Why are bigots so incapable of differentiating between muslims and non-muslims?

[Omgodzilla]

I have brown skin, because I happen to have been born in Pakistan. But I'm also an atheist. I spent most of life in Canada. And yesterday, was the first time in my life that someone actually came up to me and yelled islamophobic insults at me. It was some old guy. I told him, I'm not a muslim and he didn't believe me. He told me to go back to my own country. I told him I renounced my Pakistani citizenship long ago and that Canada is the only country that I am citizen of. He didn't seem to understand me and just kept on reiterating the "go back to your own country" bullshit.

I was surprised that something like this hadn't happened to me sooner. I've gone 18 years without experiencing something like this. Maybe it was just an isolated incident. I know that the majority of Canadians I've interacted with were decent and tolerant people. But it did piss me off quite a bit, that I was associated with the scumbags in ISIS based entirely on my skin colour. Dismiss this as random whining if you wish but I feel that stuff like this is a legitimate problem. What I experienced wasn't that bad but other non-muslim brown people haven't been so lucky. It's quite frustrating to read an article about Sikh people being targeted because a pack of viscous bigots were too stupid to tell the difference between Sikhs and Muslims: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1751841.html

[NineSpine]

Because if they had the intellectual capacity to differentiate, then they wouldn't be bigots.

[Deleted]

Because bigots are irrational

[Eazy]

Better safe than sorry.

And I'm not even joking/trolling. That is the right answer for your question.

[Underverse]

Because if they had the intellectual capacity to differentiate, then they wouldn't be bigots.

aaaand we're done!

[Xjev]

I have a Iranian friend who is atheist and vegan and is doing a PhD here in Canada. Once he was asked at a mall why when we help syrians come our country you refuse to eat our meat

but honestly its a very rare occasion at least here in Canada, people are generally very nice

[Deleted]

Better safe than sorry.

And I'm not even joking/trolling. That is the right answer for your question.

Le sigh

I think it's time for bed for me

[Underverse]

Better safe than sorry.

And I'm not even joking/trolling. That is the right answer for your question.

That might be what people are thinking, but I hope you aren't suggesting that this is reasonable logic.

[Mistame]

Well, "Muslim" isn't a race, so that's the guy's first mistake. He's clearly intolerant of "brown-skinned" people. But your question is a bit odd, since it's effectively like asking why people can't tell the difference between a christian and an atheist. As far as the "sikh" issue, I'd never even heard of them until the thread popped here awhile back so it's really only relevant as far as the assumption that the "victims" are "brown-skinned". /shrug

[Jonnusthegreat]

It's basically just racism. There is no good scientific reason to be racist, so they have no good reason.

[Nachturnal]

Education.

[Deleted]

I have brown skin, because I happen to have been born in Pakistan. But I'm also an atheist. I spent most of life in Canada. And yesterday, was the first time in my life that someone actually came up to me and yelled islamophobic insults at me. It was some old guy. I told him, I'm not a muslim and he didn't believe me. He told me to go back to my own country. I told him I renounced my Pakistani citizenship long ago and that Canada is the only country that I am citizen of. He didn't seem to understand me and just kept on reiterating the "go back to your own country" bullshit.

I was surprised that something like this hadn't happened to me sooner. I've gone 18 years without experiencing something like this. Maybe it was just an isolated incident. I know that the majority of Canadians I've interacted with were decent and tolerant people. But it did piss me off quite a bit, that I was associated with the scumbags in ISIS based entirely on my skin colour. Dismiss this as random whining if you wish but I feel that stuff like this is a legitimate problem. What I experienced wasn't that bad but other non-muslim brown people haven't been so lucky. It's quite frustrating to read an article about Sikh people being targeted because a pack of viscous bigots were too stupid to tell the difference between Sikhs and Muslims: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1751841.html

Grats, you just met your first nutter.

[May90]

Because... they are bigots?

[Deleted]

Grats, you just met your first nutter.

Welcome to MMOC, you'll meet many more

[Goondicker]

One time in 18 years? Sounds pretty tame to me.

It's likely becasue of all the recent happenings regarding extreme Islam putting everyone on edge. Just brush it off and don't think anything of it - a very small percentage of people are like that, and it'll happen no matter what race you are.

[breadisfunny]

Because if they had the intellectual capacity to differentiate, then they wouldn't be bigots.

pretty much sums up your answer.

[Concequence]

Call him a Filthy Pre-Christian Anglo-Saxon. Tell him to go back to his own country, filthy pre-christian pagans from an non-determinate European location.
Tell him you are intolerant of his beliefs and the warmongering worship of Woden.

Ha. I'm sure he would look at you confused. And then you can call him an unschooled idiot too.

[urasim]

Because if they had the intellectual capacity to differentiate, then they wouldn't be bigots.

Yeah, because you can tell the difference between a Muslim and an atheist by a glance.

If you were approached by a screaming person asking if you're a terrorist, you'd say no because of the fear he'd attack you if you admitted you were. Not because you're not a terrorist, but because it's the natural response in a situation like this. If you're not comfortable with the word terrorist here, you can substitute it with anything and it'd still be valid.

@OP: Hatred overrides pretty much everything including rational thought. When the media, or your peers, are telling/showing you that everyone of X skin color is bad, you're bound to go around acting on these bad ideas. It's called groupthink.

[NineSpine]

Yeah, because you can tell the difference between a Muslim and an atheist by a glance.

If you were approached by a screaming person asking if you're a terrorist, you'd say no because of the fear he'd attack you if you admitted you were. Not because you're not a terrorist, but because it's the natural response in a situation like this. If you're not comfortable with the word terrorist here, you can substitute it with anything and it'd still be valid.

@OP: Hatred overwrites pretty much everything including rational thought. When the media, or your peers, are telling/showing you that everyone of X skin color is bad, they're bound to go around acting on these bad ideas. It's called groupthink.

The ability to differentiate implies the ability to tell when you have enough information to differentiate. This is clear to anyone who isn't looking to score forum smart guy points.

[urasim]

Call him a Filthy Pre-Christian Anglo-Saxon. Tell him to go back to his own country, filthy pre-christian pagans from an non-determinate European location.
Tell him you are intolerant of his beliefs and the warmongering worship of Woden.

Ha. I'm sure he would look at you confused. And then you can call him an unschooled idiot too.

Escalating a tense situation isn't the best of ideas. It's usually a good way to earn your Darwin award, though.