What is DBG? It is when I pick you up and throw you to the proverbial trash heap, because I am so sure I know exactly what you are like.

Examples, please.

“Republicans love big business.” “Democrats just want more government.” “Tea part activists don’t care about hurting people.” “Environmentalists worship trees.”

More examples, please.

“People who eat fast food are stupid.” “Young people are lazy.” “Old people can’t drive.” “Lawyers are liars.” “Teachers are incompetent.”

OK, enough.

Do you see what those statements do? They generalize. Surely, you can discover particular examples for each generalization. But you leap from the particular to the general, without realizing that maybe all those people are not all that way.

Why is this harmful? Let me count the ways.

First, it is the logic of racism and hatred. These scourges say, “Because this person is like that, all people who are like that person, are like that.” Thus we feel free to dismiss and demean these people we do not like.

I am not saying that all people who generalize are racists and haters. That would make me guilty of DBG. I am saying that DBG follows the same logic.

Second, it is not logic at all. It is illogic. More and more, I notice people who lecture from experience. This is not all bad. Wisdom learns from experience.

But hold on. Let’s say you have a boss who hates women, and he happens to be a staunch Republican. Does that mean all Republicans hate women? DBG says “yes.” Logic says, “no.”

Or, let’s say you had a rotten experience in a doctor’s office. Does that mean this doctor is a quack? DBG says “yes.” Logic says, “Not necessarily.”

We hate this when we receive this. Quick: think of a distinguishing characteristic of yourself. Maybe you are red-haired. Maybe you like romantic movies. Maybe you eat Vienna Sausage from a can. Maybe you think the CIA and Castro did assassinate JFK. Maybe you like all of the dollar bills in your wallet to face the same way.

Maybe you are a Republican, a Democrat, or a Libertarian. Maybe you feel strongly about gun control, cap and trade, or concussions in the NFL. Maybe you are single — or maybe you are divorced.

Don’t you resent it when people sense or see this quality in you, and generalize about you? If so, why do you do the same thing to others?

We generalize, and we marginalize. We throw each other off, and we walk off, filled with our own self-righteousness.

In this season of angst about our civil discourse, we need to think and speak better. We need to dig through our hearts, and discover that maybe we know far less about all sorts of issues (and people) that we claim to know so well.

Maybe, too, we become acquainted with one of those people we tend to DBG. Maybe they are worth more than a hurl to the proverbial trash heap, after all.

Tom Stein is senior pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Richmond, Indiana. This column first appeared in his local newspaper (http://www.pal-item.com/article/20101105/NEWS03/11050320) and is used with his permission. [Editor’s note: the original URL (link) referenced is no longer valid, so the link has been removed.]