Astrology is bigotry

Is astrology a form of bigotry?

Astrology is bigotry is an argument which posits that certain forms of astrology are bigoted, specifically any form which prescribes behavior to people based on when they're born. Although most people who become fascinated with astrology see it as a helpful way of understanding other people by placing them into groups, they often fail to realize that they are becoming prejudiced, and often bigoted because of their supernatural beliefs.

How Astrology Is Bigotry

Consider the statement, "I hate Chinese people because they're so irresponsible." Unless a person is already bigoted against Chinese people, they will immediately recognize this as a racist statement because irresponsibility has nothing to do with being Chinese. Or, consider the statement, "I would never hire a woman, they're not loyal." Again, there is nothing about being female that makes someone disloyal, so, unless a person is already sexist against women, they would see this statement as bigoted.

Now consider a type of statement frequently uttered by people who believe in astrology, "I would never date a Scorpio, they're so dishonest!" Of course, what the statement is really saying is, "People born between October 23 and November 22 are dishonest." When stated like that, the bigotry becomes plainly visible.

Criticisms

I wouldn't make such a blanket statement

Obviously, people who believe in astrology don't think that everyone of a particular sign exhibits every trait associated with their sign all the time to the maximum level. They would never say, "All Scorpios are dishonest all the time," but rather something more like, "Scorpios tend to be more dishonest than people of other signs, so you have to cautious around them."

However, this doesn't eliminate the bigotry, it merely reduces it. The statement, "I don't think all Native Americans are dishonest all the time, I just think they're more dishonest than other races, so you have to cautious around them," isn't as bigoted as, "All Native Americans are dishonest," but it's still bigoted.

My past experiences show that I'm correct

While it may sound bigoted to say, "People born between October 23 and November 22 tend to be more dishonest than everyone else," consider someone who has actually met several Scorpios, and those people really have been more dishonest than the other people they've met, doesn't that mean there is some truth to it?

Consider the statement, "I've met a lot of redheads in my life, and they always end up being more dishonest than brunettes." It may be true that every redhead this person has met up until this point has actually been more dishonest than the brunettes they've met. However, this is correlation, not causation. There is nothing about having red hair that actually makes someone dishonest, so this is just an unfortunate coincidence. This means, despite their past, this person should not treat any future redheads as dishonest, because it would be bigotry.

People born at certain times really do exhibit these attributes

If astrology is accurate, and Scorpios are truly more dishonest than everyone else, then it's not prejudice to say they're more dishonest. If there really is a celestial influence forcing them to be dishonest, then it isn't bigotry to not trust them, it's just being cautious.

Suppose biologist discovered that the same genes which cause people to have blue eyes also makes them more prone to lying compared with brown-eyed people. Would you accept the fact that employers should be allowed to refuse to hire all blue-eyed people?

How to Avoid Bigotry

A good method for determining if a belief from astrology is bigoted is to simply replace the star sign with some other human grouping and see if it sounds bigoted. For example:

Common Astrological Belief	Obvious Bigotry
Aquariuses tend to be unpredictable and extremist.	Europeans tend to be unpredictable and extremist.
Arieses tend to be confrontational and impulsive.	Hindus tend to be confrontational and impulsive.
Cancers tend to be suspicious and clingy.	Republicans tend to be suspicious and clingy.
Capricorns tend to be pessimistic and stubborn.	Lesbians tend to be pessimistic and stubborn.
Geminis tend to be superficial and anxious.	Pale people tend to be superficial and anxious.
Leos tend to be arrogant and dominating.	People from Oregon tend to be arrogant and dominating.
Libras tend to be unreliable and lazy.	Left-handed people tend to be unreliable and lazy.
Sagittariuses tend to be tactless and inconsistent.	Cisgender men tend to be tactless and inconsistent.
Scorpios tend to be manipulative and resentful.	People born in 1996 tend to be manipulative and resentful.
Pisces tend to be idealistic and over-sensitive.	People with sickle cell anemia tend to be idealistic and over-sensitive.
Tauruses tend to be self-indulgent and possessive.	Women named Linda tend to be self-indulgent and possessive.
Virgos tend to be judgemental and fussy.	People who think pineapple belongs on pizza tend to be judgemental and fussy (actually, this one is true).

Links

• astrosociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/K2-Activities_Astrology.pdf - Astronomical Society of the Pacific - student activity.