Any ethical limits?

[Becky]

You may not choose to have an irrational fear, but you can choose to control how much you let it affect your behaviour. 

[OneDollar]

That may be true, but what I'm saying is that you shouldn't condem someone with a fear of something. Someone who is actually racist/sexist etc is a different matter.

[Emerald]

You may not choose to have an irrational fear, but you can choose to control how much you let it affect your behaviour. 

Not really. That's what irrational means - it's not grounded in any logical thought process. It's a simple knee-jerk reaction, like having a spider crawling down the back of your neck, or getting hit in with one of those little hammers.

I mean, I'm sure it's possible to overcome with a lot of psychotherapy in a gradual process, but that's a lot of money and effort to spend just to be politically correct...


Edit

That may be true, but what I'm saying is that you shouldn't condem someone with a fear of something. Someone who is actually racist/sexist etc is a different matter.

I don't think anybody should be condemned for their beliefs, no matter what they may be. Now, if they try to force their beliefs on others, or act on them, that's different - but just because someone says something that most people don't agree with, I don't see why it's such a crime.

Why is it that 'freedom of speech' only seems to apply if what you're saying is popular?

[Ozzie]

Yeah, I'm also a friggin' lazy bum.
I mean, can I change it? I was born that way, raised that way, what should I do?

Well, of course I can! I kick myself in the ass everyday to do something, though I don't want to really. I also had to learn to be more nice and social to people.

With your same line of argumentation you could also excuse the behaviour of murderer, paedophile,...
I mean, they feel this way, they can't help themselves, but they have to kill people or molest small children.

All human beings are different. For some it's harder to behave in a social manner than for others. We might help those, but I at least won't accept recklessness and intolerance.

[PixelPerfect]

Just like Emerald, you're putting words in my mouth and not listening to what I'm actually saying. In a wonderful stroke of irony, that makes you judgmental, since because of cognitive laziness you're pigeonholing people based on a hasty first impression, rather than actually trying to comprehend them. In other words, if you think I'm PC by any stretch of the word, you really don't know who I am.

I don't really know you so I can't be saying anything about you, that's true. But if you can say that a person is "nasty" when all you know is that he walked out of a barber once in his life is kinda odd. Don't you agree?

Oh come on, running out from a barber shop just because you notice the barber might be homosexual is a very provocative act.   
....
I dunno, I'm just allergic to the claim "you're intolerant because you don't tolerate intolerant people!!" It's just silly. This has nothing to do with political correctness, it's about understanding that everyone deserves to be treated like a freaking human being, regardless of colour or sexual preferences. If you didn't learn this in school, it's your loss. Try to change.

It's funny that this "act" would've been probably more tolerable if the barber would've been a non gay person. "So you just didn't like the guy, okay". I think we have a right to choose as customers where we'll get our haircut, whatever the reason may be, and in this case the guy clearly has issues with openly gay people so why wouldn't he leave?

And I'm with you on that notion that everybody should be treated the same, but you're on pretty thin ice if you start saying that leaving a store because of uncomfort, maybe even fear, is a provocative act. Especially when you don't know the circumstances. I wouldn't want to get a haircut from a crossdresser/transgender in full party gear, because it wouldn't be comfortable. I'd rather go to a "normal" place. I guess I'm being intolerant to crossdressers/transgenders for not wanting them express their sexual preference at the same time when cutting my hair?

[Emerald]

With your same line of argumentation you could also excuse the behaviour of murderer, paedophile,...

Has society really degenerated to the point that being un-PC is the equivalent of being a child-raping-murderer?