Name calling (From The Argus)

Name calling

3:37pm Monday 15th March 2010 in

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In his recent letter on March 12, G Walsh maintained that shouting “bigot” at those with whose views one disagrees leads to totalitarianism.

Name calling for its own sake is undignified, of course, but alas, the inescapable fact is that bigotry leads, and frequently in the past has led, to precisely this phenomenon. Reasonable people do not condemn opinions simply as opinions but rather because these opinions inevitably lead to intolerant and intolerable actions, and it is here that organised religion has all too often been found wanting. And I’m very much afraid that slogan “Hate the sin but love the sinner” is another Jesuitical cop-out which bears no critical examination and clarifies nothing.

Rashid Karapiet, St Michael’s Place, Brighton