We have an 'interesting' culture: Let us say that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos [I am just picking on Bezos because MacKenzie asked me to, but this applies to every famous person] would tweet: "Black people often smell and are not intelligent. But we should nevertheless treat them with respect. They are a sad people and still have a slave mentality". What would happen??
There wouldn't be a news outlet, digital or otherwise, that wouldn't talk about it. There would be a world wide outcry. "BOYCOTT AMAZON!!!" Millions and millions would stop buying at Amazon. He would become a pariah. Public enemy number 1. Every major figure who has the chance will denounce him and proclaim that he is an evil, racist, bigot. There would be death threats. He would be DONE.
Now let me make myself clear. I don't agree!!! Plenty of black people smell GREAT and of course many of them are intelligent. Some black people don't smell good and aren't that bright but there are white people who also don't smell good and aren't bright. It is not a color thing. Soap and water work equally well regardless of religion, race and creed. People of all stripes and types use it well. Baruch Hashem. Intelligence - plenty of black people are really smart. There are black doctors, lawyers, professors, authors etc. etc. So I don't identify with this imaginary statement that Bezos never made.
But at the end of the day - he still asserted that we should respect black people. He just said that based on his life experience some of them don't smell that good and aren't of the highest intelligence. Bad thing to say but not the end of the world. But it would create a storm that would make Sandy seem mild.
Let us say that this same Bezos committed adultery. I am not saying that he did. We know that non-Jewish men never cheat on their wives and that non-Jewish women never cheat on their husbands. But theoretically. Let's say he did. Would there be an outcry? No. Who would care. Boycott Amazon because the CEO is a rotten philanderer? Never.
My point: In our culture, traditional Biblical morality is on a much lower pedestal than when one veers from contemporary cultural norms of speech and behavior.
College campuses are filled with promiscuity, drinking, drug use etc. etc. and many Jewish kids - even from religious homes - are part of that. This is all accepted. But if someone says on Facebook that he doesn't like Asians [I, for the record, have NOTHING against Asians. I like ALL people unless they are evil] then he is excommunicated. He would have trouble getting a job.
So I don't mean that people should become bigots or racists. Just that we get a sense of proportion and perspective. Big sins are big sins. Those are the one Hashem told us. Smaller sins are also sins but they are smaller.
Our culture is out of whack.
PS - Some would argue that making a racist remark offends millions which is worse than, let us say, adultery, that only offends Hashem and the cheated on spouse. That is true. But adultery is one of the Ten Commandments and making racist remarks is not.
