Astrology is bigotry

Is astrology a form of bigotry?

Astrology is bigotry is an argument which posits that most forms of astrology are a form of bigotry, specifically any form which prescribes behavior to people based on when they're born. Many people find supernatural astrology to be quite helpful, as it allows them to place other people into groups which makes them easier to understand. However, they fail to realize how such groupings are a form of prejudiced soft bigotry.

How Astrology Is Bigotry

Consider the statement, "Italian people are so irresponsible." Unless a person is already bigoted against Italian people, they will immediately recognize this as a bigoted statement because nothing solely about being raised in Italy causes irresponsibility. Or, consider the statement, "I would never hire a woman because they're not loyal." Again, there is nothing solely about being a woman that causes them to be 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, "I would never date someone born between October 23 and November 22, they're so dishonest." When stated without the artificial mystique of astrology, the bigotry is plain.

Criticisms

Astrology doesn't make such blanket statements

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 100% dishonest," but rather something like, "Scorpios tend to be more dishonest than Aries, so you have to be cautious when dealing with them."

This doesn't eliminate the bigotry, it merely reduces it. If we replace the signs with races, the statement, "Native Americans tend to be more dishonest than Asians, so you have to be cautious when dealing with them," may not be as bigoted as, "All Native Americans are dishonest," but it is still clearly bigoted.

My past experiences show that I'm correct

The Scorpios I've met really have been more dishonest than the other people, so there is some truth to it.

Consider the statement, "I've met a lot of redheads in my life, and they have been more dishonest than brunettes." Even if this were a true statement, and the person really did have terrible luck with redheads, this is entirely correlation, not causation. There is nothing about a person's hair color that affects their level of honesty; it's just an unfortunate coincidence for this person. This means, despite this person's past, it would still be bigoted of them to presume any future redheads they may meet will be dishonest. The same is true for making broad claims about people being born at different times of the year.

Astrology prescribes a lot of positive behaviors as well

Astrology isn't just the negative traits, it also says that Scorpios are ambitious and intuitive, and it's not bigoted to give someone a compliment.

Prejudices, even the positive ones, can be harmful for a number of reasons. "Scorpios are ambitious," may not sound prejudice, and even if we were to change it to, "white people are ambitious," that still may sound acceptable, but, if white people are ambitious simply because they're white, what does that say about everyone who isn't white?

Another way this can be harmful is by presuming people have traits they don't actually have. If a person believes Scorpios are naturally more intuitive than others, they might seek them out for matters where intuition is important, perhaps asking them for career advice. However, if people who are born between October 23 and November 22 are no more or less intuitive than anyone else, then it is misguided to put more trust in their intuition. Furthermore, if a person is aware the person asking for their advice believes they will uncritically trust their opinion, it makes it much easier for them to take advantage of the situation.

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 fact.

This sounds an awful lot like someone saying, "I'm not racist against black people, they really are more likely to be criminals." But, suppose a biologist discovered that the same genes which cause people to have blue eyes also makes them more prone to lying compared to brown-eyed people. Would you find it acceptable for employers to suddenly fire all their blue-eye employees and refused to ever hire another blue-eyed person?

Of course, we know this could never happen because over a century of scientific study has shown us that a person's behavior is far too complicated to be predicted by a single genetic factor like eye color. Human behavior is the product of hundreds of genes, hormones, the structure of the brain, a lifetime of traumas and achievements, various external pressures, and countless other factors. Ignoring all these complexities and prescribing behavior based on the time of year a person was born is just as irrational as prescribing behavior based on the color of a person's skin.

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.	Asians tend to be confrontational and impulsive.
Cancers tend to be suspicious and clingy.	Tall people 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.	Baritones 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.