Quote:
Originally Posted by counterpointing
I rather someone in a turban or veil was sitting nearby; it makes for more interesting scenery. The middle east is an interesting place. Some good archeology can and is being done there, and therefore put on the History Channel.
Now not trusting extremism in any form is not prejudice; it is self defense. I have no prejudices, and am not afraid to say it with the risk of sounding like a perfectionist.
Prejudice:
opinion formed beforehand: a preformed opinion, usually an unfavorable one, based on insufficient knowledge, irrational feelings, or inaccurate stereotypes
irrational dislike of somebody: an unfounded hatred, fear, or mistrust of a person or group, especially one of a particular religion, ethnicity, nationality, sexual preference, or social status
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But like most, if not all characteristics, prejudice is not a defined boolean (ie, prejudice or not), but rather a spectrum. Their is varying degrees of prejudice. But as is true to other characteristics, prejudice is however viewed as present or absent in most social contexts, and not as the spectrum which it is. With intention of more concise descriptions of people, we usually only associate a characteristic with a person if it is particularly strong, evident or dominant in their personality. Saying someone is prejudice is saying that they reach or exceed a loosely defined measurement of it. The definitions you provide work in this way. Within this context however, seeing as we truly are splitting hairs, for you to say you are void of prejudice is completely untrue. For prejudice is essentially differentiating thought based on the value of a characteristic. The extent to which it differs defining the extend of one prejudice.
But is this such a bad thing? No, a person without prejudice could not even sense more than single object within their perception of reality. Prejudice is an instrument of survival, a defense mechanism. But thats splitting hairs.
In regards to the actual topic, i personally don't find Australia's muslimphobia as surprising as some people do. A fair portion of Australians would have little or nothing to do with Muslims. So if you were told bad things about a culture you had never experienced or knew nothing else about it, would you not be predisposed to dislike or at least be cautious of said culture? Of course you would. For most of us, it is probably the latter, but times the emphasis by about a thousand and it is pretty easy to see why muslimphobai exists. And for those who do have experience with muslims, on the most part, their phobia already existed and has only really been enhanced. Current issues have really only fueled the fire lit by immigration tensions and existing cultural clashes.