When kindness costs nothing, why are we still paying in prejudice?

I am reminded too often that we are dumb, ignorant apes. We're smart enough as a species to industrialize, go to space, and vaccinate the masses against deadly plagues. But we're not smart enough to agree on fundamental, researchable, objective truths about the natural world.

I read a homophobic comment below an article recently saying they weren't accepting of gay people. Although I come across such comments multiple times a day as I scour through article comment sections, this one, for whatever reason, sparked an existential reflection.

It costs nothing to be kind and accepting. But what bothers me more than cruelty is stupidity.

Gay people have existed for all of human history. Homosexuality has been observed in nature since we started observing nature. According to an October 2023 article published in Nature Communications, same-sex behavior has been observed in over 1,500 animal species, which will inevitably increase.

Homophobia is baffling to me because reality, based on scientific consensus, is so easily researchable. Why deny the identities of minorities due to harmless, innate characteristics that they did not choose and cannot change? It's so intellectually dishonest. It's embarrassing and shameful.

Bring back shame! I cringe at confident ignorance.

I blame religion, culture, and faith-based doctrines for perpetuating this ignorance. When surprised by my strong aversion to religion, people often ask if I respect others' religious beliefs. I generally don't respect religion or culture that fosters bigotry. I won't persecute anyone for harmless beliefs, but faith can be a slippery slope. For some, faith leads to fear, bigotry, discriminatory policies, and irrational theocracies.

I say this with all due condescension as rights are stripped away from marginalized communities.

Human rights, justice, and scientific consensus should never bow to religion, faith, or culture. Human rights should always take precedence because harmless, innate human characteristics are more worthy of protection than how faith makes people feel. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN in 1948, enshrines the principle of non-discrimination. Faith-based belief systems should not supersede this fundamental right.

When we allow such compromises, we perpetuate ignorance and harm that should be a source of collective shame.

It's not just religion, though. Culture plays a huge role, too. We are products of our environment, raised in communities and societies that can perpetuate outdated, harmful norms. It's frustrating because we can access so much information, yet many cling to ignorance and prejudice. How would the world look if our species could collectively think critically? Suppose we prioritized critical thinking over dogma and tradition. In that case, we might foster a culture where shame is directed towards ignorance and prejudice rather than towards harmless, natural mammalian traits.

Ignorance isn't only about lacking knowledge; it's about refusing to seek it out. It's about willful blindness to facts that are inconvenient or uncomfortable. It's easier to follow the path of least resistance, to go along with what we've always known, than to challenge ourselves to grow and evolve. But growth is essential; evolution is necessary. If we can't evolve our thinking, we will repeat the same mistakes. The unwillingness to grow and confront uncomfortable truths should be met with societal shame.

Morality and ethics can provide philosophical frameworks for people, but moral belief systems are subjective across societies, cultures, and individuals. No one should call innate, unchangeable human characteristics immoral because morality implies choice, and no one chooses to be an LGBTQIA+ person. Misguided moral judgments based on ignorance should invoke a sense of shame, not the natural characteristics they target.

Ignorance has real-world consequences. It leads to discriminatory laws, social ostracization, and violence against marginalized communities. It's a cycle of harm that continues because too many people are unwilling to question their beliefs or challenge injustice.

It's infuriating.

This perpetuation of harm, born out of ignorance, should be a source of profound societal and personal shame worthy of ridicule.

Cain Turner (he/him) is a global development and nonprofit communications professional with a background in electoral politics. He has held coalition building roles on the campaigns of Elizabeth Warren, Hillary Clinton, Tim Kaine, and others. As an LGBTQ person of Lebanese descent, Cain has worked on human rights, the Afghan refugee resettlement crisis, and he currently leads communications for a water access foundation working in East Africa. He helped organize the 2018 Women's March on Washington, for which he made media appearances on NPR and Fox 5 DC. Cain lives in Charlottesville, VA, and holds a B.A. in Sociology and Public Policy.

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