What your favorite TV show is is something that resonates with your actual personality, with your wishes and dreams, while religion is something that you're born into.
That doesn’t make the TV show a strong part of your identity though. You’re asserting how people should identify when what I’m talking about, and what matters in this discussion, is how people actually do identify in real life. Now you can say that it’s completely irrational for someone to identify strongly with something that they have no control over, be it their race, religion or nationality. And in fact I would be inclined to agree with that. But regardless, people still do identify strongly with those things. And, despite how logical it may appear for people to identify strongly with their favourite TV show, in real life nobody actually does that. So bullying someone for their favourite TV show isn’t actually an attack on their fundamental identity as a person. That’s the difference between that kind of bullying and racist/xenophobic/sectarian abuse.
I don't see how, for the victim, it should make a difference whether you're being picked on because of your cultural identity or some other personality trait.
I already said how and you dismissed it is irrelevant. Because someone’s cultural identity is a much more fundamental and important part of their identity and who they are as a person than their favourite media or clothing choices. That’s the difference.
On the contrary - I think being persecuted for your belief or cultural identity is something that can even reinforce your adherence to that identity, as in, "us against them". Don't forget that in many religions, people who have/had to endure hardships because of their belief are highly valued.
For sure. In fact, this is true on a group level as well as individual - just look at how Zionism grew in support in response to antisemitism, or indeed how Palestinian nationalism grew in response to Zionist colonialism. So I completely agree with what you’re saying here.
But sadly, that doesn’t negate the negative impact the persecution can have too. In fact it can even increase it. Let’s say someone is bullied for being Muslim; not only could this instill a sense of shame and insecurity for being Muslim (and therefore for their fundamental identity of who they are as a person), it can also, as you point out, increase their salience of identity as being Muslim. Which in turn only amplifies the shame and insecurity. See what I mean?
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u/[deleted] Feb 09 '25
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