Would I be out of line to compare the NRA to the Ku Klux Klan?

[47of74]

[villager]

1. No, the word would be "correct."

n/t

[Sedona]

2. Michael Moore wasn't

[forestpath]

3. No, you wouldn't be.

[morningfog]

4. Not at all. And those who sing the praises of the benefits the NRA champions,

are in the same club.

[doc03]

5. I don't like the NRA but wouldn't compare them to the KKK n/t

[Warren Stupidity]

6. Nope.

[ellisonz]

7. It's enough to get you banned from the Gungeon

Ask Hoyt

[hrmjustin]

8. Historically I think it is correct to say they had ties.

So I say NO.

[amuse bouche]

9. I wouldn't have a problem

labeling them a Terrorist Organization, especially after this election

Living in a swing state, we were subjected to hundreds of their vile ads screaming Obama was coming to destroy the Constitution and take your guns

[RKP5637]

10. There is commonality and probably a lot of cross-over in membership and attitudes, but

I would not equate them all the way. If you did a Venn diagram of all of these various groups ... NRA, KKK, Religious Right, Teabaggers, Right Wing, etc. I think you would find some significant overlap with common attributes.

[Thinkingabout]

11. Very true.

[patrice]

16. I was thinking Venn diagrams too, but I often see them abused. People miss the fact that

you're supposed to try to establish what portion of one or more data-sets is characterized by specific values and then compare those proportions in order to identify the degree of commonality between data-sets.

I often see that people simply draw circles and make them intersect, to say that there are shared traits, without trying to establish how much overlap is valid and reliable.

[RKP5637]

17. Yep, manipulation to fit the perceived/desired result! n/t

[jsr]

12. Well, the NRA has tremendous empathy for nonwhite children injured in knife attacks

in distant lands.

I commend their assiduous effort to bring reports of such incidents to every American's attention.

[patrice]

13. Primary characteristic of KKK is bigotry derived from hate, to the extent that any other

cohort hates and, therefore, functions on the basis of bigoted behaviors, that group would share those qualities with the KKK.

Maybe a better question is, how similar are the two groups, if we counted all of the traits of each group, what proportion of the NRA's total set of traits is comprised of hate and bigotry and what proportion of the KKK's total set of traits is comprised of hate and bigotry and how do those two proportions (%s), NRA hate-and-bigotry : KKK hate-and-bigotry, compare. Think of a Venn diagram here. How much over-lap is there in the two sets of traits?

I think it's pretty obvious that, of the total set of traits that characterize the KKK, we could guess that hate and bigotry are the most dominant traits, we could expect KKK behaviors to be characterized by hate and bigotry by far a big majority of the time, by far a majority of their behaviors.

Can we say the same thing about the NRA? Some NRA behaviors are driven by hatred of unknown more-or-less un-identified others, which hatred is assumed to be justified because they deserve that hate since these other persons possess certain characteristics that are deemed worthy of hate. Those assumptions are bigotry and would include things like, TTE, they are my enemies, wish to rob me, are poor and lazy, they're crazy, they are naturally and inevitably violent, are real rapists etc. etc. etc. whatever, so I MUST own one or more guns and virtue is in my willingness to use said weapons against any and all of those assumed to be evil others who deserve to be shot, because they are so evil (even though one doesn't know that for a fact about anyone in particular).

Other NRA behaviors are about authentic protection issues (not based on hate and bigotry), or about hunting and still other NRA behaviors are mostly about collecting certain kinds of items/weapons, so not all NRA behaviors are about hate and bigotry. However, it is reasonable to expect that most if not all KKK behaviors are driven by bigotry and hate, that is, there would be no KKK, and no KKK behaviors of any kind, if it weren't for hate and bigotry. Not the same with the NRA; we can assume that NRA authentic needs for protection, and/or NRA hunting and/or NRA gun-collecting do not necessarily require hate and bigotry in order for any NRA member to engage in those behaviors.

Though there might be, and probably are, a significant number of NRA members who are also bigoted haters as I described above and they ALSO either hunt and/or collect guns, bigotry and hate are not necessary to those behaviors, hunting & collecting, in and of themselves, so there will also be a significant number of NRA members who are not like the KKK, that is, they are just hunters and/or collectors or keep a weapon for authentic defense of one's self and loved ones, NOT because they are hateful bigots.

It is reasonable to assume that all KKK members are driven by hate and bigotry, but it is not reasonable to assume the same thing about the NRA. Though some NRA members may in fact be motivated by hate and bigotry, not all of them are, as some other NRA members can be and are motivated by authentic needs for protection, and/or the desire to hunt game, and/or they are just collectors.

[Zoeisright]

14. Nope.

Not at all.

[Arugula Latte]

15. Nope. You'd be dead on. Pun intended.