Inaugural Post: Double Standards

     Hello there! Welcome to The Extremist Moderate, a blog about thinking. This is my first post on this blog, so I'd like to start with something I think is very important. For this first post, I've decided to talk a bit about double standards.

     For those who don't know, double standards are a bit like double rainbows. Except they're evil, colorless, and generally have nothing in common with double rainbows except that they share the word "double." Merriam-Webster describes a double standard as:

a set of principles that applies differently and usually more rigorously to one group of people or circumstances than to another; especially : a code of morals that applies more severe standards of sexual behavior to women than to men

     Long story short, a double standard is when one group is held to a different standard of conduct than another. It would take less than a minute to find an example of double standards in this age. Using the previous example of men and women, you can see what I mean.

     When a woman makes a career out of a job field that historically has been dominated by males(e.g. politics, science, and sports), they are generally seen as pioneers, heroes, or role models for doing so. Yet, if a man makes a career out of a field that has usually been related to females(e.g. nursing, fashion, and design), he is oft regarded with humor, as if he's doing something wrong. This is a double standard prevalent in our society. Men doing "feminine" things are poked fun at, yet women doing "men's jobs" are idolized(again, generally).

Just look at this idol.(http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~usarra/)

     Double standards are dangerous. Even after the 15th Amendment, black people, despite having the right to vote, were often held to different standards than white people in order to vote. They were made to take "literacy tests" which white people did not have to take. You may be thinking: "Well, it's only a test of literacy, it shouldn't have been THAT hard..." These tests were unnecessarily tough and test-takers were allotted very little time. Keep in mind that, due to Plessy v. Ferguson, black people had been cheated out of an equal public education. If you want to take a crack at it, here's one from Alabama(I doubt many people even nowadays could pass this test).

A political cartoon by Dr. Seuss.(http://www1.cuny.edu/)

     It wasn't until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that this injustice was righted, and this vicious double standard was abolished.

     What's my point? Well, in this day and age many would consider that double standards have been done away with, and that there is equality for all people. Yet, this is not the case.

     This past year, the Loudon County Courthouse in my local area decided to allow the first 10 applicants to put up displays during the winter season. What would one normally suspect? A Christmas tree or two? A giant menorah? Well, let's just see. They ended up with the displays including two nativity scenes, a Christmas tree, and a Christmas poster. Alright, I can see that. Christians, after all, are the majority in America. However, the interesting parts are the rest: one note from Jesus criticizing Christians, four atheist signs, and a Jediist display. Surely, in a country in which the freedoms of expression and speech are venerated, nothing could have gone wrong, right? Nope. The displays were met with opposition.

A man by the name of Don Phillips remarked:

“Christmas is a season because of Jesus and they’re trying to get equal play for non-religious [displays] ... They’re trying to mock the Christian faith. With freedom of speech, there’s a limit on what you can do. This is disrespectful and insensitive.” (Loudontimes.com)

 He goes on to say that:

“It just breaks my heart to see this kind of stuff ... We don’t mind if the Muslims or the Jews want to have something. We’re just upset at all the hate being displayed. That’s all it is, pure hate.” (Loudontimes.com)

     So, simply stating that one does not believe that "God" exists is hate? He is saying that, if you dare speak your mind, it had better comply with his beliefs, or it is hate speech. It's quite humorous, actually. If a Christian were to go around with a cross hanging from his/her neck, or wearing a shirt that said "Jesus loves you," no one would think ill of him/her. Yet, what would happen if one walked around with a public display of atheism? I tried this in my school. I hung a sign on my backpack, saying that I was an atheist. I was surprised by how many dirty looks I got. On top of that, people actually decided to ask "Why would you wear that? It's so insensitive!"

In a nutshell.(http://grungly.com/category/hypocrisy/)

     This is a double standard. In this society, people are expected to respect all religions. Yet, people have no problem bashing those without one. Ever since giving up all religion and becoming an atheist March 10th of this year, I've been seeing the world in quite a different way. I've even been called "Satan." (To be fair, he took that statement back, instead calling me a "pupil of Satan.") However, if I were to call them some derogatory term(I can't think of any at the moment), they would claim I'm attacking their religion. Those with religion are expected to be proud of it, while those without are expected to keep their mouths shut, lest they appear "insensitive." So, if double standards based on race, gender, etc. are inappropriate, how come this hypocrisy is allowed to run rampant? I cannot give an answer to that. That's for you to think about.

     This post was inspired by a video by DarkMatter2525. If you get the chance, you should watch it.

     Happy trails! The Extremist Moderate.

P.S. I stumbled upon a clip of Ricky Gervais on Piers Morgan's new show. I have to say, he puts his point forward very eloquently: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1XGTrrZjlI&feature=related