The community based on the iPersonic personality test.

Bigotry and Hatred: Where does it come from?

I know that some of the people who are Bigots, just plainly do not like themselves. And I know that hatred and bigotry are pretty much taught throughout one's life. I guess I just don't understand how adults, who are educated and smart cannot see that we are all the same! We are all human. We all have God/Buddah/The Great Creator or whoever you chose, within each of us!

If any person would do the research, they would realize we were all the same, until the time the Christians know as the Tower of Babel! Up until that time, we were all Nubian, we all spoke the same language. Even before then - We all came from Adam & Eve (or whoever was the starters of your Relgion)

So, where did all the "Better than you" attitude come from. Who started thinking that one race was any better than any other?

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by PATTY T on July 2, 2008 at 7:05pm: "Better than you" attitudes---Who knows where it comes from. It is totally ridiculous. Hatred & bigotry in ALL forms is just plain fear & ignorance. As for racial hatred & bigotry, you are correct---much of it IS taught. Small children have no sense of different races....they see everyone as being equal. They DO NOT see color, race.....they ask about differences in people out of curiosity -- not out of hatred & bigotry. Too bad that these beliefs could not remain with most people. I form my opinions of people upon their actions & deeds...not upon color or race. WE ARE ALL THE SAME-----ALL HUMAN. There should BE more people with this belief, but, sadly, there are very few. Patty; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Lady Shaman on July 2, 2008 at 10:20pm: That is so true! This fear of others who are different is so destructive! It is a poison that infects like a plague. Some people are so quick to judge others without thinking. They do realize the consequences of what they say and do. And the saddest part of it all is that our children learn be what they see and this is THE most damaging thing of all! To me, it is no wonder why this world is in the shape it is in. I remember as a child being told: "Sweep out your own back porch before you go sweeping out someone elses!" I also told my High School History Teacher that. I feel if more people would do this, we would not have so many wars going on. Who is anybody to judge another?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by PATTY T on July 3, 2008 at 2:11am: NO ONE has the right to judge another. Yet it's constantly done. Not just about color or race, but ANYTHING different from the perceived "ideal......religion, appearance, personality....actually anything which threatens & frightens....anything "different".....this IS a plague, a sickness. Any war is based upon these types of "judgements".....BE LIKE ME--OR ELSE!!!!! It is very sad & sickening. I recall being told something similar to what you were told as a child too. I remember...too sad that so many others forget or were never even told.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Darren on July 4, 2008 at 1:55am: I believe It is a belief and it starts in our homes and what we are taught as children growing up.As we get older we have the choice to go along with what we were taught or the freedom of choice to change our beliefs.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by blueeyedf8 on July 5, 2008 at 5:41am: I grew up in a small town in Texas, (still there actually) about 40 miles from Jasper Texas. (If you need background on Jasper will give it to you) and racial bigotry is very prevelant here. Even in my own family, but I chose not to let it happen to me. I chose not to be that way and, I think, in the process opened my parents minds to it also. I still don't understand it, how one person can think they are better than someone else because of color or orientation or anything else. It just befuddles me.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Lady Shaman on July 5, 2008 at 11:10pm: It confuses me as well. It is very prevalent in my family. I have tried so many times to "open" their eyes, with no success. I refuse to let this "contaminate" me. I do not even like to go home for any of the holidays because of this. The biggest problem that I have with my family and this issue is not that I find the bigotry and hatred so distasteful (which I do) but the fact that they go to church every week and profess to be "Christians" To me that makes them some of the biggest HYPOCRATES out there. Their ignorance never ceases to amaze me!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Felicitas Heyne on July 7, 2008 at 7:59pm: I suppose it has something to do with the human need to belong to one special group of individuals and to differ from other groups. This in-group / out-group need is maybe the worst breeding ground for bigotry and hatred - just kind of overshooting the mark, you know? Can't really say where it comes from, although it's common knowledge in psychology that human beings all show this tendency of group forming and segregating. Maybe a relict from former times, when we all walked around in tribes and every "foreign" tribe meant danger to the own one?

And like any other evolutionary heritage there's only one remedy: be aware of your dark side and fight it deliberately!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Lady Shaman on July 7, 2008 at 9:20pm: Thank you for your input. I like that last line!
J; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Spiritual_Harmony on July 7, 2008 at 11:41pm: Hatred comes from people, not from God, Religion or Faith or whatever you want to call it. It comes from human beings, not from the Divine. That's my view and my experience.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Victoria on July 14, 2008 at 1:51pm: I believe it's biologic, and a matter of genetic. Right, call me what ever. But ignorance is certainly not genetic. I don't major in science nor do I like it much either, but I've been thinking about it for a while. For the record, hell, I'm not even in university yet.

Alright, I'll try explaining it in short terms, bear with me:

Our genetic/evolutionary heritage provides the initial push toward prejudice. My essential argument is that three sets of genetic/evolutionary processes that lead to prejudice and discrimination evolved in hunter-gatherer tribes. They were appropriate and necessary for that subsistence mode, which characterizes 99% of human existence. These three sets of processes—inclusive fitness, authority-bearing systems, intergroup hostility—are put into motion in nonhunter-gatherer contexts because they have been incorporated into our epigenetic systems. A fourth set of processes, outgroup attractiveness, which is based on the necessity of gene flow, to some extent counteracts the above processes and may lead to the reduction of prejudice and discrimination. I'll explain the first part of the "why is that", and if you care, I will pursue -- the others are plain rational, and logical, so you can examine that yourself.

So, the theory of inclusive fitness leads to the prediction that members of a breeding community will show preferences toward their relatives. In primate evolution, “close relatives” is nearly synonymous with “members of the subsistence group.” That is, in general, a primate, including the human hunter-gatherer, has more close relatives in his or her subsistence group than in other groups. Thus, primates are evolutionarily predisposed to show ingroup favoritism. A scarcity of resources may, in addition, lead to outgroup
antagonism...

Capice?

And please, everyone, don't base your assumptions on hatred/prejudice/bigot/discrimination on any "Law and Order" episode where the defense says "it's genetic and it cannot be controlled". It's just a matter of opinion you develop through your thoughts.; ▶ Reply to This