Aaaah, I see. Such impeccable logic! So if I call Fred Phelps a bigot, that actually means that I am a bigot. Doesn't this greatly increase the number of people that could be called bigots? Just about everyone is a bigot then. Therefore it seems that Kansas is even more bigoted than you think. The bumber sticker is therefore true.
But of course it is the 'pith' of the bumper sticker which makes it such a popular one.

maybe you should visit southwest Kansas a few times before you say Kansans aren't bigoted.

As someone who's from southwest Kansas and not a bigot: We're not all idiots. Regrettably, the most vocal people are.

I don't think you're getting it. He's not talking about labeling ONE person a bigot (i.e. Fred Phelps). He's talking about the stupidity of people assuming that because Fred Phelps is a bigot, EVERYONE in Kansas must be a bigot. THAT is bigoted; painting an entire state with the same brush based on one person. Maybe you need a bumper sticker that says "Fred Phelps: As Bigoted As You Think." I for one am sick of leaving the state and/or country and being considered a hick because of where I'm from, and because the only publicity that Kansas gets is from that idiotic "preacher." Not everyone in Kansas thinks like that, yet that's the perception.

Linguo: The UDK accepts columnist applications in December. Go for it.

hermeschick-
You don't get it. He said that people who have the bumber sticker are bigots for having it. If everyone who has the sticker can be included in the group of Kansans called bigots, then Kansas really does have more bigots.

I wouldn't want my name affiliated with this rag.

Lingo, I thought you were a party robot.
People who have the bumper stickers have identified themselves as bigots, whereas people who live in Kansas have not selected the state to show their bigotry. Do you have a different definition of bigotry than the one I used in the article?
And your name already is associated with the UDK on its comments page.

"What these car-drivers want is to paint one side as ignorantly opinionated."

Oh my god. It's a damned bumper sticker. I have to see "Terri was Murdered" "We Vote Pro-Life (read: Republican straight down the ticket," and "It's a Child, Not a Choice" every single day I drive. So tell me what's wrong with a clever "As Bigoted As You Think" bumper sticker, other than the fact that it offends those people who can't challenge themselves to analyze their own political beliefs. Is Fred Phelps wrong? Yes. Are most Kansans like him? No, but are most Kansans inclined to hate abortion, gay people, and public programs? Yes. Are they equally inclined to like capital punishment, support war, and be total hypocrites? In general, the "electoral majority" is indeed prejudiced against those choices. You can't use any form of logic to then turn it and say "Well, because you are against the bigots, you yourself are bigoted." That's just a ridiculous third-grade argument. Next time you want to write a column, please just write "I'm rubber, you're glue. Whatever you say bounces off me, and sticks to you."

There are better definitions than yours. Yours is basically anyone who holds an opinion and won't listen to others. A better definition would include more than just opinions, such as American Heritage Dictionary's:
"A person who is rigidly devoted to his own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ"
The classic bigot is Archie Bunker. So it's not just having a strong opinion that makes one a bigot; usually there is a hatred of certain groups of people. Its not really that hard of a concept. You can't just claim that people who get these bumper stickers are bigots becauses they have an opinion about true bigots.
And linguo_the_grammar_robot is not my name.

Oh, I did find your definition for bigot when I googled 'bigot'. You must have done a lot of research on that article. Do they teach you guys to go beyond google and wikipedia? Isn't there a library near the journalism building?

Linguo: Google makes lots of money from having good search algorithms. Was the site not a reputable dictionary? Was the definition wrong? Is your problem with the site only the fact that Google brought the site up in a search? Google brings up lots of stuff; is it all disreputable as a result? Is a print dictionary inherently better than an online dictionary if the results are the same?
Llama: after you say "it's a bumper sticker," like that makes it trivial, you then cite bumper stickers that anger you. And you prove my argument by failing to see disagreement with your stance on abortion and public programs as anything other than bigotry. Hatred of homosexuals IS bigotry, but whence comes your assumption that "most" Kansans "hate" gays? Being prejudiced against your agenda is not the same thing as bigotry; it's just your bigotry that keeps you from seeing that.

Good one, because you managed to incorporate the word "bigotry" in 9 times, I am actually the bigot.

Is it bigoted to be pro-life, or pro-choice? Pro life allows for one option, pro-choice allows for many. I'm not intolerant of pro-lifers. You have your own choice. Allowing for choice is inherently the opposite of bigotry, being as you are not forcing your opinion on anyone.

I find it ironic that I am bigoted because I do not accept YOUR political agenda, but your prejudice is "not the same as bigotry." AKA, this whole argument is absolutely ridiculous. Let's analyze the matters at hand, and that is choices for people to live their lives from a legal standpoint.

People do not have the freedom to choose, because every human life has a value. If this were true, the death penalty should also be removed from governmental use, because it is as unethical to remove someone who is sentient as it is to abort a mass of cells.

No, I do not support abortion in all cases, nor do I think it should be considered if it can be avoided at all. But my point remains: There are two sides: One that says you can have that option, and the other that says you cannot.

On the issue of gays, Kansans gladly voiced their opinion on gays by making sure civil unions and gay marriages are against the state constitution: April 5, 2005, voted 70-30%. An overwhelming majority. Why is this bigotry? It doesn't even allow an option for civil unions to be recognized by the state.

