"We see people maintaining the value-expressive function of prejudice when they believe their attitudes are expressing the highest and most moral values of the culture. ... Persons who believe their God is the one and only true God are being prejudicial against people who hold different views" (p. 174).
So because I am a Christian, I am a prejudiced person. Do I detect a hint of irony?
My textbook can't please everyone so they go for the left-wingers, those who go for a looser interpretation of the Bible (e.g., in the companion reader I found out that Jesus believed in reincarnation; didn't you know?) and cave to society's liberal stance on just about everything (e.g., apparently we aren't actually born with a gender; that's just a social construct).
I actually feel a little sorry for Samovar, Porter and McDaniel. Their ears are so trained on the eggshells they crunch over that they're blind to their hypocrisy. Fixated on relative truth, they miss the logical inconsistencies littered all through their claims.
In the name of tolerance, they throw common sense out the window. In one sentence, they claim that religion helps society. Flip to the next chapter and they're calling adherents to the world's top three religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) prejudiced.
This post is not meant to slam Samovar, Porter and McDaniel. I am sure that they are rather upstanding people. I do know that they're good writers and fairly decent educational scholars. It is rather to point the finger back at us, to remind us to be careful.
Be careful how we reason. Be careful who we listen to. Be careful how we speak and how we label individuals. Be careful how we generalize. Be careful how we argue. Be careful how we study and analyze "experts." Be careful what we believe.
And be careful to pursue the truth at all costs.