risible.