All marriage is, is a legal binding contract between two individuals to share their lives, as far as the state is concerned. So civil unions should be banned as well... There is no logical argument to support the banning of this. None whatsoever. The state is discriminating against two individuals entering into a legal agreement making their relationship legitimate and allowing them to have the same benefits other legal couples receive. What difference does this even make to you and me? If a couple gay dudes get hitched, I'm not going to turn to my girl and say "well, sorry, can't get married ever now, because our marriage is less legitimate." Regardless... It's about limiting choices because of prejudice. I'm fighting against limiting choices. I think you can choose to be in a straight relationship and you can choose not to have an abortion, but your personal choices do not suit everyone else's needs.

"Hatred of homosexuals IS bigotry, but whence comes your assumption that "most" Kansans "hate" gays?"

The vote on the gay marriage amendment a couple years ago seems to settle this issue.

You're yet to answer my central premise: your bigotry leads you to label anyone who disagrees with you as a bigot. You bring up abortion and civil unions and deny that anyone could oppose them for any reason other than bigotry.

kshusker: was the ballot initiative a referendum on hating homosexuals, or was it a question of allowing gay marriage?

It was a referendum on homosexuals. That should be obvious to anyone, even undergraduate economists.

Llama, s77white, and kshuker: is it possible that opponents of gay marriage have a compelling reason that is NOT their "hatred" of homosexuals? Will you allow that it is POSSIBLE there can be one? Your posts don't seem to allow for this.

Can a person who agrees with you ever be a bigot, or is it only people who disagree with you? If there are bigots in the gay marriage debate, is it logical to assume that they are only on one side of the debate?

Economist: "...is it possible that opponents of gay marriage have a compelling reason that is NOT their "hatred" of homosexuals?"

When said "opponents" also outlaw civil unions / private contracts, NO!

I want to hear your compelling political reason to ban gay marriage and civil unions. No matter how compelling your faith-based arguments are, that doesn't mean you have a political basis for your argument. Can liberals be bigots? Absolutely, I never said that we couldn't. However, the fact that we point out bigotry on the right does not inherently make us bigoted AGAINST the right. Why do I oppose the overwhelming majority of people who voted against gay marriage? Hmm, because almost every person I've talked to who voted it down did so because of a faith-based reason... You are entitled to your own religion, not to pushing it on anyone else. That makes them bigots. Why? Because of their prejudice, regardless of how it is instilled in them, they believe that all homosexuals are morally evil. Regardless, there is no legal justification for that opinion, other than people the topic doesn't pertain to (read: Straight people who have no interactions with gay couples on a daily basis) have spoken based upon what their religion dictates.

And you can't refute that the most common objection to legally allowing gay unions or marriages is the religious one.

I did not define every single person as a bigot, however, a large portion of people are bigoted. Moreso on the right than the left. It's a generalization, not a stereotype- the sociology student in me I guess, but it is based in something you can see in our state, I feel.

You don't know anything about me at all, yet you have personally labeled me as a bigot. Rather, I am pointing out that generally, the opposition to gay marriage and abortion is faith-based, and as such, bigotry, since the consideration of these topics is not a political one, not a legal one, but rather one of opinion for people it doesn't directly affect.

Regardless, you are hellbent on labeling all liberals as bigots, and you seem pretty self-satisfied with your assessment and your flawed logical leaps... Under your logic, every single human being is a bigot. Labels don't really matter as much to me, I prefer to look at it differently, however, I strongly disagree that liberals are more bigoted... Being bigoted against the bigots... That's a bit like discriminating against racists... I don't know what your argument is- that we are bigoted against people who want a constitutional amendment to ensure that two gay people that they will never meet can NEVER be legally recognized as a couple? Great work. When you have a real objection that does not involve the words "God, family," etc., come to me.

It's going to be a fun semester if Brandon is this thin skinned about every comment on his articles. As Llama (and most everyone else) has pointed out, to be against racists (i.e. bigots) does not make one a bigot.
And, yes, I would agree that not all Kansans are 'bigots'; but you miss the point that this is a BUMPER STICKER which plays off of the saying "Kansas, as big as you think". Since this 'motto' came out at a time when Kansans were being particularly ignorant (Intelligent Design in schools, banning gay marriage), people who were opposed to these views were drawn to the clever twist of words. It is a clever bumper sticker.

PS Get a good desk dictionary...don't even rely on google or wikipedia except as a starting place to do further research.

Of course banning same-sex marriage -- and especially civil unions -- is bigotry. It might be overwhelmingly popular in KS outside of Lawrence, but polularity doesn't excuse bigotry.

As a side note, I freely admit I am somewhat bigoted against right-wring moralizing self-proclaimed Christians -- but I do NOT want to pass laws that prohibit their religion or make it illegal for them to make contracts.

Linguo: I didn't think I had "thin skin" so much as I was just having a good time having a discussion with people who disagree. That whole "thrill of the debate" thing.

And I still disagree with you about Google. Google is a search engine, not a source. The pages it returns are sources. If you have a problem with the source, then say so. Having a problem with Google is like having a problem with a book's typesetter.

THis is probably one of the stupidest things I have read in a long time...

Did anyone consider for a moment that there is more than one way to look at this bumper sticker? As bigoted as you think- The state is only as bigoted as the people living in it think. If you (any and everyone reading the sticker) think bigoted thoughts than Kansas as a whole is bigoted but that can be changed by not thinking bigoted thoughts. It seems from the pissiness, name calling, and I'm right your wrong attitudes that the point of the bumper sticker was completely missed by everyone. Bigoted as YOU think.