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Before we go throwing around charged words like "gluttons," let's check the dictionary. A glutton is "a person who greedily eats too much" OR "a person with a great capacity for something," as for example a "a glutton for work." A boxer who keeps getting up no matter how often he's knocked down is a glutton for punishment. A captain who insists nothing is wrong while her ship is sinking is a glutton for self-delusion.

It's true, a few fat people got that way because they greedily eat too much. But most fat people are fat because their genes programmed them to be fat, or because they have a chemical imbalance in the brain, or because they have emotional difficulties, or simply because no one ever taught them nutrition. Think of the tens or hundreds of thousands of children in the U.S. who are overweight, fat, or morbidly obese because their parents can't AFFORD to feed them anything other than potato chips, cheese puffs, and snack cakes. These are not rapacious monsters who "greedily eat too much"; they are victims of the great god Corporate Profit.

Obesity is a recognized medical condition protected by the Americans With Disabilities Act and by many states. These laws make it illegal to fire someone because that person has a disability. In New York City, an outstanding teacher who was 6 feet, 4 inches tall was fired because he weighed 325 pounds (and he was newly eligible for tenure). His bosses all described him as well-prepared and his lessons as well-executed; his annual performance reviews were "overwhelmingly positive." Photographs of this professional show a man who looks slightly chubby.

The same weight charts that inform us that this slightly chubby man is "obese" inform us that George W. Bush — who appears to spend most of his waking hours biking, clearing brush, or working out in other ways — is "overweight." OMG, the president is a "glutton"! No wonder the country is going to hell in a handbasket! (Nobody mention the name "William Howard Taft," okay?)

Whether or not you agree that a man who looks slightly chubby should be fired for weighing more than some wholly arbitrary chart says he should weigh — or whether or not you agree that his lawsuit to get his job back should succeed because he has a "disability" — almost everyone can agree that it is unfair, unkind, and unwise to discriminate against anyone solely on the basis of that person's appearance.

Today's culture is deeply prejudiced against the overweight.

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