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by poster123 2909 days ago
According to many religions, there are many kinds of consensual sex that are morally wrong. Is every person who believes in the teachings of such a religion a bigot?
2 comments

Keep in mind that, outside of some contrived examples, beliefs themselves are rarely bigoted -- it's the reason why that belief is held that makes the determination.

For example, a coworker of mine is extremely against illegal immigration. Most people that don't know them assume that this belief stems from a hatred toward immigrants from certain 'undesirable' countries. But once you get to know them it turns out that it actually stems from a belief that the law should always be followed to a t -- they don't actually care one way or another about the issue itself, if the law said we had open borders then it would be no problem.

But we sort of run into a problem when people proxy their beliefs -- for my coworker it's the law, and for the religious it's their doctrine. Are people who subscribe to a belief system responsible for any or all of the intolerance that underpins it? Do people have a moral responsibility to audit their beliefs systems and look for intolerance? Do people have a moral responsibility to not follow an unjust law? Where you fall on these questions probably determines the answer to your question.

Here's an interesting thing I've seen from people making such claims. Yes they are bigots even if they say, "What you're doing is wrong, but I'll let you be (aside from denouncing the behavior)". This is actually not really bigoted by the definition "a person who is intolerant toward those holding different opinions." That's were this discourse is. If someone doesn't AGREE, they are bigots. Hell, tolerance just means putting up with their view. You can tolerate and still try to teach another path. Unfortunately for many on the Left, disagreeing and arguing against without seeking any force of law is the same as being a bigot.