[throwawaygmbno]

>But then, let's not pretend that Brendan was a bad person or that he did something wrong

A majority of people in the US at one time felt slavery was perfectly fine. A majority of people in the southern US that could vote supported the Ku Klux Klan and Jim Crow laws at some point too.

Would you have supported these positions and justified it with other people think the same way too? Being in the majority can make you a bad person.

Robert E Lee was a traitor to the country that fought for slavery. The rewriting of history and spin from the Lost Cause to talk about how reluctant he was, how he went to church, and how nice he was to other white people that supported slavery does not mean he wasn't a bad person.

Discrimination against gay people is usually justified by religion in "polite" conversation, but slavery often was too during its time. In actuality its usually just a hatred with the justification made after the fact.

[miroljub]

Good example. Only 1,6% of Americans owned slaves at its peak. Hundreds of thousands even died to free slaves. So no, the majority never supported slavery.

On a side note, do you really think opposing same sex marriage is equivalent of supporting slavery or taking self justice? Better bring Godwin straight ahead, so we can end a discussion right now ;)

[throwawaygmbno]

Using statistics to lie shows your weak position. Slaves were the backbone of the southern economy. Saying slavery only was supported by 1.6% of the population is the equivalent of only counting the owners of the church building when discussing whether the south was/is religious.

And yes, I tend to group different forms of discrimination together. You can substitute Jim Crow laws, the Chinese exclusion act, Japanese internment camps, or some other form of discrimination in your head if you like. But its useful to know that if someone says that slavery wasn't so bad and is ok with it, that I am wasting my time with a fully bad person.