Quote:
Originally Posted by mrmistoffelees
Fair points also....
Tolerance & empathy as you say is a two way street, I'd expect someone who requested you to adhere to their pronouns to give you the same respect to something that held a deep and meaningful significance to you.
Whilst the proposals put in motion as you say are not inevitable it stands to reason that there will be a degree of resultant change, how big or significant a change? who knows. Butterflies... flapping wings... earthquakes......
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We used to have a member on here who, in any religious thread, was always sure to repeatedly refer to the God of the Bible as a “genocidal tyrant”. As we no longer have stringent blasphemy laws in this country he was entitled to do so, and while I would occasionally attempt to engage in discussion on that point I would never challenge his right to believe, or to express that belief - despite it being somewhat offensive to me, given my wholly different understanding of who God is (to the point of going to a church to actively worship him on a weekly basis).
When I talk about human beings as “he” or “she” I’m talking about them in their immutable biological state, just as we’ve always done. I’m firmly of the view that that is the only fundamental division in the human race and it is fair and reasonable to acknowledge it. I’m not going to be offended if someone tries to correct me by asserting they are a “ze” or whatever - but I expect them to manage their sense of offence in a mature, adult manner when I politely decline to use any such terms.
A truly tolerant society is one that can find a way for very different people to live side by side without insisting their neighbour change their world view, no matter how much they might want them to. And that tolerance absolutely must flow equally in both directions, not simply in favour of whoever seems to represent the current zeitgeist.