Tue, 13. March 2012
Discrimination and Attitude
Here in Australia, we have made a lot of inroads into discriminatory behaviour over recent decades. Whilst not completely eliminated, many areas of bias are being eroded, both by government legislation and by changed community standards.
Racial discrimination is illegal and employers cannot discriminate against aged employees who wish to continue working. Violence, sexual abuse and bias against women and children is a criminal act. Corrupt behaviour against innocent, gullible or vulnerable people is generally a crime, although some community groups are still allowed to get away with it.
The amount of work being done to eliminate discrimination against people with a physical disability, or mental handicap is very encouraging. We cannot discriminate against a person because of their country of origin, the colour of their skin, or the number of tattoos they have on display.
Children born out of wedlock used to be tainted but no-one cares about that any more. Unmarried pregnant girls used to be sent away to have their babies in secret and get them adopted before the neighbours found out. Now they are rightly supported by the community. Convicted criminals may not be discriminated against after they have completed their punishment. The list goes on.
So, in summary, we may not and should not discriminate on grounds of gender, race, country of origin, age, occupation, vulnerability, gullibility, skin colouring, marital status, parenthood, expired judicial penalties, religious beliefs or sexual tendencies.
Whoah there!!! Hold on!!!
Religion? Sexual tendencies? I think there may be a fair bit of work to do about discrimination in these two areas!
Personally, I don't care what religious views you may have. It is your right to believe what you like and I respect that right. I will not discriminate against you just because you hold certain personal beliefs that I think are ridiculous. I reserve the right to scoff at your First Century beliefs - after all it is now the Twenty-first Century! However I will not discriminate against you purely because of your religious beliefs, even though your religion may seek to discriminate against me. I will not adopt any bias against you, although I will be abrupt with you when you knock on my door and and start selling your poison to me; I will argue with you if you are intolerant or bigoted; and I will vote against you if you are a politician seeking to impose narrow-minded views on the wider public. I will not tell religious people they have to be like me and I will not tell them they should get out of my country. I will not seek unfair advantage for Atheists in avoiding tax or influencing government legislation.
Unfortunately, the world is full of people who do discriminate on the basis of their beliefs. The Middle East is full of them and so is America, the world's most powerful nation. There are many religious organisations which demand the absolute right to discriminate against other people; they will seek and obtain exemptions from anti-discrimination laws; and they will fight to maintain ancient prejudices. They are not content with setting rules within their own adherants - they want to impose their rules on the community at large. Christians, Muslims, Jews, other religions - they all do it.
Finally, there are the homosexuals. Yes, I probably still have an inward giggle when I see an effeminate man; and I admit to cringing a bit if I see two men being affectionate to one another. I can't help that and I will generally keep it to myself. However, I am disgusted with our Federal politicians who continue to discriminate against gay people. They deserve the same rights as the rest of the community and that includes the right to marry. Anything short of that is discrimination. It's wrong.
No-one is exempt. I dislike discrimination against any person and put simply, I don't really care what you look like, what you believe or what your sexual preferences are.
What I will discriminate against is "Attitude". If your attitude is poor, if it is anti-social, loud, violent, aggressive, criminal, over-powering, rude, intolerant, bigoted, self-seeking, imposing or discriminatory, then I reserve the right to be abrupt with you; to argue with you; to shun you; or to discriminate against you.
Provided your attitude is right, I will treat you like I would expect to be treated, whoever you are. That's the way the world ought to be.