Scott "Dilbert" Adams On The Moral Hazard Of "Respecting Others' Beliefs"

I've said this before, but this is Dilbert telling you this. Gold standard, baby.

I suppose you could argue that we should respect any religion that is peaceful and has good intentions at its core. And I certainly agree with treating all people with respect even if you’re not feeling it on the inside. But it seems to me dishonest to display respect for all beliefs equally. Surely there are beliefs that deserve slightly less respect than others.

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I also wonder if showing respect for all beliefs is causing more problems than it’s avoiding. The only thing that keeps most people from acting on their absurd beliefs is the fear that other people will treat them like frickin’ retards. Mockery is an important social tool for squelching stupidity. At least that’s what I tell people after I mock them. Or to put it another way, I’ve never seen anyone change his mind because of the power of a superior argument or the acquisition of new facts. But I’ve seen plenty of people change behavior to avoid being mocked.

I strongly agree. It is this pernicious "respect" for plainly the batshit-crazy beliefs of the Islamofascists which further encourages them. They should be mocked as the "frickin' retards" they are.

Shame and pride are very important in any society, but especially so in the super-violent ultra-machismo I-act-this-way-because-I-secretly-find-myself-attracted-to-boys world of steroid-rage Islamism. It's about time we stopped talking respect and began to increase these psychopaths' shame and reduce their entirely-unjustified pride.

One point deducted for Adams' tactful-but-wussy vagueness about whose beliefs, precisely, we should give less respect.

But it's not like it's a stumper who he's talking about. It's like an Encyclopedia Brown mystery where Bugs Meany shows up (as Islam does in Adams' essay, if only in passing). Not really a lot of question as to the culprit, is there?

Thanks to JohnS and Pupster too.

posted by Ace at 02:14 PM

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