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 Italian people because they're so irresponsible." Unless a person is already bigoted against Italian people, they will immediately recognize this as a racist statement because irresponsibility has nothing to do with being Italian. Or, consider the statement, "I would never hire a woman because they're not loyal." Again, there is nothing about being a woman 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, "Anyone born between October 23 and November 22 is dishonest." When stated like that, the bigotry becomes plainly visible.

Criticisms

Astrology doesn't make such blanket statements

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," but rather something more like, "Scorpios tend to be more dishonest than people of other signs, so you have to be 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 be 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 so far has actually been more dishonest than all of 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, it would be bigoted to presume any future redheads they may meet are dishonest.

People born at certain times really do exhibit these attributes

If astrology is correct, and there really is a celestial influence forcing Scorpios to be more dishonest than everyone else, then it's not bigotry to say they're more dishonest, it's just being cautious.

Suppose a 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 be okay with employers being legally allowed to refuse all blue-eyed applicants?

Of course, we know this would never happen because over a century of biology and psychology has shown us that a person's behavior is far too complicated to be predicted by a single factor. Human behavior is the product of hormones, the structure of the brain, past traumas, and thousands of other different factors. Ignoring all these complexities and prescribing behavior based on the time of year a person was born is just as bigoted as prescribing behavior based on the nation in which the person was born.

How to Avoid Bigotry In Astrology

Unfortunately, a large part of astrology is prescribing behaviors to people based on when they were born rather than using factors with demonstrable causation. But, 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.	Middle class people tend to be superficial and anxious.
Leos tend to be arrogant and dominating.	People from South Dakota 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.