Wednesday, March 15, 2006
INTOLERANCE WATCH
A bigot is on the loose, friends. But what form does her bigotry take? Choose from the following:
a) I have a particular group of friends who I adore. They are heterosexual. They also have two very close mates who are openly homosexual. When I discovered this I was very shocked, and didn’t deal with it very well ... I’m not so juvenile as to view them with open contempt (I also value my friendship with the others too much to hurt them), but there’s certainly a wall up.
It is a personal decision. I’m happy where I stand.
b) I have a particular group of friends who I adore. They are Catholic. They also have two very close mates who admit to being Muslims. When I discovered this I was very shocked, and didn’t deal with it very well ... I’m not so juvenile as to view them with open contempt (I also value my friendship with the others too much to hurt them), but there’s certainly a wall up.
It is a personal decision. I’m happy where I stand.
c) I have a particular group of friends who I adore. They are white. They also have two very close mates who married Asians. When I discovered this I was very shocked, and didn’t deal with it very well ... I’m not so juvenile as to view them with open contempt (I also value my friendship with the others too much to hurt them), but there’s certainly a wall up.
It is a personal decision. I’m happy where I stand.
d) I have a particular group of friends who I adore. They are rabid lefties. They also have two very close mates who openly vote Liberal. When I discovered this I was very shocked, and didn’t deal with it very well ... I’m not so juvenile as to view them with open contempt (I also value my friendship with the others too much to hurt them), but there’s certainly a wall up.
It is a personal decision. I’m happy where I stand.
Answer: d! Leftoid Marieke Hardy, who’ll hector you about the importance of diversity and tolerance until your head caves in, can’t imagine befriending any of the 4,741,458 Australians who voted Liberal at the last election:
I’m afraid I can’t get past politics in a friendship ... I know my parents have Liberal voting friends, and my communist grandfather was good buddies with Barry Humphries, who is an out-and-out Tory. I’m glad that they could see past politics to break bread with their comrades and neighbours, but it’s just too big a deal for me. It’s too important.
Shun Australia’s 281,575 Muslims and you’re intolerant. Shun four million Howard voters and you’re progressive.