this post was submitted on 10 Nov 2023
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There actually is no paradox if you think of this way:
Be tolerant of ideas that harm nobody.
Be intolerant of ideas that harm others.
"I'm gay." <- Tolerable.
"I'm not gay, so I won't date men." <- Tolerable.
"I'm not gay, so I think we should kill all gay people." <- Intolerable.
The dilemma is how you define harming others and what implies being intolerant to an idea rather than a person holding that idea.
Beliefs and personal convictions muck that up a bit though.
There's a sadly significant portion of people who truly believe that being gay is hurting other people.
Whether they believe it only because they were told to or for some personal reason, they believe it nonetheless.
A gay person existing doesn't actually literally harm anyone though. A homphobe shouting slurs at a gay person, excluding them from vital social, economic or whatever activity or beating them up does very concretely harm someone. It's not that difficult.
It doesn't, but that doesn't mean people can't believe that it does.
The problem with this is that people disagree about what harms others. Right wing insane people are not living in the same reality that you and I are. They genuinely believe that even seeing a gay person is harmful. They genuinely believe that the existence of gay people is harmful to others.
Yes. I think harm is an excellent way to qualify it. As the old saying goes " if it ain't harm none do as thou mote "
or more succinctly: an ye harm none, do what ye will