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by jstanley 870 days ago
> you may have different ethical standards

Isn't this the exact opposite of zealotry? Zealotry is imposing your ethical standards on others.

3 comments

You may be right, Zealot may not be the right word here.

But after reading that article, I was definitely left feeling judged because I choose to do exactly the things he's talking about, for exactly the reasons he's suggesting. Maybe that's on me, but I certainly felt his standards imposed on me, disclaimer or not.

Also, given the conviction with which he argues with in the article, that disclaimer feels a little weak -- kinda like when someone says "No offence, but... <very offensive thing>".

It's at least a form of _casual_ zealotry. "You may have different ethical standards" is clearly the author's passive-aggressive way of saying "your ethics might not be as righteous as mine", as opposed to "reasonable minds may disagree".
I certainly read this sentence as your second option. It may depend on the tone you imagine for Drew's sentence.
> Zealotry is imposing your ethical standards on others

It’s even more specific than that though isn’t it? A fanatical belief in a single cause to the exclusion of all else.

Yes. "fanatical" is key here.

The commenter somewhat retracted their use of this word in a sibling comment, but it seems important to me that we don't confuse strong views with zealotry. Drew's views are certainly very strong.

Strong views can be rational and well thought. I even believe they are often the ones that can push the world to a better place. Usually you can even argue with someone yielding strong views if they are rational (unless the person is bad at communication / is an asshole, of course it's possible). Strong views can shake you up and are not always enjoyable.

Zealotry is just plain irrational and dangerous and there's no way you can have a constructive discussion with a zealot.