The Power of Words

Icon – 1. picture, image, or other representation. 2. Church: an image of a sacred person, generally venerated as sacred itself. 3. One who is the object of great attention and devotion. 4. A portrait or pretended portrait.
[For some reason, most people think this means "someone else's false religion", but it's also the crucifix on the key chain, the picture of Jesus or Mary on the wall, the statues of saints in the church. In the Old Testament, "any image or representation of God, real or imagined, is a false image", therefore an icon; they are false because they are not spiritual but material; this includes mental images. They become "another god before me", as many people pray to these images.]

Bigotry – 1. Intolerance of or dislike of any belief, creed, or opinion different from one’s own. 2. Opposing or not liking someone based on their beliefs, usually religious.
[One reason the US separated church and state is because in the history or man, most wars and emigrations were caused by religious intolerance; many fled to the new world to escape European repression, hence we are prohibited from making any law restricting religious freedom, or from allowing religion to control government.]

Prejudice – 1. Disagreement with or dislike of someone based on their religion, background, race, nationality. 2. Any preconceived opinion, favorable or unfavorable. 3. Opinions formed without knowledge, thought, or reason. (“You just have to take my word for it; you just need to have faith.”)
[It's now a federal crime to commit a crime due to prejudice, so basically 'prejudice is against federal law.' In Biblical times, the King of Israel was 'federal law'.]

Did you know that 90% of all people believe what their parents believed? Is this then based on “knowledge, thought, or reason”? Is this even freedom? How can progress ever occur, that implies change. If things stay the same, that’s called stagnation; a person who won’t change is called stubborn, obstinate, close-minded. So if you simply believe what your parents believed, you become stubborn and close-minded, and controlled by your prejudice, and your attitudes towards others will be bigoted. A society or nation based in prejudice will stagnate and never progress, and the world will pass them by.