When you make a statement about Muslims, substitute the word ‘Christians’ before you say it, and vice versa.
When you make a statement about black people, substitute ‘white people’, and vice versa.
When you make a statement about gay people, substitute ‘straight people’, and vice versa.
When you make a statement about transgender people, substitute ‘cisgender people’, and vice versa.
For ‘poor’, substitute ‘rich’ and vice versa. For ‘disabled’, substitute ‘able-bodied’, and vice versa. For ‘immigrants’, substitute ‘natural born citizens’, and vice versa. For ‘atheists’, substitute ‘believers’ and vice versa.
Now take a look at your substituted sentence and ask yourself “if I heard this, would I think the person saying it was a dick?” If so, then saying your original sentence also makes you a dick. Just don’t say it. And ask yourself what it was inside you that made you think of it in the first place.
Every one of the above groups has its share of dicks, and its share of good people, and indeed its share of good people who make mistakes and accidentally come across as dicks.
We’ve probably all been guilty of it at some point – I know there have been times when I have, however unintentionally – but we can do better.
Combine this with the Golden Rule of “treat others how you would want them to treat you” – which is in itself the very essence of not being a dick – and your little corner of the world is made good. If we all do it, every little corner of the world is made good.
So go out there into the world, each one of you, and don’t be a dick.
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