Does avoiding a certain group of people clash with your sense of morality?

I didn’t see the other Q.

Telling children what type of people to avoid is completely different than how adults interact with people. Children have less experience, are more gullible, naive, and more at risk. An adult can at any time pick up on a person actually being a bad influence or dangerous and leave a situation, children have less fortitude and are more easily perplexed by someone who does nice things and is also a very bad person.

I think it probably is a confusing message to tell children not to judge a book by it’s cover, that what matters is what’s inside not out, and then also warn them about certain types of people, but that might be realistic. It partly depends where you live I think. If certain groups are truly more likely to be up to no good, then it’s just a fact.

However, I do agree with your point that the more people in the fringe are treated like outcasts, the worse it probably gets.

As a child I was warned about strangers. The definition was basically anyone I didn’t know. It wasn’t a specific group or image of a person.

I think it’s more than ‘comfortable’, it can be safer to avoid certain groups of people. I don’t really want to hang out with drug dealers or even hard drug users. I don’t want to hang out with people who manipulate and cheat other people. I don’t want to knowingly be in contact with paedophiles. I think it’s about self-preservation and the safety of my family rather than comfort. I have no moral qualms with being selective about who I interact with or about advising my children, or those I care about, to avoid certain groups of people.

Will those ostracised become more dangerous? I doubt it. Other people still interact with drug dealers and users and sadly, there are whole networks of paedophiles. Like perhaps attracts like so they’ll find others to connect with.

Not at all. My sense of morality tells me who to avoid and who not to. As a child I was warn not to interact with some people with the reason I found not so convincing like they had a lower social status or they had a weird appearance. When I avoid anyone I always have good reason to do so.

I may be wrong sometimes though.

Not really.

The group(s) that I tend to avoid are those who are aggressively religious. I don’t care if they are overtly religious – that’s their thing and I absolutely think that they can believe any thing they want.

But I avoid those people (and groups) – regardless of religion – that make it their point to try and convert me. This can be the Mormons (who come to my front door a couple times a year), fundamentalist protestants, evangelicals, pentacostalists, seventh day adventists – anyone who wants to ‘tell me the good news” and “witness to me”.

Those people are offensive to me, and aggressively so.

Do I feel guilty about that? Not in the least. These are people who want to replace my ethics and moral belief system with their own. Why would I feel the least bit guilty about avoiding people who are attacking me and my core identity?

It’s a variation of the half empty-half full argument. Rather than stating that I avoid neurotics, I will claim to seek company with the clear-headed. In the end, life must be about choices. And that means discriminating between people and things. As such, I will concede that my preference for a Ferrari might be interpreted as a bias against Buicks.

@elbanditoroso I would want my children far away from the holy rollers also. Although, to clarify one point, none of my Mormon friends or work colleagues were preaching the word or trying to convert people. I’ve never had one of them trying to get me into their church. Nor do they use God, bless, or other religious words in every conversation. I have had friends of other Christian faiths that are more likely to invite me to church events and talk about God, etc.

Not that I haven’t has a random Mormon come to my door in my lifetime, I just think they are often singled out and my experience with Mormons in a personal level is only positive.

I judge everyone individually. If we are too different, it is best for both of us to not be together and I think that’s fine. I don’t expect everyone to get along with each other, so it doesn’t go against my morality. Ideally, I’d want everyone to at least be understanding of our differences, but that’s not realistic.

If I perceive that a certain type of person will be harmful to myself or my loved ones, either physically or psychologically, I will avoid them. No gray area at all. I am not making them “more dangerous” by protecting myself. I will advocate and be an activist for better conditions for all humans, but people are not feral urban cats, and I will respect their humanity without endangering myself.

I tend to agree with @dxs, in that I don’t avoid anyone because I’ve labeled them undesirable or the group they belong to as undesirable. If we have nothing in common, we simply don’t become close friends. If we have common interests, we may. Hell I’ve even got a friend that is a union member. We just avoid discussing unions (except for the occasional cheap shot).

^^Exactly. Many of the people I know and I have varying political/religious/etc. dispositions, but we’re not vocal about them so we get along fine. It’s really the personality that determines how we’ll get along.
@longgone In your description, it sounds as though what you are describing is blinding yourself or children from something. I don’t agree with that, either. If I were someone who followed that example, I would feel insensitive.

Preference has nothing to do with morality.
We should all be discerning enough to avoid those, whether groups or as individuals, that might be harmful to our well being and teaching children about stranger danger or how to spot unsavory types is beneficial to their well being.
Making conscious choices as to whom we wish to engage with is healthy.
Athletes don’t hang out with couch potatoes, sober people don’t want to hang out with addicts, non-believers don’t go to church.

Nothing immoral about your preferences in choosing the company you keep.

@JLeslie – I get them at my door probably twice a year. Last time, I was on the phone, and they could see that, and they wouldn’t leave. Must not have hit their quota that day. Finally I closed the door in their face.

I’m with @dxs and @Jaxk.

I tend to avoid people that are aggressively anything.

I am lucky to have my goose “Marwyn” the official ” witness protection” guard that drives off Jehovahs Witnesses and other holy rollers. He takes his job very seriously and is amply rewarded. God gets goosed on my properties. lol

I don’t consciously avoid any group but some people make my spidey sense tingle. Those I am wary of and avoid.